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Dr. Christopher M. Amann, a ringside doctor who works for World Wrestling Entertainment, has filed a defamation lawsuit against former superstars CM Punk and Colt Cabana for comments the pair made on the latter's podcast last year.

Continue for updates.

WWE Releases Statement Regarding Lawsuit

Friday, Feb. 20

In light of CM Punk's allegations regarding WWE’s medical staff and the subsequent defamation lawsuit filed by Dr. Amann against CM Punk, WWE continues to have the utmost confidence in the ability and expertise of our world-class team of physicians, including Dr. Amann. [...] WWE’s investigation has shown the following:

CM Punk did not discuss this alleged condition with WWE’s team of physicians and trainers, nor did he discuss it with anyone in our Talent Relations department.

Subsequently, WWE has no medical records documenting this alleged condition.

The first time WWE was made aware of this alleged condition was when we received a letter from CM Punk’s attorney on August 22, 2014, after WWE terminated his contract.

There is clear video evidence from the 2014 Royal Rumble, which allows all to decide whether there is any appearance of a baseball-sized growth on CM Punk’s back.

CM Punk, Colt Cabana Face Defamation Lawsuit

Thursday, Feb. 19

According to Bethany Krajelis of the Cook County Record, Dr. Amann says Punk and Cabana, whose real name is Phillip Brooks lied about the level of care he received while at the sports entertainment giant. Amann also alleges that Cabana, real name Scott Colton, assisted Punk in attacking his character.

Speaking on Cabana's The Art of Wrestling podcast (NSFW language), Punk claimed Amann misdiagnosed an MRSA infection as a fatty deposit and failed to treat him when he suffered a concussion at the Royal Rumble.

"I knew I had a concussion. Everyone knew I had a concussion," Punk said, per Marcus Vanderberg of Yahoo Sports. "And they were like we want you to take this test and I said your test is bulls--t. I took the test while texting you [Colt Cabana] and listening to my headphones and I 'passed' with flying colors."

Punk then said Amann attempted to prescribe him antibiotics as treatment.

Marc Serota/Associated Press

In his suit, Amann says all of Punk's allegations are false and that he went above and beyond to follow WWE's wellness protocols. He claims at no point did he and Punk remove a lump, nor was there a lump of Punk's described size to his knowledge.

“Amann was not requested by Brooks to treat and/or excise a lump, let alone a purple, baseball-sized lump,” the suit asserts.



Amann is suing Punk for defamation of character and for compensatory damages suffered due to his public outburst. The former WWE champion has since left wrestling and signed with the UFC to begin an MMA career.

Amann is suing Cabana for helping Punk "falsely depict Amann as a lazy and bad doctor," per Krajelis. Cabana has not been with WWE since 2009.

The suit seeks damages of more than $1 million. Neither Punk nor Cabana have released statements on the matter at this time.

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