Fashback: How the Internet Responded to CM Punk's Claims in 2014

General
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I wanted to gain a better understanding of how people responded to CM Punk’s appearance on the Art of Wrestling podcast in November 2014, specifically the claims made by Punk regarding Dr. Amman. So I turned to that bastion of intellectual wrestling discussion, Reddit’s Squared Circle, to review the dialogue in the official thread for that podcast episode.

Below is a compilation of some of the more interesting comments resulting from Punk’s claims which might allow us to better understand why Dr Amman filed a defamation lawsuit against Brooks and Colton:

MotherLoveBone27 NWO 4 a decent amount of time 8 points·3 years ago
Hearing this shit kind of gives an implication to why so many wrestlers die early, if they had a competent doctor who knew what he was doing they very well could have saved Eddie’s life, The Benoit family and hell even Warrior. It’s almost a blessing that Punk didn’t die from that staph infection.

dustyfinish HAPPY NEW YEAR PAL 80 points·3 years ago
Yeah, but Punk doesn’t go to a different doctor for his concussion. That second doctor immediately diagnosing him with a MRSA infection is HUGE.

TheTableThe 3 points·3 years ago
Amann should be barred from practicing medicine. Jesus Christ.

Chiponyasu 1 point·3 years ago
Had he stayed, he would’ve died, and Vince McMahon would’ve killed him

FUCKBOY_JIHAD TOUGH & HARD 141 14 points·3 years ago
CM Punk almost died on WWE’s watch from prolonged medical negligence. I’d be surprised if he ever came back and I don’t anticipate his return for one day longer.

AlaskanPotatoSlap 1 point·3 years ago
If I’m not mistaken, if proven he knowingly misdiagnosed the infection, or just neglected to diagnose it purposely, then he could lose his license to practice medicine.

dustyfinish HAPPY NEW YEAR PAL 443 points·3 years ago
The most significant part of this whole interview is Dr. Amann ignoring and or failing to diagnose a mrsa infection. It could, and should gain real traction in the media, and could be the most prevelant story of WWE mistreating its talent.
Wow.

XSC OH YOU DIDN’T KNOW? 0 points·3 years ago
Fuck this guy,he should be the next target for us…funny that he never even mentioned anything negative about kevin dunn.

IAmTheWalkingDead SUPLEX CITY BITCH! 165 points·3 years ago
That was bad but Punk basically calls their concussion test bullshit and states that they basically let him and EXPECTED him to work with a concussion (even though Punk should have said no).
It calls into question their entire concussion test program which is bigger than that one isolated medical fuck up.

IHFP 13 points·3 years ago·edited 3 years ago
"Sounds like an incredibly negligent doctor who may have been acting on the interests of those above him."
Of course he’s going to act on the interests of the WWE, he’s employed by them. It’s similar with all sports doctors employed by a team. They need independent doctors who don’t answer to WWE/Vince.

ramblingsbyalan King of Harts 29 points·3 years ago
I’ve had MRSA. It fucking SUCKS, to put it nicely. I got it treated almost immediately, and it was bad enough I still almost ended up with my leg being amputated about the knee. If what he’s saying is true, fuck that quack of a doctor.

rylnalyevo Clint is a piece of… 8 points·3 years ago
Not a lawyer, but yeah that part sounded quite malpracticey. I imagine there’s some sort of hold harmless clause in the work contract though.

[deleted] 15 points·3 years ago
Which is psychotic in that environment. There should be a real fucking doctor who has the power and inclination to make calls for the athletes health.

TRACCART Upsteens to the left! 5 points·3 years ago
I wasn’t aware WWE had Dr. Nick Rivera on staff

TheWhiteWayneBrady Make Roman Look Strong 238 points·3 years ago
In order of biggest burials
1.HHH 2. The doctor 3. Ryback

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Could just go to the old LAW proboard and see similar reactions.

Called the lawsuit immediately over the staph claims.

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Amazing (though not surprising) how quick the Internet was to just take Punk at his word. I’m not saying anybody was 100 percent right or wrong - nor do I have a strong opinion as to how the jury will or should rule - but it’s funny that folks just heard what they wanted to hear because they wanted CM Punk back in the ring and decided instantly that WWE (be it creative, medical, various McMahons or whatever else) was completely to blame for his departure.

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He want’s over almost $4million in damages - 1$ per stream. That is laughable considering he has literally not suffered a single penny as a result.

This would set interesting precedent as basically any person could then sue over comments made about negative comments made about them.

JR Smith could ask for 1$ for every comment made on TV/Podcasts/Twitter etc. about his decision in Game 1 and claim that it hurts his reputation as basketball player.
Roman Reigns can ask for 1$ for every comment made about him being a bad wrestler on a podcast or twitter since it hurts his reputation as a performer.

See how this is such a dumb precedent. It opens up everyone to liability for making a negative remark that can be interpreted as hurting reputation on social platforms (or even tradition platforms like TV).

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He’ll NEVER get that amount in Cook County. The only cases that get huge awards are those with far reaching implications (one example is the McDonald’s coffee lawsuit) or cases that attained huge publicity (OJ civil trial).

In this case, there is no “message” for a jury to send to cause a change.

If I had to guess, I’d bet that Colton is not found liable and Brooks has a 50/50 chance of being found liable. At most, Amman will be awarded his legal fees + $1 - $10K.

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It almost annoys me that somebody would be so thin-skinned to actually go through with this case. I know it is not a legal argument but I would have hammered the point out that Punk is now being targets by WWE and I would have counter-sued for legal fees. Considered Amman is unable to show real damages this becomes about a guy who’s feelings are hurt and being pushed to tie Punk up by the company Punk quit. Supoenea all correspondence from WWE corporate ad Amman that mentions Punk ever and tie WWE up with a shit-ton of document retrieval and review and see how far this case would have got.

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Welp…I was wrong.

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I don’t disagree. From a legal perspective, it is somewhat offensive that any judge would allow Colton to be a defendant in this case.

As far as Brooks, I feel that his behavior in the courtroom may influence the jury more than he understands. These 12 men and women have lost upwards of five days of work and don’t want to be there. The fact that he has acted like a jackass in front of them may piss them off enough to influence their decision.

I would be interested in reading the jury instructions verbatim because that is really the key to the outcome – if the instructions are broad, the jurors can include things such as social media posts that were introduced into evidence as examples of “harm” to Dr. Amman. However, more narrowly focused jury instructions would not allow for those to be included as examples of “harm.”

As I wrote in another post, if these same comments were made on a broadcast radio show 15 years ago this case would not have made it to trial. However, in the world of social media that has changed. Another related example would be revenge porn – 15-20 years ago one could not be prosecuted for that crime because of the inability to widely disseminate those images (you could show your friends back then and if you were a dick you could put flyers up around the neighborhood), however today you can put it up on Prnhb or an image site and disseminate it to the world.

The fact that this case does involve the dissemination of a podcast and asks if statements on social media can be used as examples of “harm” in a defamation case is why I am following it.

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I go back to my example before - journalism today is widely disseminated on social platforms. So discussion about whether somebody is good at a job (in my Roman example) or even a valuable member of a team has every chance to hurt reputation in the eyes of employers as what Punk did.

The irony here is that Amman is not a public figure and while he may have had a case if he was harmed in any way - he wasn’t harmed, and he made himself a public figure as Punk never named him.

I’m very glad Punk and Colt are off and that this did not start a trickle down for how other platforms get monitored by those looking to make a quick buck on a lawsuit. Good for them not to settle and I do hope he cuts a hell of a promo at All In about this. :grin:

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We the jury find J.R. guilty of one count B&E (Boarding and Exiting the lane) and one count of possession (of the ball with the intent to go to overtime).

Punishable by not being on LeBron’s team in a couple of games.

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JR Smith wins the lawsuit, but is quickly sued by the City of Cleveland for negligence, additional punitive damages, and emotional trauma.:joy::joy:

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I’m really surprised that Amman was not ordered to pay their legal fees.

One of the most unfair components of the US justice system is:

Civil lawsuits - Defendants are not reimbursed for their legal fees when a jury decides in their favor.

Criminal trials - The State has unlimited funds to prosecute a defendant. If a defendant is acquitted the State should be required to pay his or her legal fees.

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