The second day of the libel trial between WWE doctor Chris Amann against CM Punk and Colt Cabana has concluded.Ā
Below you can find notes of the day's hearing, courtesy of WrestleZone's Nick Hausman.
- Amann concedes that he would prescribe antibiotics, including Z Paks, as part of his job with WWE
- Text exchange between Amann and Punk:
- Punk, āI swear to christ Iām sick again, you got a Z Pak?ā
- Amann, āYes, Iāve got them on meā
- Exchange also includes text of Amann telling Punk to find a pharmacy and that heāll phone in a prescription request for Punk
- Amann says Punk never showed him a skin infection but would have evaluated him if he had
- Amann does not recall treating any non-WWE performers between 2013 and 2014
- Punkās WWE medical record is shown and it says that Punk was never prescribed medication
- No medication history recorded
- Amann says he did give Punk Z Paks without recording them
- Amann says he would give wrestlers meds in an envelope with the name and the dosage on it
- Amann describes the separate RAW and Smackdown brands and how they are ādifferent teamsā with different stories and wrestlers
- Amann says he and Dr. Samson were not always together because of the brand split and that he did not always see the way Samson was treating talent
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- A slide show Amann had made and shown to talent in 2012-2014 called āWhat Is MRSAā was put on the screens
- MRSA is a type of staph bacteria
- āThese infections can usually be treated with antibioticsā
- If not treated MRSA can lead to loss of limbs
- Amann instructed wrestlers to contact a ringside physician if they were infected
- Amann says that after February 2014 he never treated Punk again
- A slide show Amann had made and shown to talent about concussions was put on the screen
- Some of the symptoms of concussions listed included headache, nausea, fatigue, dizziness and sadness
- Also notes that concussions make you more susceptible to more concussions
- Amann refers to the Royal Rumble as āa simulated matchā
- Amann believes fans knew it was he that Punk was referring to on the podcast because he was the doctor seen on camera talking to him
- Amann did not see the clothesline that Kofi threw that concussed Punk
- A long rehash of Amannās ringside conversation with Punk was laid out
- The judge and jury seemed bored by Punkās lawyerās line of questioning
- A sidebar was taken and the lawyers left the room with the judge
- At this time Punk grabbed his notebook and went to sit down directly next to Cabana to speak quietly
- Punk returned to his chair and then Cabana walked over to him, leaned over and the two continued talking
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- Amann says Punk was upset and agitated backstage at the Rumble and that he āstormed off angrilyā
- Amann says that he does want compensation for emotional damage
- He has not visited a doctor due to his issues and has not sought counseling
- Has not taken medication to deal with emotional damage
- Amann sleeps an average of 8 hours every night
- No work place damages by his employer, WWE, regarding the podcast
- Amann is not saying WWE wrestlersā view of him has changed as a result of the podcast
- A text exchange between Amann and former WWE security guard Murial Powell is shown where Amann says, āI promise not to give you a Z Pak lolā
- A group text was shown for a group called āNXT Wannnabee Clubā
- The group text included Chris Jericho, Zack Ryder and Dolph Ziggler (all under their real names, not ring names)
- Ryder asked when he was going to be cleared to which Amann wrote, āSergeant Hulka, youāre our big toe. Broski is too young to get that reference. #ZPakā
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- Amann has no reason to believe that Punk or Cabana tweeted about Z Paks, just several fans
- A variety of negative tweets from fans are shown, some referencing Z Paks and other didnāt
- One of the Twitter accounts was under the name āMike Litorisā which got a soft laugh around the room
- Amann agrees that no one in his immediate life has changed their opinion of him, just strangers on social media
- Cabanaās lawyer begins cross-examination
- Amann met Colt around 2010
- Amann became aware of Coltās podcast on Thanksgiving morning via a tweet referencing the Art of Wrestling
- Amann spend most of Thanksgiving day researching tweets about the podcast in his home guest room and library
- Amann was concerned and angry and couldnāt focus on his Thanksgiving with family
- Amann claims to have only responded to one negative tweet from a fan by saying, āYour tweet is very offensive.ā
- Amann never responded to any of the tweets by saying they were wrong
- Amann listened to the podcast during the late morning of Thanksgiving day while his family arrived
- Cabanaās lawyer is far more forceful and direct, he seems to be waking up the jury
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- Amann says that WWE trainer Larry Heck has referred to other WWE physicians as ādoctorsā who are not really doctors
- Amann is not positive that Punkās line in the podcast, āThey Z-Pakād me to death,ā was about him
- Cabanaās lawyer hammers the use of the word ātheyā as opposed to āheā and whether or not his comments could even be about Amann
- Amann was worried what the WWE office would think after hearing the podcast
- Amann was under the understanding that the fans at shows were chanting āz-paksā and āCM Punkā at him in regards to the podcast
- Amann admits that he does not know if Colt knew what Punk was saying was false
- Amann says Colt never told him that Punk holds ill-will towards him
- Amann says he didnāt contact Colt about Punkās real health issues because he worried it would violate HIPAA law.
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- Amann says he did feel an obligation to protect the wrestlers in the 2014 Royal Rumble match
- Cabanaās lawyer ends and Amannās lawyer resumes questioning
- Amann never heard a āZ Pakā chant directed at him before the Art of Wrestling podcast with Punk
- Amann never received harassing tweets about ākilling Punkā before the AOW podcast
- Amann was the only doctor working ringside for the 2014 Royal Rumble
- Amann claims to have never prescribed a Z Pak for depression, concussion or sore ribs
- On 12/2/13 Amann refers Punk to Oklahoma Diagnostic Imaging
- Clinical History: 35 year old male who complains of right lower rib pain and is coughing up yellow sputum
- Amannās diagnosis was that he had symptoms of sinusitus
- Prescribed Punk augmentum
- Amann says he only prescribed Punk a Z Pak for sinusitus
- Amannās lawyer ends their questioning and Punkās resumes
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- Amann again says HIPAA is why he couldnāt openly denounce the claims
- A sidebar is taken and the judge and lawyers leave the room
- Punk and Cabana again move to sit closely next to each other and discuss the trial
- Punk then walks over to the candy dish in front of the jury box
- Punk and Cabana both gave me peppermints, I gave one to the guy behind me
- 11/27/14 text exchange between Jericho and Amann is shown
- In the text Amann says that Punkās health was nothing like he described leading Punkās lawyer to ask why he had decided to disregard HIPAA law in the texts
- 11/27/14 text exchange between Justin Roberts and Amann is shown
- Amann says that Punkās comments were a fabrication of the truth
- Also state that there are extensive records of everything Punk has been diagnosed with and prescribed in WWE
- Amann also claims that Punk tarnished his professional reputation, āwhether the claims are true or false.ā
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- A pre-recorded interview from 4/23/18 with former WWE time keeper Mark Yeaton is shown
- Yeaton worked for WWE from 1984-2014 and, āwore many hatsā
- Yeaton says his official title was āproduction managerā
- The video feed got dropped and Punk softly booed and then apologized
- Yeaton referred to the area he sits at ringside as āYeaton Cornerā
- Yeaton wears double muff headphones to block out the crowd noise and be able to hear directions from the back
- Yeaton always knew that Vince and Kevin Dunne were able to hear him but others on the line would mute him
- Yeaton would use hand signals to communicate cues to the refs
- Yeaton admits his memory is foggy, āBecause I thought Iād put the whole company out of my mind.ā
- Punk laughed pretty loud at that line
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- If a ref would give the āXā signaling a wrestler was injured his job was to make sure the camera would cut away and then communicate directly with the ref about what to do
- Refs do not have mics to communicate with Gorilla
- Except in the case of Falls Count Anywhere matches
- Yeaton canāt recall if Amann communicated with him at the 2014 Royal Rumble
- Yeaton does recall Amann communicating to him a Punk injury but doesnāt remember the specific show
- Yeatonās only recollection of Amann asking about a Punk concussion only happened once, so it had to be the 2014 Royal Rumble
- Yeaton recalls Amann telling him Punk was concussed and to get him out of the match
- Vince, Dunne, Triple H and Stephanie probably heard his call in the Gorilla position
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- Yeaton says it was probably Vince who told him to, āGet him out of there.ā
- Yeaton remembers telling Punk to leave the ring but Punk playfully laid on the mat in the corner and held the ropes
- Punkās lawyer takes over the questioning in the video
- Yeaton says he was expected to follow Vinceās orders
- Yeaton notes that there have been times Vince has had him ring the bell to end a match early
- Yeaton does not recall how long it took Amann to go tell Punk to eliminate himself after the order came in
- Yeaton notes that Punk loved performing in the ring
- Cabanaās lawyer takes over the questioning
- Yeaton doesnāt recall Amann using a flashlight to check Punkās eyes in the corner
- Punkās lawyer takes questioning back over
- Yeaton says he knows that Vince watches the matches from the back but doesnāt know if he was watching right then