CM Punk & Colt Cabana v Dr. Chris Amann Trial Day 2 Afternoon Notes

I have been in the Cook County Courtroom in downtown Chicago this afternoon observing the second day of trial between Dr. Chris Amann and CM Punk/Colt Cabana on behalf of WrestleZone.

Below are my notes from this afternoon’s proceedings. WrestleZone will be back in the courtroom tomorrow with more recaps of what happens throughout the trial.

Amann concedes that he would prescribe antibiotics, including Z Paks, as part of his job with WWE
Text exchange between Amann and Punk:
- Punk, “I swear to christ I’m sick again, you got a Z Pak?”
- Amann, “Yes, I’ve got them on me”
- Exchange also includes text of Amann telling Punk to find a pharmacy and that he’ll 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
Punk’s 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 “different teams” 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
A slide show Amann had made and shown to talent in 2012-2014 called “What Is MRSA” was put on the screens
- MRSA is a type of staph bacteria
- “These infections can usually be treated with antibiotics”
- 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
Amall refers to the Royal Rumble as “a simulated match”
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 Amann’s ringside conversation with Punk was laid out
- The judge and jury seemed bored by Punk’s lawyer’s 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
Amann says Punk was upset and agitated backstage at the Rumble and that he “stormed off angrily”
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 wrestlers’ 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, “I promise not to give you a Z Pak lol”
A group text was shown for a group called “NXT Wannnabee Club”
- 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, “Sergeant Hulka, you’re our big toe. Broski is too young to get that reference. #ZPak”
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 didn’t
- One of the Twitter accounts was under the name “Mike Litoris” 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
Cabana’s lawyer begins cross examination
Amann met Colt around 2010
Amann became aware of Colt’s 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 couldn’t focus on his Thanksgiving with family
Amann claims to have only responded to one negative tweet from a fan by saying, “Your tweet is very offensive.”
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
Cabana’s lawyer is far more forceful and direct, he seems to be waking up the jury
Amann says that WWE trainer Larry Heck has referred to other WWE physicians as “doctors” who are not really doctors
Amann is not positive that Punk’s line in the podcast, “They Z-Pak’d me to death,” was about him
Cabana’s lawyer hammers the use of the word “they” as opposed to “he” 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 “z-paks” and “CM Punk” 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 Pink holds ill-will towards him
Amann says he didn’t contact Colt about Punk’s real health issues because he worried it would violate HIPAA law
Amann says he did feel an obligation to protect the wrestlers in the 2014 Royal Rumble match
Cabana’s lawyer ends and Amann’s lawyer resumes questioning
Amann never heard a “Z Pak” chant directed at him before the Art of Wrestling podcast with Punk
Amann never received harassing tweets about “killing Punk” 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
- Amann’s diagnosis was that he had symptoms of sinusitus
- Prescribed Punk augmentum
Amann says he only prescribed Punk a Z Pak for sinusitus
Amann’s lawyer ends their questioning and Punk’s resumes
Amann again says HIPAA is why he couldn’t 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 Punk’s health was nothing like he described leading Punk’s 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 Punk’s 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, “whether the claims are true or false.”
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, “wore many hats”
- Yeaton says his official title was “production manager”
- The video feed got dropped and Punk softly booed and then apologized
- Yeaton referred to the area he sits at ringside as “Yeaton Corner”
- 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, “Because I thought I’d put the whole company out of my mind.”
  - Punk laughed pretty loud at that line
- If a ref would give the “X” 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 can’t recall if Amann communicated with him at the 2014 Royal Rumble
- Yeaton does recall Amann communicating to him a Punk injury but doesn’t remember the specific show
- Yeaton’s 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
- Yeaton says it was probably Vince who told him to, “Get him out of there.”
- Yeaton remembers telling Punk to leave the ring but Punk playfully laid on the mat in the corner and held the ropes
- Punk’s lawyer takes over the questioning in the video
- Yeaton says he was expected to follow Vince’s 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
- Cabana’s lawyer takes over the questioning
- Yeaton doesn’t recall Amann using a flashligh to check Punk’s eyes in the corner
- Punk’s lawyer takes questioning back over
- Yeaton says he knows that Vince watches the matches from the back but doesn’t know if he was watching right then