With less than a week to go before CM Punk's sophomore outing in the UFC, the former WWE megastar has received a massive boost in morale, as well as having a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. Finally, the lawsuit brought against him and fellow wrestler Colt Cabana by WWE Doctor Chris Amann has been brought to a close, ruling in favour of both Punk and Cabana, no doubt filling the pair with a sense of vindication.
The case stemmed from an interview Punk gave on Cabana's podcast, The Art Of Wrestling, way back in 2014. On it, fresh from his release from WWE, Punk aired some of the grievances and reasons as to why he walked away from the company, which included instances of what he would describe as "medical negligence", comments which Dr Amann took umbrage with. This led to Amann filing this defamation suit against both Punk and Cabana.
Now, three years on, and after some serious financial backing from the WWE on behalf of Amann, Punk and Cabana, they have been found categorically not liable for any damages Dr Amann claims; a figure that reached almost $4 million according to the doctors attorney.
One of the key failings in the case was the revelation that Amann had on occasion administered antibiotics to Punk without logging them in his medical records. Also, Amann's main basis for claims he suffered emotional distress from the blowback of the podcast was that he received negativity from WWE fans both at live events and on twitter. This seemed a particularly odd strategy to take, especially considering that the doctor had already taken part in WWE storylines.
Now that it's over, Punk can fully focus on his fight with Mike Johnson in Chicago on Saturday, in his second attempt to finally get his UFC career off the ground.
