Tag: concussions

Steve Austin clarifies his thoughts on CTE in pro wrestling

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

As far as Steve Austin is concerned, the best way to deal with CTE in wrestling is to avoid getting concussions in the first place. 

The subject came up as Austin was talking to Dave LaGreca and Bully Ray on the Busted Open Podcast. Ray asked Austin about WWE Unreal, a show Austin has said he’s a fan of, and asked how Austin would deal with having cameras put in front of him backstage. 

“I remember they were doing that documentary one time, and they were talking about CTE at the time, and this was, Jesus, 15, 20 years ago,” Austin said. “I think you and me had this conversation on a telephone a long time ago … and I said that ‘Hey man, I don’t think, if you work in the business of pro wrestling, you should have a whole lot of concussions, and maybe you’re doing it wrong.” 

“I was thinking from like a classical Ric Flair-type style of wrestling, that you shouldn’t be having a bunch of things,” Austin continued. “And man all of a sudden … I just remember my Twitter timeline started blowing up and people got mad as hell at me and say ‘Oh, you don’t believe in CTE?’ And I was like, god dang. I said, ‘No, I believe in CTE, just not as it really kind of applies technically to pro wrestling.’”

“Yeah, is CTE a real thing? Yeah, it is.”

Jordan Parsons, Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney diagnosed with CTE

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Former Bellator fighter Jordan Parsons and 90s ECW stars Brian Knighton (Axl Rotten) and John Rechner (Balls Mahoney) were diagnosed with CTE based on brain examinations by Dr. Julia K. Kofler at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian, who was in conjunction with Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic pathologist whose work was highlighted in the movie “Concussion.”

Omalu released the information to the Boston Globe on Thursday. He also reviewed Kofler’s diagnosis and endorsed her findings.

Konstantine Kyros, the lawyer involved with a class action lawsuit against WWE regarding concussions, was interviewed for the story saying he has no plans to sue Bellator. Parsons’ mother contacted Kyros about an examination of her son, who claimed that he got the brain examined to explore whether athletes in sports other than football, hockey, boxing, and wrestling were at risk of CTE.

“Out of the tragedy of Mr. Parsons’ death, I hope the results serve to warn and educate other athletes and their doctors about the hidden risks involved,” said Kyros.

Brian Flinn of WWE said the organization would not comment until it has reviewed the search on the diagnoses of Rechner and Knighton. The family of Knighton is involved in a Kyros-led lawsuit.

Flinn claimed Kyros was pushing the CTE story to counter negative publicity about WWE court motions to sanction him from improper conduct that were filed earlier this week.

Omalu said that it was impossible for the CTE in Parsons to have been caused when he was hit by a car in an accident that ended up being fatal as he crossed a street.

Knighton and Rechner were frequent tag team partners known for their willingness to both give and take hard chair shots to the head, and nicknamed The Chair Swinging Freaks. Both took ridiculous amounts of punishment in being stars of hardcore wrestling.

Both had severe health problems for years before their deaths, each at 44, Knighton from an accidental heroin overdose and Rechner from a heart attack.

Figure Four Weekly 10/10/2016: New details emerge in WWE concussion lawsuit filing

Posted on by F4W Staff

On Friday (October 7th), WWE filed a reply in support of their motion to dismiss Vito LoGrasso and Evan Singleton’s concussion-focused lawsuit. In terms of new information, the most newsworthy passages concern the deposition of Vince McMahon, which has otherwise been sealed from public view.

Specifically, McMahon’s deposition is cited with regards to the plaintiffs’ claims that Chris Nowinski was researching concussions for WWE when he was writing his book while doing voter registration work for the company. In a previous motion, the plaintiffs claimed that “WWE knew prior to September 2006 that its employee Chris Nowinski he [sic] was researching the risks of long-term neurological issues and CTE with repeated concussions in the years leading up [to] the publishing of his book” plus “Linda McMahon, CEO of WWE at the time, and Nowinski had a conversation about Nowinski’s research.” WWE points out, with a citation, that this cites “the same four lines of Mr. McMahon’s deposition testimony are cited as the sole basis for both of these assertions.”

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Figure Four Weekly 8/10/2016: WWE attempts to get concussion lawsuit thrown out

Posted on by F4W Staff

Last week, WWE filed a motion for summary judgment to throw out the concussion lawsuit that Vito LoGrasso (Big Vito) and Evan Singleton (Adam Mercer) had brought against the company. In the process, they filed numerous exhibits as part of an appendix to the motion and its statement of facts, containing everything from the full transcripts of LoGrasso and Singleton’s depositions to old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and Pro Wrestling Torch to affidavits from current and former WWE personnel.

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WWE sued by more former performers over head injuries

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE’s seemingly never-ending battle with former performers over whether the company is culpable for concussions and other head injuries suffered by wrestlers working in their ring took a significant step forward on Monday.

Bloomberg first reported that a lawsuit was brought against WWE by dozens of wrestlers who used to work for the company, alleging that the organization did not “in any medically competent or meaningful manner” care for head injuries suffered by their performers.

WWE issued a statement about the allegations:

“This is another ridiculous attempt by the same attorney who has previously filed class action lawsuits against WWE, both of which have been dismissed. A federal judge has already found that this lawyer made patently false allegations about WWE, and this is more of the same. We’re confident this lawsuit will suffer the same fate as his prior attempts and be dismissed.”

The attorney that they’re referring to is Konstantine Kyros, who has led the legal charge against WWE over the matter.

Bloomberg lists Jimmy Snuka, Road Warrior Animal, and King Kong Bundy among those involved in the lawsuit. Just last month, Snuka was declared not mentally competent enough to stand trial in the 1983 death of Nancy Argentino.

Similar to the landmark lawsuit that was brought against the NFL, this suit also claims that WWE knowingly misled performers about the dangers of concussions and other head injuries.

It also goes beyond head injuries and questions the legality of WWE’s system of using talent as independent contractors instead of employees.

This is not the first time WWE has been sued over similar matters, and as has been extensively covered in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, other lawsuits have not been particularly effective.

Earlier this year, WWE lawyers were successful in getting most complaints brought by Billy Jack Haynes, Vito LoGrosso, and others dismissed.

One of many reasons previous lawsuits were unsuccessful is, though wrestling may be inherently dangerous, they have failed to prove actual concrete and specific wrongdoing by WWE.

The full list of plaintiffs (minus Boris Zhukov) from Chris Harrington:

Figure Four Weekly 6/27/2016: WWE concussion lawsuit update, more

Posted on by F4W Staff

For now, the WWE concussion lawsuit continues to center around the matter of whether or not Christopher Nowinski can be deposed by the plaintiffs, with WWE sides arguing back against yet again in court filings this past week and Nowinski’s lawyer joining in.That said, the most newsworthy part of the story comes from a literal footnote in WWE’s pleading, which refers to an affidavit attached to the filing.

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Figure Four Weekly 5/30/2016: Big Vito’s deposition

Posted on by F4W Staff

If you thought Evan Singleton’s deposition went badly for the plaintiffs in the WWE concussion lawsuit, then that appears to be nothing compared to what happened a week later during Vito LoGrasso’s deposition on May 18th. Given the back and forth over LoGrasso claiming that head injuries caused partial deafness when, in the past, he had spoken of having a hearing impairment since birth, the deposition promised to be interesting. It over-delivered.

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Figure Four Weekly 5/16/2016: WWE concussion lawsuit deposition takes a strange turn

Posted on by F4W Staff

In the WWE concussion lawsuits, the two sides are battling over discovery issues, namely with regards to depositions. Plaintiff Evan Singleton was deposed last week, and co-plaintiff Vito LoGrasso will be this week, but WWE took issue with:

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    Figure Four Weekly 4/25/2016: Concussion lawsuit update

    Posted on by F4W Staff

    The back and forth in the WWE concussion litigation continued this past week, stemming from Jerry McDevitt filing a motion on behalf of WWE to compel proper discovery responses from the plaintiffs, Vito Lograsso and Evan Singleton. In the latest motion, WWE is looking to get the plaintiffs to

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    Figure Four Weekly (11/30/15): WWE makes a unique argument in concussion lawsuit

    Posted on by F4W Staff

    The “concussion lawsuits” between the clients of Konstantine Kyros and WWE kept rolling along the last few weeks.

    Two weeks ago, Jerry McDevitt filed two lengthy motions on WWE’s behalf, Those are motion to dismiss in the Russ McCullough/Ryan Sakoda/Matt “Luther Reigns” Wiese lawsuit (McCullough v. WWE) and an opposition to Kyros’ motion to dismiss WWE’s preemptive lawsuit against Robert “Blackjack Mulligan” Wyndham, James “Koko” Ware, Oreal “Ivan Koloff” Perras, and Thomas “Dynamite Kid” Billington (WWE v. Windham). The Windham motion starts with an eight page introduction that, among other things, a reference to Billy Jack Haynes, the plaintiff in a related case, having “posted various illiterate rants on social media identifying those allegedly joining the lawsuit.” McDevitt adds that “in other illiterate posts, Haynes admits that he was a drug addict for the last 27 years and speaks of his lawsuit as his ’cause to have a union in the pro wrestling industry, vacation, time off injured, a 5 day/night work week, buy[ing] stock in company…” Both Haynes and Windham have routinely posted about the cases and solicited co-plaintiffs on Facebook, and an exhibit to the motion suggests he’s done even more in private.

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