Friday marked the fourth day of the defamation trial involving CM Punk (Phil Brooks), Colt Cabana (Scott Colton), and Dr. Christopher Amann.
Friday was also the first time that Punk would take the stand for his testimony.
Ross Berman of WrestleZone was once again in attendance at the Cook County Courthouse and has a report of the morning’s proceedings on their site.
Below are highlights from the testimonies:
Before anyone took the stand, the defense was looking for a verdict to be rendered citing that the plaintiff (Dr. Amann’s side) has yet to prove there were any defaming statements made, which was denied by the judge.
SCOTT COLTON a.k.a. COLT CABANA
-This was the second straight day where Colton took the stand
-The defense had Cabana go over his introduction to pro wrestling, early career and signing with the WWE in 2007
-He noted that it was Punk’s idea to do the 2014 interview, Cabana added that the wrestling community wanted to hear from Punk, who had not addressed his departure from the WWE until that interview
-Cabana didn’t recall Dr. Amann’s name ever coming up during the interview
-They re-visited the story of the lump on Punk’s lower back and Cabana stated he saw it prior to the Royal Rumble match in Jan. 2014, Cabana described the lump as “disgusting” and saw it several times
-One of the lines Punk used in the interview was, “They Z-Packed me to death”, Cabana was asked about this line and assumed that “they” were the WWE medical staff
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Berman wrote in his report that the lawyers from each side argued about what footage from the Royal Rumble match could be shown. After Punk is eliminated by Kane, they continued with Kane chokeslamming Punk through the announcer’s desk, Dr. Amann’s lawyer did not want the chokeslam to be shown and apparently led to some shouting in another room.
PHIL BROOKS a.k.a. CM PUNK
-Punk took to the stand and stated he was a UFC fighter and a freelance comic writer for Marvel
-He did not listen to the podcast interview just before the trial, which is kind of insane when you consider how long this case has dragged on
-Punk acknowledges being bitter at the time of the interview in 2014
-He said he wanted to do the podcast to set the record straight and address his fans
-Neither Punk or Cabana could recall if AJ Lee was present during the interview
-He noted going through a period of headaches, dizziness, narrowed vision, lack of sleep, no appetite, his neck couldn’t support his head
-He was vomiting after every wrestling match, going through spells of crying randomly, rib pain, and a coughing fit that began in Sept. 2013
-Punk said he had “his bell rung” by Luke Harper, prior to the November 2013 European tour and was treated on the tour by Dr. Samson, but not Dr. Amann with Dr. Samson providing him with a Z-Pack
This concluded the morning testimonies and they broke for lunch and will resume in the afternoon.
