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WWE NEWS: WWE issues statement responding to Billy Jack Haynes's lawsuit alleging "egregious mistreatment of wrestlers"

Oct 25, 2014 - 5:48:08 PM
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By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

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WWE issued a statement on Saturday responding to Billy Jack Haynes's lawsuit filed earlier in the week. In the suit, Haynes alleged “egregious mistreatment of its wrestlers for its own benefit, as well as its concealment and denial of medical research and evidence concerning traumatic brain injuries suffered by WWE wrestlers."

The suit adds: "Under the guise of providing ‘entertainment,’ WWE has, for decades, subjected its wrestlers to extreme physical brutality that it knew, or should have known, caused long-term irreversible bodily damage, including brain damage."

WWE responded: "Billy Jack Haynes performed for WWE from 1986-1988. His filed lawsuit alleges that WWE concealed medical information and evidence on concussions during that time, which is impossible since the condition now called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) had not even been discovered. WWE was well ahead of sports organizations in implementing concussion management procedures and policies as a precautionary measure as the science and research on this issue emerged. Current WWE procedures include ImPACT testing for brain function, annual educational seminars, and the strict prohibition of deliberate and direct shots to the head. Additionally, WWE has committed significant funding for concussion research conducted by the Sports Legacy Institute (SLI), leaders in concussion research, and WWE Executive Vice President Paul Levesque sits on SLI's Board."

Caldwell's Analysis: It sounds like WWE's argument in the public forum is that because CTE was not a medical term until the past decade, it disqualifies the possibility that "WWE concealed medical information and evidence on concussions during" the 1980s. If that were the case, the NFL would be able to dismiss the current suit by thousands of former players alleging that the NFL withheld or dismissed medical information about head trauma that is now affecting former players in their later years. The issue is not when "CTE" became an officially-recognized disease or medical term, but the merits of the case and evaluation of information of whether WWE "subjected its wrestlers to extreme physical brutality that it knew, or should have known, caused long-term irreversible bodily damage, including brain damage." That's up for a court to decide if the case goes that far. Haynes might be pushing it with a negligence suit going back to the 1980s, but the timing of when CTE was "discovered" is irrelevant.

The second-half of the statement reads like WWE using their modern-day concussion-related policies and initiatives as a "look at us" deflection tactic. It especially raises questions when Vince McMahon infamously stressed "public relations" as the main driver for reaching out to former talent to offer rehabilitation services when he testified before Congress in 2007.


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