The first case was brought by BILLY JACK HAYNES as a Class Action seeking to get neurological testing and neurological medical care for all former WWE wrestlers. The court Dismissed the case and we appealed. The appeals court ruled that the appeal can proceed pending the resolution of the additional cases which have been consolidated in Federal Court in Connecticut.
A second case was filed by VITO LOGRASSO and EVAN SINGLETON. The court ruled in favor of VITO and EVAN allowing the case to survive the WWE’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The two sides conducted limited discovery and among other things depositions were taken of Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Paul Levesque (Triple H). The case is awaiting a ruling as to whether it can go to trial- a motion for summary judgement is pending.
Another class action originally filed in California was also transferred to Connecticut and Dismissed. This case was brought by RUSS McCULLOUGH, RYAN SAKODA and MATT WIESE. Two other individual cases were brought by the families of NELSON LEE FRAZIER, JR and MATT OSBORNE alleging the WWE was responsible for their deaths. Tragically the families were unable to obtain CTE diagnoses and the court ruled in favor of the WWE. These cases like the Haynes case needs to await further resolution in the other pending (LOGRASSO and LAURINAITIS) cases before they can be appealed should the parties and families wish to do so.
Below is the list of 60 wrestlers involved in the latest lawsuit which was filed in July 2016 and amended in November 2016. The amended lawsuit is the first lawsuit filed against WWE with neuropathology reports confirmed by Dr. Bennet Omalu that show that JON RECHNER (Balls Mahoney) had CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) and that his tag team partner BRIAN KNIGHTON (Axl Rotten) had findings: “most suggest of early incipient Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy” the study located “rare neurofibrillary tangles” of Tau protein in four sections of Knighton’s brain. Both wrestlers died in 2016 at the age of 44.
JOSEPH M. LAURINAITIS, a.k.a. Road Warrior Animal,
JIMMY “SUPERFLY” SNUKA, by and through his guardian, Carole Snuka,
PAUL ORNDORFF, a.k.a. Mr. Wonderful,
SALAVADOR GUERRERO IV, a.k.a. Chavo Guerrero, Jr.
CHAVO GUERRERO, SR., a.k.a. Chavo Classic,
BRYAN EMMETT CLARK, JR., a.k.a. Adam Bomb,
ANTHONY NORRIS, a.k.a. Ahmed Johnson,
JAMES HARRIS, a.k.a. Kamala,
CHRIS PALLIES, a.k.a. King Kong Bundy,
TERRY MICHAEL BRUNK, a.k.a. Sabu,
BARRY DARSOW, a.k.a. Smash,
BILL EADIE a.k.a. Ax,
JOHN NORD, a.k.a. The Bezerker,
JONATHAN HUGGER a.k.a. Johnny The Bull,
JAMES BRUNZELL, a.k.a. Jumpin’ Jim,
SUSAN GREEN, a.k.a. Sue Green,
ANGELO MOSCA, a.k.a. King Kong Mosca,
JAMES MANLEY, a.k.a. Jim Powers,
MICHAEL “MIKE” ENOS, a.k.a. Blake Beverly,
BRUCE “BUTCH” REED, a.k.a. The Natural,
CARLENE B. MOORE-BEGNAUD, a.k.a. Jazz,
OMAR MIJARES a.k.a. Omar Atlas,
DON LEO HEATON, a.k.a. Don Leo Jonathan,
TROY MARTIN, a.k.a. Shane Douglas,
MARC COPANI, a.k.a. Muhammad Hassan,
MARK CANTERBURY, a.k.a. Henry Godwin,
VICTORIA OTIS, a.k.a. Princess Victoria,
JUDY HARDEE a.k.a. Judy Martin,
GAYLE SCHECTER as Personal Representative of Estate JON RECHNER a.k.a Balls Mahoney,
BERNARD KNIGHTON as Personal Representative of Estate of Brian Knighton, a.k.a. Axl Rotten,
TERRY SZOPINSKI, a.k.a. The Warlord,
SIONE HAVEA VAILAHI, a.k.a. The Barbarian,
LARRY OLIVER, a.k.a. The Crippler,
ASHLEY MASSARO, a.k.a. Ashley,
PERRY SATULLO a.k.a Perry Saturn,
DAVID SILVA a.k.a Sylvano Sousa,
JOHN JETER a.k.a Johnny Jeter,
CHARLES BERNARD SCAGGS a.k.a Flash Funk,
CHARLES WICKS a.k.a Chad Wicks,
TIMOTHY ALAN SMITH, a.k.a. Rex King,
TRACY SMOTHERS, a.k.a. Freddie Joe Floyd,
MICHAEL R HALAC, a.k.a. Mantaur,
RICK JONES, a.k.a. Black Bart,
KEN JOHNSON, a.k.a. Slick,
GEORGE GRAY, a.k.a. One Man Gang,
FERRIN JESSE BARR, a.k.a. JJ Funk,
RODNEY BEGNAUD, a.k.a. Rodney Mack,
RONALD SCOTT HEARD, a.k.a. Outlaw Ron Bass,