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Showing posts with label Concussion Syndrome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Concussion Syndrome. Show all posts

September 30, 2022

Chris Nowinski Blasts NFL's 'Tua Disaster' While Praising Pro Wrestling Promoters

Fans watching last night's NFL game between the Miami Dolphins and the Cincinnati Bengals witnessed a scary moment when Dolphins starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had to be carted off the field on a stretcher following a rough sack. Tagovailoa was taken to a local trauma facility, and while he was ultimately released and traveled back to Miami with the team, he clearly suffered a concussion during the play, just one week after likely receiving another head injury in a previous game.

Neuroscientist and former WWE star Chris Nowinski, a prominent advocate for concussion safety, took to Twitter to share his perspective on the matter.

"In light of the Tua disaster last night, I appreciate more than ever AEW's Tony Khan, WWE's Triple H, and NWA's Billy Corgan all inviting me to come teach their talent [about] concussions & the risks of getting in the ring before you've recovered," Nowinski tweeted. "Protecting athletes begins with educating them."

Nowinski had tweeted about the NFL's concussion protocol ahead of last night's game, saying that it was blatantly dangerous to allow Tagovailoa to take the field after allegedly suffering a concussion the previous week. "If Tua takes the field tonight, it's a massive step back for concussion care in the NFL," Nowinski stated. "If he has a 2nd concussion that destroys his season or career, everyone involved will be sued & should lose their jobs, coaches included. We all saw it, even they must know this isn't right."

After being forced to retire in 2003 due to his own concussion issues, Nowinski went on to earn a PhD in behavioral neuroscience and is the co-founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation non-profit organization. Nowinski and his former partner, Dr. Bennet Omalu, were able to get a hold of Chris Benoit's brain post-mortem and diagnosed the notorious wrestler with CTE in 2007 — the first time a wrestler was publicly diagnosed with the dangerous illness.

April 26, 2021

Supreme Court declines to hear wrestlers' brain damage cases against WWE

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the appeals of several former pro wrestlers who claimed in lawsuits that World Wrestling Entertainment failed to protect them from repeated head injuries that led to long-term brain damage.

The former wrestlers asked the high court to review lower court rulings that dismissed the lawsuits because they were filed too late. The plaintiffs include William "Billy Jack'' Haynes, Russ "Big Russ'' McCullough, Ryan Sakoda, Matthew "Luther Reigns'' Wiese and the wife of the late Nelson "Viscera'' Frazier, also known as Big Daddy V, who died in 2014.

Monday's decision, which the Supreme Court did not explain under its usual practice, put an end to the last remaining lawsuits in an array of litigation originally filed six years ago in Connecticut against the WWE over concussions and other injuries. The WWE is based in Stamford.

More than 50 former wrestlers, most of them stars in the 1980s and 1990s, sued the WWE, saying they suffered repeated head injuries including concussions that led to long-term brain damage. They accused the WWE of knowing of the risks of head injuries but not warning its wrestlers.

Other wrestlers who filed suit were Jimmy "Superfly'' Snuka, Joseph "Road Warrior Animal'' Laurinaitis, Paul "Mr. Wonderful'' Orndorff, Chris "King Kong Bundy'' Pallies and Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara, known as Mr. Fuji.

Snuka and Fujiwara died in 2017 and 2016, respectively, and were diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, after their deaths, according to their lawyer. Pallies and Laurinaitis died in 2019 and 2020, respectively, of undisclosed causes. Other plaintiffs have dementia and other illnesses, the lawsuits said.

Several lawsuits were dismissed in 2018 by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant in Hartford, Connecticut. Bryant ruled there was no evidence the WWE knew while the plaintiffs were wrestling that concussions or head blows during matches caused CTE or other long-term injuries.

She also ruled the lawsuits that were the subject of Monday's Supreme Court decision were filed after the statute of limitations expired.

The rulings were upheld last year by a federal appeals court in New York City. The WWE denied wrongdoing and said the lawsuits had no merit.

"We're glad it's finally over,'' Jerry McDevitt, a lawyer for the WWE, said Monday. "We were completely vindicated.''

March 11, 2021

WWE seeking over $500,000 in legal fees from attorney Konstantine Kyros

Per Law360, WWE and their CEO Vince McMahon is seeking $573,770.44 in legal fees from attorney Konstantine Kyros, who led the now-dismissed concussion/brain damage lawsuit against WWE. Kyros represented a number of former in-ring performers and he forwarded their claims about the sports-entertainment company hiding the risks of concussions from them.

WWE asked a federal court in Connecticut for over $500,000 this past Monday. The filing took place prior to a hearing regarding WWE’s two constituent applications for court-ordered fees. The applications are in relation to two consolidated cases that were dismissed. The first was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant in 2018 and the other was by a Second Circuit appeals panel in September of 2020.

Back in February, the concussion/brain damage case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by Konstantine Kyros. Kyros filed a request, asking the Supreme Court to hear the appeals. WWE denied the allegations and a spokesperson told the Associated Press that the lawsuits are without merit.

On top of WWE’s seeking of the six-figure number, they are also looking for an additional $39,844.00 in fees and costs in connection with their applications following the Second Circuit’s decision.

WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt further backed WWE’s innocence on the matter and discussed how there was misconduct from Kyros during the litigation.

He violated court orders, didn’t comply with court orders, ignored court orders that cautioned him to cease certain behavior or risk sanctions. He would continue the same kind of behavior. He plagiarized and made false allegations based on other lawsuits against the NFL, where he would just parrot allegations that had been made against the NFL or its personnel, and would just change [text], reading from ‘NFL’ to ‘WWE.’

The liability for sanctions has been established in three different court orders, that he’s supposed to pay all of our attorney’s fees in connection with various things he did wrong. The only thing left to be determined is how much that is.

As of this writing, Kyros is the only remaining attorney that is representing the plaintiffs in the case. The other attorneys he worked with from other firms filed motions to withdraw as counsel.

February 18, 2021

WWE Attorney Issues Statement On Attempt To Bring Concussion Lawsuit To The Supreme Court

Longtime WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt has issued a statement on the recent filing by attorney Konstantine Kyros to have one of the WWE concussion lawsuits, which has already been dismissed by lower courts, resurrected and taken to the Supreme Court of the United States:

“[Konstantine Kyros] has no automatic right to appeal to the Supreme Court. He has to ask them to accept an appeal, and that is what he filed. The large majority of requests are denied, and the Supreme Court typically takes cases presenting some issue of national import where the courts in the various federal circuits differ on some specific issue of federal law.

Here, Kyros is asking the Supreme Court to reverse the Second Circuit decision that he filed an appeal too late in the cases of Billy Jack Haynes, Russ McCullough, Matthew Wiese, Ryan Sakoda and Nelson Frazier.

He is not attempting to have them hear the dismissals of all the other cases, which are now over for good. The lower courts threw those cases out on the basis of state law, which the Supreme Court would not touch.

It is an exercise in futility, because even the Supreme Court were to hear his request and find that his appeal on behalf of those five was timely, he would still lose on the merits because their claims are all barred by statute of limitations. In short, a waste of time and money which we don’t think will go anywhere.

He will, however, have to face a sanctions hearing next month on how much he has to pay WWE.”

Former WWE wrestlers take brain damage case to Supreme Court

Dozens of former pro wrestlers who have claimed in lawsuits that World Wrestling Entertainment failed to protect them from repeated head injuries are taking their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A lawyer for the former wrestlers, most of them stars in the 1980s and 1990s, filed a request late Wednesday asking the Supreme Court to hear appeals of lower court rulings that dismissed the lawsuits. Lower courts said the suits were frivolous or filed after the statute of limitations expired.

Among the plaintiffs were Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Joseph "Road Warrior Animal" Laurinaitis, Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff, Chris "King Kong Bundy" Pallies and Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara, known as Mr. Fuji.

The wrestlers said they suffered repeated head injuries, including concussions that led to long-term brain damage, and accused the WWE of knowing of the risks of head injuries but not warning its wrestlers.

The WWE, based in Stamford, Connecticut, continues to deny the allegations and says the lawsuits are without merit, a spokesperson said Thursday.

Snuka and Fujiwara died in 2017 and 2016, respectively, and both were diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, after their deaths, according to their lawyer. Pallies and Laurinaitis died in 2019 and 2020, respectively, of undisclosed causes. Other plaintiffs have dementia and other illnesses, the lawsuit said.

More than 50 former wrestlers have filed lawsuits against the WWE. In September, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City dismissed the litigation. The court upheld 2018 rulings by federal judge Vanessa Bryant in Connecticut, who said there was no evidence the WWE knew concussions or head blows during wrestling matches caused CTE.

The lawyer for the former wrestlers, Konstantine Kyros, who is based in Hingham, Massachusetts, criticized the rulings and said the former wrestlers have been "deprived of their fundamental rights as U.S. citizens, including their right to appeal."

Kyros said the 2nd Circuit court rejected earlier appeals because final rulings had not been made in all the lawsuits. After Bryant made those final rulings in 2018, Kyros appealed again. But he said the 2nd Circuit also rejected those appeals, saying they were filed too late according to a new legal precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In her 2018 ruling, Bryant also criticized Kyros for repeatedly failing to comply with court rules and orders and ordered him to pay WWE's legal fees -- more than $500,000.

Unlike football and hockey, in which players have suffered similar injuries, WWE matches involve moves scripted and choreographed by the WWE, thus making the company directly responsible for wrestlers' injuries, the lawsuits said.

The National Football League and National Hockey League also were sued by former players who suffered concussions and other head injuries. The NFL settled for $1 billion, and the NHL settled for $18.9 million.

source:  ESPN.com

October 16, 2020

WWE Set For Huge Financial Win In CTE Case, Judge Issues Order Against Attorney

Wrestling Inc. has learned that yesterday the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Court rejected attorney Konstantine W. Kyros' appeal in his recent court room loss to WWE. Over the past six years Kyros has represented several former WWE talents alleging that WWE was not transparent regarding it's knowledge about CTE damage to it's performers.

Kyros' failing to appeal the recent verdict against him will mean that he has to pay WWE for their legal fees and other troubles. We are told that WWE is seeking around $560,000 but that the amount will increase to include the costs of the hearing, which must be held in order for the court to establish the amount it will order him to pay. Those issues appear to have been fully briefed and the court will now set a hearing date.

If Kyros attempts to appeal the order WWE would likely insist he post a bond ensuring payment. The only route Kyros has left to appeal would be to ask the United States Supreme Court to hear the case, which could happen but seems very unlikely. The next thing that will happen after the second circuit issues its mandate in seven days will be the sanctions hearings to determine how much he must pay WWE

Wrestling Inc. has also learned that the judge issued an order specifically for the purpose of protecting the public from Kyros. The order requires him to send an opinion explaining his dishonest behavior to all his existing wrestler clients and any that contact him in the future. In a recent Wrestling Inc. interview WWE council Jerry McDevitt alleged that Kyros' had plagiarized much of his suit based on a similar one filed against the NFL.

"Kyros got caught in the last lawsuit basically plagiarizing from the lawsuit of the NFL allegations, the allegations that were made against the NFL that resulted in the case being successful against them where the NFL, unlike the WWE, had made various public statements and actually published articles in scientific literature and magazines and whatnot sort of downplaying, if you will the effects of concussions," McDevitt explained. "And Roger Goodell had allegedly made various statements that were alleged in the complaint against the NFL. All Kyros did was he gets ahold of the NFL complaint, and he literally just changes where the complaint would say, 'Roger Goodell said the following, concussions don't cause any long-term damage, and it's safe to go back to work on a day you get a concussion.' He would just change that to say a WWE representative had said that.

"Just flat-out make up false things like that. The kind of stuff lawyers don't do, and we brought that to the court's attention and multiple other violations of his. And he was as a result of his misconduct, sanctioned three different times by the federal judge up there that had control of the case. And is now facing sanctions orders of what we say is going to make him required to pay us hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees."

September 15, 2020

Jerry McDevitt Alleges Recent CTE Lawsuit Was "Plagiarized" NFL Suit, Reveals Amount WWE Is Owed

On Tuesday's episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast, Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman sat down with longtime WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt after WWE's recent victory in the CTE lawsuits brought against them. McDevitt went through the history of the lawsuits brought to WWE by attorney Konstantine Kyros.

"Well in the beginning, we noticed prior to October of 2014, this Kyros fellow was advertising on the internet and soliciting former wrestlers to contact him to bring lawsuits that would be patterned after the cases that had been brought against the NFL, which if you remember, resulted in the NFL agreeing to pay a billion dollars plus end up settling," McDevitt recalled. "And when they did that, they kind of emboldened a lot of the plaintiffs, class action lawyers and what not to sue anybody that had any kind of history with head trauma, concussions or things of that nature. And so they did.

"They brought lawsuits against college football teams in the NCAA and high school teams, water polo. You name it, and Kyros' solicitations suggested in his website suggested, incorrectly we believe, that he had somehow been involved in obtaining the settlement for the NFL players and would be able to replicate that if only these wrestlers would agree to hire him so he could sue the WWE to get the same amount of money and the same thing for the former wrestlers. So he was basically soliciting them with promises of there's nothing to lose.

"You can get money out of this, and I'll take a contingent fee of what I get, but it won't cost you anything, and he actually went out on radio shows and stuff and podcasts and was making statements to the effect that well, the more people that sign up, the more pressure we can bring on WWE to settle these cases and pay us a lot of money. And we know he had told these people that he would be able to use this litigation to renegotiate contracts that were expired long ago and get them better royalties and a bunch of nonsense frankly."

McDevitt continued discussing the other lawsuits brought against WWE by multiple individuals. All concussion-related lawsuits were dismissed by the courts in 2018.

"And I feel bad that he misled so many people because he did,

September 9, 2020

WWE Issues Statement Over Concussion Lawsuit Being Dismissed

"For nearly six years, WWE was subjected to stale and frivolous claims brought by Konstantine Kyros, whose misconduct triggered countless judicial opinions along the way. Today, the Second Circuit put an end to his pattern of baseless litigation, leaving open only the question of how much he must now pay to WWE as a sanction for his misconduct. We are grateful for the attention paid to these cases by the numerous federal judges who oversaw the litigation, and to the Second Circuit for its decision."

This appeal arises from seven cases consolidated in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut against the company by former WWE wrestlers, starting with a putative class action suit filed in October of 2014 by William Albert Haynes III, a.k.a Billy Jack Haynes. Two of the seven cases were not appealed. Kyros represented the plaintiffs / appellants in each of the cases.

The appeals of the cases brought by Haynes, Russ McCullough, Cassandra Frazier and Evan Singleton (Vito LoGrasso) were dismissed on the grounds that Kyros' appeal of those cases was not on time. Regarding the fifth case, brought by Joseph M. Laurinaitis (Road Warrior Animal), which involved dozens of former performers, the court decided on the merits and ruled that all those claims were either time barred or defective for the reasons cited by the trial judge.

Major Update On Concussion Related Lawsuits Filed Against WWE

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals today affirmed the dismissal of all the CTE cases filed against WWE by Konstantine Kyros.

This appeal arises from seven cases consolidated in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut against the company by former WWE wrestlers, starting with a putative class action suit filed in October of 2014 by William Albert Haynes III, a.k.a Billy Jack Haynes. Two of the seven cases were not appealed.

The former WWE talent claimed that they suffered CTE as well as other physical and mental health impairments due to the physical trauma they experienced while performing for the company. Kyros represented the plaintiffs / appellants in each of the cases.

The appeals of the cases brought by Haynes, Russ McCullough, Cassandra Frazier and Evan Singleton (Vito LoGrasso) were dismissed on the grounds that Kyros' appeal of those cases was not on time. Regarding the fifth case, brought by Joseph M. Laurinaitis (Road Warrior Animal), which involved dozens of former performers, the court decided on the merits and ruled that all those claims were either time barred or defective for the reasons cited by the trial judge.

It was noted to Wrestling Inc. that the amount of money that Kyros will have to pay WWE as a sanction is all that remains now to be decided.

May 22, 2019

WWE Issues Statement On Ashley Massaro Allegations

WWE has issued a statement in response to allegations made by lawyer Konstantine Kyros, who has represented several former WWESuperstars in concussion lawsuits against the company, including the late Ashley Massaro. Kyros has published an affidavit by Massaro that includes her allegations on how she was treated while with the company. Massaro alleged that she was sexually assaulted while visiting troops with WWE in Kuwait back in 2006.
Massaro alleged that she was drugged and raped by a man posing as a US Army doctor while in Kuwait on a tour of a US military base. She said she was examined by a WWE doctor after returning from the trip, and that the doctor reported the incident to WWE officials. Massaro alleged that WWE officials called her into a meeting, to apologize, and to persuade "her that it would be best not to report it to appropriate authorities." You can read all of her claims in the full affidavit via PDF by clicking here.
WWE's statement to the media in response to the allegations reads:
WWE is saddened by the death of Ashley Massaro, and we reiterate our condolences to her family. However, we regret that her attorney Konstantine Kyros, who filed multiple cases against WWE, lost all of them, and was sanctioned multiple times by the Court for repeated misconduct and false allegations, is using Ashley's death to further his malicious campaign against WWE by releasing an affidavit that she submitted to the Court and later apologized to WWE for being involved with, so we wish to make certain things crystal clear.
At no time was Vince McMahon or the management of WWE ever informed by Ashley Massaro or anybody else that she had been sexually assaulted, drugged, raped or sodomized by a military doctor with a nurse standing guard while on a goodwill tour in 2007 to U.S. military bases in Kuwait. In fact, if she ever articulated such a claim to WWE, we would have reported it immediately to the Base Commander.
At no time was there ever a meeting with Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, John Laurinaitis or other company executives in which she told them of such a claim and was instructed to keep it quiet.

April 1, 2019

John Oliver Takes Down WWE, ‘A**hole’ Vince McMahon On Wrestlers’ Health Care; WWE Responds


John Oliver loves pro wrestling, and it’s breaking his heart that the WWE is treating its athletes like “circus animals,” as one wrestler put it.

So the “Last Week Tonight” host on Sunday staged his own cage match against the WWE and its boss, Vince McMahon.

The comedian grappled with working conditions at the WWE, which he said gets away with regarding performers as independent contractors even though it signs them to exclusive contracts.

The predicament leaves the wrestlers with health and financial protection so meager that it makes McMahon look like an “asshole,” Oliver said. The wrestlers have a “shockingly high” premature death rate, added Oliver, who compared the WWE rather unfavorably with another sports organization with battered alums.

“When you’ve lost the moral high ground to the fucking NFL, you are morally subterranean,” the HBO host said.

The WWE issued a statement in response to the segment on Monday, writing to HuffPost:

John Oliver is clearly a clever and humorous entertainer, however the subject matter covered in his WWE segment is no laughing matter. Prior to airing, WWE responded to his producers refuting every point in his one-sided presentation. John Oliver simply ignored the facts.

The health and wellness of our performers is the single most important aspect of our business, and we have a comprehensive, longstanding Talent Wellness program.

We invite John Oliver to attend WrestleMania this Sunday to learn more about our company.

January 26, 2019

ESPN Reveals The Concussion Tests Daniel Bryan Has To Undergo After Each Match

ESPN Reveals The Concussion Tests Daniel Bryan Has To Undergo After Each Match
WWE Champion Daniel Bryan recently spoke with ESPN to promote Sunday's WWE Royal Rumble match with AJ Styles. The piece reveals the concussion tests that Bryan undergoes after each match.

Bryan returns to the backstage area after each match and has to go through a series of tests, ending with a math problem. According to ESPN, Bryan must multiply 8 by 3, then multiply that number by 3, and dive it all by 4. If Bryan can't come up with the correct answer, he's not cleared to continue wrestling.

WWE doctors perform these tests on Bryan following any physical activity in the ring. The tests begin with Bryan getting his eyes checked. He then goes through several balance tests, then ends with the math equation. Doctors use the simple tests to make sure Bryan's brain is functioning properly. These show how WWE is not taking any chances with Bryan, who has suffered 10 documented concussions.

"The big concern with concussions is that, this has happened to me in the past, you don't know you had a concussion and your instinct as an athlete is to say, 'Hey, I'm fine, What we do now ensures that doesn't happen."

ESPN notes that WWE put this very specific concussion protocol in place after Bryan was cleared to return to the ring by an independent group of concussion experts, neurologists and neurosurgeons, and WWE medical director Joseph Maroon.

September 20, 2018

More Details on Concussion Related Lawsuit Against WWE, Judge Criticized Lawyer for Wrestlers, Ordered Him to Pay WWE Legal Fees

A federal judge in Connecticut has dismissed a lawsuit by 60 former professional wrestlers, many of them stars in the 1980s and 1990s, who claimed World Wrestling Entertainment failed to protect them from repeated head trauma including concussions that led to long-term brain damage.

U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant in Hartford threw out the lawsuit Monday, saying many of the claims were frivolous or filed after the statute of limitations expired. Stamford-based WWE denied the lawsuit’s allegations.

Bryant also criticized the wrestlers’ lawyer, Konstantine Kyros, based in Hingham, Massachusetts, for repeatedly failing to comply with court rules and orders and ordered him to pay WWE’s legal fees, which could total hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Kyros strongly disagreed with Bryant’s ruling and vowed to appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. He said the allegations were not frivolous and Bryant was wrong about the claims being filed too late, because many wrestlers’ ailments — including dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE — were diagnosed years after they left the ring or after they died.

“I stand for professional wrestlers who face the prospect of losing their identity and consciousness to the effects of a latent occupational disease that robs them of their sanity, comfort of their families and memories of everything they achieved entertaining the millions of people who love them,” Kyros wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

source: nypost.com

September 17, 2018

WWE Cleared In Concussion-Related Lawsuit

WWE is a multi-million dollar business and, like other businesses, it is susceptible to being sued by former employees (or contractors in the case of WWE Superstars).

Some of the biggest lawsuits that WWE has faced in recent years are those related to concussions. On Monday WWE finally received resolution of those suits as Judge Vanessa L. Bryant of the United States District Court of Connecticut officially dismissed all concussion-related lawsuits against WWE.

Dozens of former WWE Superstars had sued the company regarding a lack of transparency and protection in regards to their health. These suits specifically brought up concussions, CTE and other head trauma injuries that can suffer from competing in the ring. But Judge Bryant has ruled that WWE is not liable for those head and brain injuries.

SEE ALSO

Triple H Says WWE Will Keep Close Watch Over Daniel Bryan's Health

This isn't the first time that Bryant has ruled in favor of WWE regarding a federal concussion lawsuit. In April she cleared WWE from a suit filed by two former Superstars, Vito LoGrasso (aka Big Vito) and Evan Singleton, who never competed on the main roster.

"The evidence does not support a finding that WWE knew of a risk that repeated head injuries incurred while performing as a professional wrestler could cause permanent degenerative neurological conditions," Judge Bryant said in regards to that case.

Source: PWInsider

April 2, 2018

WWE Cleared By Judge In Federal Concussion Lawsuit

A federal judge has cleared WWE from a concussion lawsuit filed by two former wrestlers in the company, Vito LoGrasso and Evan Singleton. While Singleton did not compete on the main program, LoGrasso popularized himself as "Big Vito," and competed in both ECW and WCW before his WWE run.

The wrestlers alleged that WWE committed fraud by failing to disclose the link between concussions and permanent damage. However, Judge Vanessa Bryan dismissed these claims based on a number of factors.

"The evidence does not support a finding that WWE knew of a risk that repeated head injuries incurred while performing as a professional wrestler could cause permanent degenerative neurological conditions," Judge Bryant wrote in a 21-page filing.

The wrestlers also claimed that the head-trauma work of Joseph Maroon (who was responsible for making the final decision of clearing Daniel Bryan to return to in-ring action) and Mark Lovell dates back to the 1980s, but Judge Bryant refuted this claim stating that they did not work for WWE at the time. According to Bryant, 2008 was the earliest that their knowledge can be imputed to WWE. LoGrasso competed in WWE from 2005-2007.

Judge Bryant also rejected the argument of WWE learning of the dangers of concussions by former WWE competitor Chris Nowinski, who started his own concussion research company after having to retire from wrestling in 2003 due to continuous post-concussion symptoms.

"Plaintiffs have not offered any new evidence showing that WWE was aware of Nowinski's research, that anyone at WWE read Nowinski's book, or that anything in Nowinski's book would suggest a link between professional wrestling and permanent degenerative neurological conditions," Bryant concluded. In addition, she also refuted claims of WWE concealing their awareness of Chris Benoit's CTE diagnosis to LoGrasso.

"Although WWE attempted to discredit the finding that Benoit had CTE, and tried to distance WWE from Benoit's behavior, no reasonable jury could find that WWE concealed the fact of Benoit's diagnosis from LoGrasso," Bryant stated.

For Singleton, his career ended in 2012 when he did not take a chokeslam properly. He claimed that he did not attend a presentation by Maroon a month earlier, which provided insight on the topics of drug abuse and concussion risks. As a result, Bryan deemed Singleton's claim inconsistent with WWE withholding information for the purpose of inducing him to continue wrestling.

LoGrasso claimed that he suffered head trauma in five matches during his two-year stint in the WWE. During the May 2016 video deposition, LoGrasso recalled a six-man tag match, multiple matches against William (Steven) Regal, and one with Mr. Kennedy. In one of those matches against Regal, he hit his head, but "didn't know if [he] had a concussion." He also admitted that he did not review his medical records, and went back and forth on his testimony of whether he watched the matches where he claims that head trauma was suffered.

Also in the deposition, LoGrasso affirmed that he was a part of violent matches in ECW voluntarily, and although he had the ability to say that he was not going to take part of any of these matches, he did not. He also affirmed that he had a personal doctor during the time he was in WWE, and admitted that he never went to anyone to tell them that he may have suffered a head injury during the times he claimed that he did.

Source: Courthouse News Service

March 23, 2018

Triple H Talks New WWE NXT Title, Being Excited For Daniel Bryan, Training With Stephanie McMahon

Triple H recently spoke with USA Today's "For The Win" blog at this link to promote WrestleMania 34 and the match with Stephanie McMahon against Ronda Rousey and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, plus the WWE NXT "Takeover: New Orleans" event. Below are highlights:

Are you serving as Stephanie's coach or trainer as she's preparing for this match?

I mean, honestly, as a husband, do you really coach your wife on a whole lot? We're training a lot. We train together, whether that be in the gym or in the ring. We're trying to make sure she's as ready as possible.

I worked with her – it's an interesting thing that I've been there for so much of the evolution of her as a character, even prior to us having a relationship together. I've been there all along the way and I've put her matches together for a lot of them, almost all of them, with her. It's exciting to see this one come to fruition, but you know, she's also a little bit older, has a little bit more responsibility. She's got a lot going on, as we both do, but she wants to make sure her girls see her proud. So there's a lot of pressure on her right now.

The biggest story of the week in WWE was Daniel Bryan's return after being medically cleared. What has it been like watching him work behind the scenes to get back to where he is?

It's been an amazing process. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do is tell talent that they can't do this anymore. That you can't live your dream. And for somebody like Daniel, man, it was soul-crushing.

He went through *a lot* to try to get back to where he was, without any guarantee that it would ever work. But you take the advice of the doctors, the same doctors that told you he couldn't, tell you he can… man, it's like a second lease on life for him. Really excited, really happy for him. Watching him on TV the other night, just sitting at the monitor watching was unbelievable.

TakeOver: New Orleans will feature a six-man ladder match for the inaugural North American Championship. What do you hope this new title will represent for NXT?

I think it's part of a long-term strategic plan for the brand. You see with the UK title, the North American Championship, I think as we branch out and become bigger, [with more] opportunities in different places.

It allows for multiple events to take place with championships represented where I feel like, in locations across North America, Mexico, Canada, the North American Championship can be defended and be a main event-style match with the right players. The NXT Championship could be going internationally at that same period of time. It really depends, but it's part of a long-term strategic plan.

Source: USA Today

March 22, 2018

Backstage News On What Daniel Bryan Agreed To In Order To Get Cleared By WWE

Daniel Bryan revealed in an interview with WWE this week that he was cleared to return to in-ring competition by WWE on Monday. While he was cleared on Monday, the decision wasn't finalized until very shortly before WWE made the public announcement of his return on Tuesday, according to Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Bryan hasn't wrestled since April of 2015, shortly after he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31. He retired the following February after an EEG test revealed slowing of brain activity and a small lesion in an area of his brain that causes seizures. Bryan had reportedly suffered two seizures and over 20 concussions in his career. Bryan was later told by his doctors that retiring was premature, and that the lesion is a vague thing. He had gotten cleared by several doctors since then, and has said that he would wrestle elsewhere when his WWE contract expires in September if he were healthy and WWE would not clear him.
WWE sent Bryan to get tested by several neurologists chosen by WWE Medical Director Dr. Joseph Maroon over the past two months. After they cleared him, Meltzer noted that Maroon was scheduled to test Bryan next week to clear him, however it was changed to this past Monday so that WWE could start building the WrestleMania angle this week.

March 20, 2018

Daniel Bryan Cleared To Return To In-Ring Action

Following more than two years of extensive evaluations, WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan has been medically cleared to return to in-ring competition by leading neurosurgeons, neurologists and concussion experts, including Dr. Robert Cantu, Dr. Javier Cárdenas and Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher.

Bryan underwent a full review of his medical history and received comprehensive neurological and physical evaluations independent of WWE. He was cleared by each doctor as well as WWE's Medical Director, Dr. Joseph Maroon.

February 15, 2018

FDA Authorizes Marketing Of First Blood Test To Aid In The Evaluation Of Concussion In Adults

The FDA has released the following news which will no doubt have an affect on the way WWE, the NFL and other sports institutions handle concussion treatment:
FDA authorizes marketing of first blood test to aid in the evaluation of concussion in adults
New quick testing option to help reduce need for CT scans, radiation exposure for patient
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today permitted marketing of the first blood test to evaluate mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), commonly referred to as concussion, in adults. The FDA reviewed and authorized for marketing the Banyan Brain Trauma Indicator in fewer than 6 months as part of its Breakthrough Devices Program.
Most patients with a suspected head injury are examined using a neurological scale, called the 15-point Glasgow Coma Scale, followed by a computed tomography or CT scan of the head to detect brain tissue damage, or intracranial lesions, that may require treatment; however, a majority of patients evaluated for mTBI/concussion do not have detectable intracranial lesions after having a CT scan. Availability of a blood test for concussion will help health care professionals determine the need for a CT scan in patients suspected of having mTBI and help prevent unnecessary neuroimaging and associated radiation exposure to patients.

January 10, 2018

Triple H On If WWE Will Make An Exception For Daniel Bryan's Ring Return

The Wrap asked Triple H if there's some sort of exception in WWE's strict policy that might allow SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan to return to the ring. Triple H said:

"There can be no exception medically," Triple H said. "If the belief is that he's not healthy enough and there's a risk [for him] to perform, then I don't know why you'd allow him to step into the ring unless it can be proven otherwise. There will be no exceptions. We have some of the best medical people in the world that work for us. Our wellness policy, our concussion programming, our protocols — I'll put them up there against any on the planet.

"That is a new science in a way, too. So we're gonna look at it from all aspects, but the medical experts will make the determination as to whether he can ever step into that ring or not. Look, personally for him, I know it would be something he would love to do, and part of me feels like I hope he has that opportunity. But at the same point in time, he's married and has a child. Certainly, [we put] the human being first."

Bryan has not wrestled since April of 2015. He announced his retirement in February of 2016, but has since said that he plans to wrestle again this year unless doctors advice him otherwise. His WWE contract expires in September.

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Oderint Dum Metuant: Let Them Hate As Long As They Fear