RINGSIDE
CM PUNK HAS come off a series of highs and lows and now finds himself at the crossroads: What now?
Let’s start with a high point for Punk. He and Colt Cabana scored a legal victory over WWE physician Dr. Chris Amann in Punk’s hometown of Chicago. This issue stemmed from a 2014 edition of Cabana’s Art Of Wrestling podcast in which Punk accused Dr. Amann of negligence. The former WWE champion explained that he had a “giant lump” on his buttocks leading into that year’s Royal Rumble and that Dr. Amann didn’t properly diagnose or treat the problem despite Punk’s concern that it was a staph infection.
Dr. Amann felt Punk’s inflammatory remarks were incorrect and that they harmed his reputation and caused emotional distress. He filed a $4-million lawsuit against Punk. The staggering amount of the lawsuit, plus his upcoming UFC bout against Mike Jackson, had made the last several months quite stressful for Punk—and didn’t assuage his ill feelings toward WWE.
On June 5, a jury found that Punk and Cabana would not have to pay damages to Dr. Amann. According to legal analysts in the courtroom, Dr. Amann hadn’t proved that the podcast remarks had damaged him in any substantial way. Punk and Cabana embraced each other after
