Day five of the trial begin from the Richard J. Daley Center in Chicago between Dr. Christopher Amann versus CM Punk and Colt Cabana. Fightful.com was on the scene in Chicago.
Here are notes from the morning session:
- Punk and his wife April Mendez-Brooks and their attorney walk into the courtroom with me. Cabana and Amann were already in the courtroom with their respective legal teams.
- Punk walks up to Cabana on two occasions and whispers into his ear.
- Punk looks to be fantastic shape, well-rested and in a jovial mood five days before his return to the Octagon at UFC 225 against Mike Jackson.
- Amann looking calm before the day begins.
- Punk heads to the stand for cross-examination while we await the judge and jury.
- The judge enters first and the jury soon follows.
- Amann’s attorney reads a statement to Punk about what he said in a deposition last August about the lump and admits he never showed the lump to Cabana.
- Punk admits he “unfortunately” didn’t take photos of the lump.
- Punk says he never told anyone in WWE about the lump except Amann.
- The attorney starts to get argumentative with Punk in regards to when he first noticed the lump. Punk says he noticed it in October, November but could have been September as well.
- Punk says he didn’t measure the lump in terms of the lump being a size of a quarter. He reiterates the bump felt like the size of a baseball.
- When asked again by the size of the lump at the 2014 Royal Rumble, Punk pauses and says it felt like a baseball.
- Amann’s attorney once again asks if the lump may or may not have been the size of a baseball. Punk doesn’t understand the question when asked two times.
- Punk starts getting annoyed with the questions concerning the statements in reference to who “Doc” is in which one gave him a Z-Pak. Punk says both Dr. Samson and Dr. Amann.
- Attorney asked Punk if Dr. Patrick Duffy told him he had full-blown staph infection. Punk said he remembered hearing staph infection.
- Punk is once again asked about the lump. Punk said it felt like the size of a baseball.
- Cabana’s lawyer got up and objected, saying, “This isn’t my client and this is impeaching”. The judge agrees and questioning goes elsewhere.
- A silly debate begins when Amann’s attorney brings up a statement Punk made in the podcast about Duffy looking like Patrick Bateman because they looked alike.
- A text exchange on Dec. 1, 2014 between Punk, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins is brought up. Ryder asks Punk if he heard from Kane because the latter had a bump near the area Punk had his at. Punk tells Ryder his staph was the size of a golf ball.
- Punk said he needed an excuse form from by Duffy in March 2014 because no one in WWE would answer his calls, texts and emails and it would go a long way in getting a response in getting an old royalty check reissued.
- Punk said he didn’t tell Duffy to write in the note that he had a deadly staph infection.
- Punk gives an emphatic ‘NO” when asked if the lump first appeared after the Royal Rumble. Amann’s jaw dropped.
- Punk keeps looking at the clock. Can see he wants this to end.
- Punk said he never discussed the lump with Vince McMahon.
- Lawyer keeps trying to get Punk to say the lump came after the Rumble. Punk keeps laughing every time it’s asked. The judge is getting agitated by the line of questioning and the jury is starting to get bored.
- In a text exchange between Punk and Mendez-Brooks, Punk is texting her during the procedure in Duffy’s office. Duffy is telling Punk at the time it was a cyst.
- The attorney brings up an exam taken in Dec. 2013 in Oklahoma in which Punk took a chest x-ray for a rib injury. Punk admits to having multiple respiratory infections.
- Punk is clearly annoyed having to keep looking through binders at exhibits.
- Going through an exchange the day after the Rumble with Larry Heck, who asked Punk how he felt. Punk said he felt “physically fine”. Attorney asks if he talked about the lump. Punk said no and didn’t talk about the concussion from the Rumble match.
- Punk says the massage therapist he saw in Chicago saw his lump before the Rumble.
- Punk says his goal was to always main event Wrestlemania regardless of the event. Amann’s attorney plays a part of the podcast where Punk says he’s going to put on an “awesome performance” and “wow them” and be part of the main event at Wrestlemania 30.
- Punk says Amann asked him what he wanted to do after taking the clothesline from Kingston. Said he told Amann, “Fuck you, I’m finishing the match”.
- A cease and desist letter on Dec. 11, 2014 from Amann was sent to Punk on comments from the podcast.
- A text exchange between Punk and Cabana shortly after Amann’s letter is discussed. He admits to telling Cabana, “Fuck him, I almost feel bad for him”.
- Punk admits to everything he said on the podcast including the staph infection.
- Amann’s attorney rests.
- Punk’s attorney re-directs him.
- Punk tells Amann in a text exchange he’s feeling horrible and wants to the hospital.
- They go back to the text exchange Punk had with Mark Carrano in where the latter messaged Punk to take the tweet down for saying shit in regards to pooping himself on a taped episode of Smackdown. Punk said it was the antibiotics given to him by Amann (who lifted his eyebrows).
- Punk says the lump was the last thing on his list of injuries in his talk with Dr. Samson about a concussion.
- Punk says he didn’t put coins, eggs or sporting equipment on his butt.
- Punk’s attorney rests.
- Cabana’s attorney returns.
- Punk says he didn’t give Amann HIPPA rights on the cease and desist letter.
- Cabana’s attorney rests.
- Punk’s wife, April Mendez-Brooks takes the stand.
- She admits to not being at the first four days of the trial.
- She says Punk is her husband.
- She says her ring name was AJ Lee and was with the company from around 2009-2015.
- She started seeing Punk in August 2013.
- She says they bonded from both growing up poor and having to work hard to no longer be poor.
- Brooks-Mendez says she remembered Punk suffering from headaches and not being able to sleep and would and would also dry heave after his matches.
- An objection from Amann’s attorney on the line of questioning surrounding the European tour in 2013. A sidebar is requested by Punk’s attorney and granted by the judge.
- Mendez-Brooks said Punk was exhausted for the entire tour and was grouchy.
- Mendez-Brooks said she first noticed the lump in Aug. 2013 when they were intimate. She said it looked like the size of a knuckle. She didn’t say anything at first because they hadn’t been dating long.
- Amann’s attorney asks for her to speak louder and asks to move next to Mendez-Brooks.
- Mendez-Brooks says they traveled to the Rumble together on Punk’s bus.
- Mendez-Brooks said she was in the meeting with Punk and Amann because she wanted him to take care of himself.
- Mendez-Brooks describes what a wrestling bump is.
- Mendez-Brooks said Punk told Amann to cut the lump off now. Amann told him to wait after the match because you don’t want an open wound to get infected.
- Mendez-Brooks said she told Punk in a text exchange to not stab the lump and let her bring him to her doctor. She said he didn’t stab it because she checked it herself which draw a chuckle from the jury.
- Mendez-Brooks said Dr. Duffy was her dermatologist and she was the one who setup the appointment.
- Mendez-Brooks said she didn’t go to the visit because she thought it was going to just be a consultation.
- Mendez-Brooks said she was surprised that Duffy was more concerned with the lump than Dr. Amann was.
- Judge breaks the trial for 90 minutes.
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