WWE has emerged victorious again in concussion-related lawsuits filed by former wrestlers, as the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeals of a number of lower court rulings.
The plaintiffs alleged that the Stamford company was aware of the risks they faced of suffering chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), along with a number of other physical and mental afflictions.
Those afflictions have led to brain damage, dementia and in some cases death, the suits alleged.
The Supreme Court”™s action ”“ it did not provide reasons for not hearing the appeals ”“ brings to an end a six-year-long legal saga.
The most recent previous development last September found the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City upholding a Connecticut federal judge”™s 2018 dismissal of concussion-related lawsuits filed by 50 former wrestlers against the WWE.
Those plaintiffs included Harry Masayoshi “Mr. Fuji” Fujiwara and Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, who died in 2016 and 2017, respectively; they were diagnosed with CTE after their deaths, according to the lawsuits.
Also filing suit were Chris “King Kong Bundy” Pallies and Joseph “Road Warrior Animal” Laurinaitis, who died in 2019 and 2020, respectively, of undisclosed causes.
The WWE has consistently averred that the lawsuits had no merit. “We”™re glad it”™s finally over,” WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt told ESPN. “We were completely vindicated.”
“The wrestlers are dying of CTE despite the inaction of the justice system,” said Konstantine Kyros, who represented the plaintiffs. “Our team is proud to have brought their claims to our highest court and hopeful that this brings awareness to their ongoing struggles.”
you got no chance, no chance in hell #WWE