You would assume that a franchise such as WWE would be aware of the details surrounding allegations by CM Punk over his staph infection. You would assume WWE would brush it under the rug, but for whatever reason, they have just made the situation a lot worse. They are in full damage control mode, but in doing so, they have truly shot themselves in the foot. It took them four months to respond to the allegations, which can only make you wonder why it took so long.
The following video was posted by their Youtube account. It shows close ups of CM Punks back, and more awkwardly, his backside. Comments are disabled to avoid the obvious uproar there would have been.
Not only is the video supremely long, it doesn’t help to prove anything, as CM Punk repeatedly stated the lump was below the waistline. The video shows his tight-fitting trunks, and at no point do you ever get close to seeing below the waistline. Any lump causing pain in that area would need to be covered up to avoid friction, making it more difficult to notice a lump through the trunks.
CM Punk claimed it was the size of a baseball, which was obviously an over-exaggeration. It was clearly big enough to be concerned, but WWE obviously took every word said as solid fact. CM Punk wasn’t to know that Dr. Amann and WWE would respond to these exaggerated claims by suing him. I am sure CM Punk will respond and ensure everyone that his “baseball-sized lump” was him exaggerating for the sake of it, like (almost) anyone would when telling a story like that. He wasn’t under trial on the podcast, he was talking to his friend Colt Cobana, who is probably used to his friend exaggerating for comic relief.
CM Punk showed his scar from his infection in an interview. It gave clear indication of where it was located. In order for the above video to be “proof”, the top of his backside would have been shown, like Punk does in the video below. At no point do we see his trunks get anywhere near to the located scar.
So why did it take this long? And why after several months have they responded in this way? In my humble opinion, it reeks of desperation. We will see what happens, Punk will have evidence from the doctor who treated it, and it’s going to come out in the wash eventually. Expect CM Punk to counter-sue, and the Youtube video will be the first thing he can use against WWE. You don’t respond to such an allegation by making a Youtube video of a former employee. It will serve no purpose for WWE, and I am ashamed that they took the time to go this far with it. It makes you wonder if WWE employees actually listened to the podcast, because anyone who did would know where the lump was located.
All it does is drag the CM Punk story on. To many fans, this is completely unnecessary, and we were all happy to move on from the debacle. WWE has dragged this back up, not CM Punk. He was ready to move on to UFC and put the past behind him, but WWE obviously want to keep their doctor’s reputation intact. I can’t see that happening no matter what the outcome is. The damage was already done, and no amount of lawsuits are going to fix Dr. Amann’s reputation. The “Z-Pak” doctor was always going to be remembered as such, you can’t stop someone from making disparaging remarks if they have legitimate reasons to do so. Why else would Punk say those things? Just to be a first-class A-hole? What would be the point of wasting time on the podcast to discredit a doctor for no reason? Nobody in their right mind would do that, and WWE should have realized that and avoided this lawsuit.
I guess Vince McMahon does like hanging “dirty laundry” in public. He lied about giving the fans what they want, and he lied about hanging dirty laundry out for all to see. All we can do is sit back and enjoy the fireworks! It’s going to be spectacular.
