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News on Professional Wrestling and the Independent Circuit"},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/-/Christopher+Nowinski?alt\u003djson-in-script\u0026max-results\u003d6"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/-/Christopher+Nowinski?alt\u003djson-in-script\u0026max-results\u003d6"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http://www.klqwrestling.com/search/label/Christopher%20Nowinski"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/-/Christopher+Nowinski/-/Christopher+Nowinski?alt\u003djson-in-script\u0026start-index\u003d7\u0026max-results\u003d6"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kaliqo~"},"uri":{"$t":"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16883827855779815366"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"//images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url\u003dhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GAU61F_GcXw/Sq5xKvM2cyI/AAAAAAAAALA/SD6S9DAAU3M/S220-s100/allura-logo.jpg\u0026container\u003dblogger\u0026gadget\u003da\u0026rewriteMime\u003dimage/*"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"https://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"42"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"6"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964262.post-2684755735889025428"},"published":{"$t":"2016-07-10T07:30:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-07-10T09:03:33.898-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"WWE"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Chyna"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Concussion Syndrome"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Chris Benoit"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Christopher Nowinski"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Does lawsuit mean Chris Nowinski is caught in the middle?"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ciframe allowtransparency\u003d\"true\" frameborder\u003d\"0\" scrolling\u003d\"no\" src\u003d\"http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href\u003dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.klqwrestling.com\u0026amp;layout\u003dstandard\u0026amp;show_faces\u003dfalse\u0026amp;width\u003d400\u0026amp;action\u003dlike\u0026amp;colorscheme\u003dlight\u0026amp;height\u003d35\" style\u003d\"border: none; height: 35px; overflow: hidden; width: 400px;\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\nIn the summer of 2007, soon after retired pro wrestler Chris Nowinski created a concussion research foundation he would affiliate with Boston University, a star wrestler named Chris Benoit strangled his wife, choked to death his 7-year-old son, and hanged himself.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe 40-year-old Benoit previously had told Nowinski he experienced “more [concussions] than I can count.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n“I was certain Benoit had suffered from CTE [chronic traumatic encephalopathy],’’ Nowinski wrote in his book, “Head Games: The Global Concussion Crisis.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNowinski and his then-partner, Dr. Bennet Omalu, wasted little time procuring Benoit’s brain to examine. And when Omalu diagnosed Benoit with severe CTE — the first confirmation of the degenerative brain disease in a World Wrestling Entertainment performer — Nowinski widely publicized the findings, helping to galvanize national concern about traumatic brain injuries and catapult his foundation to prominence.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNine years later, Nowinski faces a possible dilemma. He has since split bitterly from Omalu and embraced WWE as a multimillion-dollar sponsor of his BU-affiliated Concussion Legacy Foundation. And as WWE fights a concussion lawsuit in part by challenging Omalu’s diagnosis of Benoit, the question arises: Were Nowinski compelled to choose sides, would he defend Omalu’s findings or support WWE, the largest benefactor that Nowinski’s foundation has publicly acknowledged?\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003ca name\u003d'more'\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nWWE has subpoenaed Omalu, a forensic pathologist who first discovered CTE in a professional football player, for all his research on Benoit and other deceased professional wrestlers. The subpoena also calls for Omalu to turn over all his correspondence with Nowinski and the Concussion Legacy Foundation, formerly the Sports Legacy Institute.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nWhen Nowinski was asked by the Globe if he stands by Omalu’s diagnosis of Benoit, he issued a statement through his foundation.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n“I am not a neuropathologist and I relied on Dr. Omalu’s statement that the brain met his criteria for a CTE diagnosis,’’ he said. “I had no reason to question the diagnosis.”\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nHowever, Nowinski wrote in his book that he “later found out [Omalu] was working on cases in his garage, publicly claiming to speak to the ghosts of those he studied.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe Globe asked Nowinski if those purported revelations later caused him to have doubts about Omalu’s diagnosis of Benoit. A foundation spokesman said Nowinski had no further comment.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nOmalu’s diagnosis of Benoit was affirmed at the time by two leading concussion specialists, neurosurgeons Julian Bailes and Robert Cantu. Omalu described Nowinski’s comment about his garage and ghosts as “an attempt to ridicule me.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nBorn and raised in Nigeria, Omalu now serves as the chief medical examiner of San Joaquin County and teaches at the University of California, Davis. He is a founding member of the Pennsylvania-based Brain Injury Research Institute, and he has described himself as a devout Catholic who believes the spirits of the dead live on, as he has demonstrated by speaking to subjects during autopsies. He was portrayed by the actor Will Smith in the 2015 movie “Concussion.”\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nAs for working in his garage, Omalu said, “I brought brains home because everybody did not believe in what I was doing. I didn’t want a supervisor telling me to stop examining brains.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nHe said he also wanted to protect his intellectual property by working independently and funding his own research.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIf Omalu’s diagnosis of Benoit is discredited, his stature would suffer in the competitive field of CTE research and WWE would score a potential legal victory. But Nowinski also could be damaged for having built his reputation and foundation in large part by aggressively promoting Omalu’s diagnosis of Benoit.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIn 2007, Nowinski orchestrated a media blitz to herald Omalu’s findings in Benoit’s case and cite CTE’s possible connection to Benoit’s crimes. The campaign included appearances on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “Nightline.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nWWE was not pleased. The company issued a statement, saying the “attempt to explain the murder of Benoit’s family was possibly caused by some form of dementia as a result of concussions is speculative.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nSoon after, WWE sent Nowinski a letter requesting “complete access to all of [his foundation’s] information regarding its work on the Benoit case.’’ Nowinski did not comply, according to a 2010 letter from WWE to Bailes seeking the information.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThose letters as well as others to a lawyer representing Omalu were part of WWE’s unsuccessful effort over the years to obtain the research material on Benoit.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIn April, only days after news broke that Omalu had agreed to study the brain of WWE star Joan Laurer for possible CTE, WWE subpoenaed all his records on professional wrestlers. Laurer, who wrestled under the name Chyna, was found dead in her bed at age 46.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nShould Laurer be diagnosed with CTE, the findings could complicate WWE’s defense against professional wrestlers who claim they suffered brain damage while performing for the company. Omalu also is studying the brains of pro wrestlers Jonathan Rechner (Balls Mahoney) and Brian Knighton (Axl Rotten) for possible CTE, which can be diagnosed only through autopsies. Both died at age 44.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nSeveral professional wrestlers criticized Nowinski in a June 11 article in the Globe because he and his foundation have not procured the brains of professional wrestlers for CTE research since WWE began donating $2.7 million to Nowinski’s non-profit in 2013. The foundation also added a WWE executive, Paul Levesque, to its board of directors.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe WWE’s subpoena of Omalu stems from a concussion lawsuit filed in federal court in Connecticut against the company by former performers Vito LoGrasso and Evan Singleton. A judge dismissed several elements of the complaint but allowed the wrestlers to pursue a claim that WWE fraudulently failed to warn them they could suffer head injuries on the job that could cause permanent brain damage.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nLawyers for LoGrasso and Singleton subpoenaed Nowinski to testify about his WWE experience and knowledge of head injuries in professional wrestling. Nowinski, in addition to promoting Benoit’s CTE diagnosis, has said he retired from professional wrestling because of brain injuries, though he has held WWE blameless.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nA judge granted requests by Nowinski and WWE to block Nowinski’s testimony, saying the plaintiffs’ lawyers missed the deadline for serving the subpoena. The judge also ruled Nowinski’s testimony would not be relevant to the remaining fraud allegation against WWE.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003ci\u003esource:  bostonglobe.com\u003c/i\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003e\u003cscript expr:src\u003d'\"http://feeds.feedburner.com/~s/Klq?i\u003d\" + data:post.url' type\u003d\"text/javascript\" charset\u003d\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c/script\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/2684755735889025428"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/2684755735889025428"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.klqwrestling.com/2016/07/does-lawsuit-mean-chris-nowinski-is.html","title":"Does lawsuit mean Chris Nowinski is caught in the middle?"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kaliqo~"},"uri":{"$t":"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16883827855779815366"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"//images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url\u003dhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GAU61F_GcXw/Sq5xKvM2cyI/AAAAAAAAALA/SD6S9DAAU3M/S220-s100/allura-logo.jpg\u0026container\u003dblogger\u0026gadget\u003da\u0026rewriteMime\u003dimage/*"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964262.post-6410232595496466356"},"published":{"$t":"2016-07-01T19:46:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-07-01T19:46:47.471-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"WWE"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Concussion Syndrome"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Christopher Nowinski"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Vince McMahon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Triple H"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The Latest On The WWE Concussion Lawsuit"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ciframe allowtransparency\u003d\"true\" frameborder\u003d\"0\" scrolling\u003d\"no\" src\u003d\"http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href\u003dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.klqwrestling.com\u0026amp;layout\u003dstandard\u0026amp;show_faces\u003dfalse\u0026amp;width\u003d400\u0026amp;action\u003dlike\u0026amp;colorscheme\u003dlight\u0026amp;height\u003d35\" style\u003d\"border: none; height: 35px; overflow: hidden; width: 400px;\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\nAs previously reported on PWInsider.com, many of the lawsuits brought against WWE for allegedly failing to disclose information and caring about the well being of talents when it comes to concussion-related issues and CTE have for the most part been dismissed (although some of those dismissals are currently being appealed).  The lone exception, as of this writing, has been the lawsuit brought against the company by former WWE talent Vito LoGrasso and former developmental talent Evan Singleton.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIn that case, many of the claims brought against WWE by LoGrasso and Singleton were dismissed for the same reasons as the other lawsuits but one* (see below) of the claims against WWE in this lawsuit was allowed to move forward.  Specifically allowed was their claim alleging that in 2005, WWE \"became aware of and failed to disclose to its wrestlers information concerning a link between repeated head trauma and permanent degenerative neurological conditions.\"    Since WWE had created the Wellness Policy and LoGrasso and Singleton had wrestled during that period, the court ruled it was within reason that there was a possibility that WWE had a \"greater knowledge\" of the dangers via information cultivated via Wellness Policy data.  So the court is allowing that aspect of the case to move forward so the matter can be determined. \u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003ca name\u003d'more'\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nWWE has been arguing against this, noting that at no point during his WWE run, did Lo LoGrasso ever report a head injury or was diagnosed with a concussion nor could he name a date or place where anyone from WWE that he complained about an issue and was then medically cleared \"without adequate rest\" while in the case of Singleton, he was required to attend a talk about the dangers of concussions given by Dr. Joseph Maroon and then was never cleared to return to the ring by WWE medical personnel after being injured in the ring.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nAs the sides continue to argue that remaining existing point of the lawsuit, depositions have taken place involving a number of WWE executives including Vince McMahon and Paul Levesque.  A deposition regarding former WWE talent turned concussion expert Chris Nowinski has been a major bone of contention within the two sides with the court ruling initially that there was no reason for Nowinski to be deposed in the matter. \u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nAttorneys for LoGrasso and Singleton requested the court to reconsider and around the same time, there just happened to be a Boston Globe article about Nowinski that alleged that he was \"too close\" to WWE given they had donated money towards his Concussion Legacy Foundation. \u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe jist of the article, featuring quotes from former WWE talents such as Renee Dupree (who just had his own lawsuit against the company dropped days after filing it) was that Nowinski had \"abandoned' his fellow former wrestlers by working too closely with WWE and despite getting many to agree to sign over their brains for future research on CTE, there were many others who passed away who Nowinski did allegedly not reach out to.  Interestingly, there was a reference to attorney Konstantine Kyros (who is spearheading all of the concussion lawsuits against the company) in the article as well, noting that Kyros represented the families of the late Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney and Joanie \"Chyna\" Laurer in sending their brains to Dr. Bennet Omalu (the doctor who's work in CTE was chronicled in the film \"Concussion\" as played by Will Smith) who was working in conjunction with Nowinski but no longer is.  Nowinski responded to the article on his Foundation's website at this link.  The timing of the article, given that whether Nowinski would be deposed or not in the lawsuit was still up in the air, is extremely interesting. \u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nOn 6/28, Judge Vanessa L. Bryant gave a final ruling on whether Nowinski could be deposed in the matter, ruling, \"Plaintiff has not identified any facts or controlling decisions that the Court overlooked when the Court found that Plaintiff had not demonstrated that the prior discovery deadline could not be met despite the due diligence of counsel, as required by Local Rule 7(b), for the extension of Court deadlines. Moreover, Plaintiffs have not identified facts, beyond mere speculation, that Nowinski has knowledge concerning WWE's own knowledge or lack thereof that is relevant to the Court's discovery Order. If Nowinski indeed undertook research and published a book and made public statements concerning head injuries, such facts are publicly available for plaintiff to use in building a case to the extent such facts are relevant to the surviving claim. Plaintiff, however, has offered no facts to suggest that Nowinski's work with \"Smackdown Your Vote\" during the time period in which he researched and authored the book provides him with any knowledge relevant to the discovery Order, let alone knowledge that necessitates both reopening the discovery period and compelling the appearance of a third party witness.\"\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nSo, Nowinski will not be deposed in regard to the case.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nAs previously noted, lawsuits brought against the company by Billy Jack Hayes, Russ McCullough, Luther Reigns and Ryan Sakoda have been dismissed.  Those dismissals are being appealed.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nLawsuits brought by the estates of the late Matt Osbourne (pka as Matt Borne) and Nelson Frazier Jr. (pka Big Daddy V) are still pending.\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003e\u003cscript expr:src\u003d'\"http://feeds.feedburner.com/~s/Klq?i\u003d\" + data:post.url' type\u003d\"text/javascript\" charset\u003d\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c/script\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/6410232595496466356"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/6410232595496466356"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.klqwrestling.com/2016/07/latest-on-wwe-concussion-lawsuit.html","title":"The Latest On The WWE Concussion Lawsuit"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kaliqo~"},"uri":{"$t":"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16883827855779815366"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"//images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url\u003dhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GAU61F_GcXw/Sq5xKvM2cyI/AAAAAAAAALA/SD6S9DAAU3M/S220-s100/allura-logo.jpg\u0026container\u003dblogger\u0026gadget\u003da\u0026rewriteMime\u003dimage/*"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964262.post-7339084806264179323"},"published":{"$t":"2016-06-18T17:18:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-06-18T17:18:13.039-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"WWE"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Concussion Syndrome"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Christopher Nowinski"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Chris Nowinski Responds To Being Targeted For Being 'Too Cozy' With WWE"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ciframe allowtransparency\u003d\"true\" frameborder\u003d\"0\" scrolling\u003d\"no\" src\u003d\"http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href\u003dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.klqwrestling.com\u0026amp;layout\u003dstandard\u0026amp;show_faces\u003dfalse\u0026amp;width\u003d400\u0026amp;action\u003dlike\u0026amp;colorscheme\u003dlight\u0026amp;height\u003d35\" style\u003d\"border: none; height: 35px; overflow: hidden; width: 400px;\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\nI am releasing a statement regarding the Concussion Legacy Foundation's outreach and recruiting efforts within the professional wrestling community. This is in advance of a reporter writing an article attempting to create controversy where there is none. This statement makes clear that we remain committed to improving health outcomes of professional wrestlers, and explains how we accomplish that within the broader scope of our mission.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nSpecifically, I have been informed that, in an upcoming article, a reporter is attempting to invent conflict by asserting that post-death brain donations among professional wrestlers have declined since CLF received an unrestricted gift from WWE in 2012 that has supported research aimed at accelerating a cure for CTE. These assertions ignore the facts; completely misunderstand the process and motivation behind CLF's brain donation recruiting and outreach; and disregard CLF's broad mission to advance research into CTE for all athletes and other at-risk groups, with a special focus on contact sports that millions of children play, as well as military veterans.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nScientific inquiry into CTE is complex. In the interest of providing the general public, as well as the professional wrestling community, with a better understanding of our brain donation initiatives and our broad research and education efforts, as well as to explain how these efforts benefit members of the professional wrestling community, I have prepared this summary. Be assured that the science remains independent, unrestricted and driven by our goals of advancing research toward detection during life as well as treatment and a cure for CTE, in addition to advancing public health.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003ca name\u003d'more'\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nConcussion Legacy Foundation Mission\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe Concussion Legacy Foundation believes we all have a responsibility to ensure that athletes can reach their full potential on and off the field. We are committed to protecting athletes and families through research, policy, and education. CLF is determined to usher in positive change on a national scale and to solve the concussion crisis. Researching the brains of hundreds of former athletes helps advance research focused on CTE treatment, and also raises awareness of the risks of brain trauma in sports.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nCTE History\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nBy 2007, there were fewer than 50 cases confirmed in the medical literature worldwide, almost exclusively in boxers. In 2007 CLF (then called the Sports Legacy Institute) was founded. Some of our early work involved wrestlers, and in 2007 it was announced that professional wrestler Chris Benoit was diagnosed with CTE by a researcher then associated with CLF.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe ground-breaking work of the VA-BU-CLF brain bank\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIn 2008, the scope of our mission expanded. CLF partnered with Boston University School of Medicine and the US Department of Veterans Affairs to create the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank to continue and expand CTE research. CLF performs outreach, recruiting, and public education efforts on behalf of the brain bank consortium. More than 340 brains of athletes and military veterans have been donated and studied for CTE, and over 200 have tested positive for CTE. These 200 CTE cases identified using the brain bank represent nearly two-thirds of the world's known cases of CTE.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe continuing goal of CLF and the brain bank is to procure tissue samples and clinical information from deceased athletes to better understand the pathology, etiology, and epidemiology of trauma-related neurodegenerative disorders. The work of the brain bank is designed to establish environmental and genetic risk factors, as well as, eventually, a diagnostic test for CTE in living persons.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe process to procure brain donations has evolved over time. Brain donations used to be primarily procured after death, which was not efficient.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nAt the beginning of our work, neither the option for brain donation, nor CTE were well known in the athlete community. We have worked to raise awareness of both our brain donation program as well as CTE. In the early years, most brains were procured through active recruiting, meaning that a member of our team called the family immediately after learning about a death. Active recruiting is a time consuming and inefficient way to procure brains for research.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIn 2008 CLF launched a better, more efficient approach: A brain donation registry. The registry has been enormously successful.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nA brain donation registry, where donors sign up in advance, is more effective and yields higher quality research specimens as well as clinical data directly from the registry participants while they are alive. As a result, in 2008, our primary approach to securing donations evolved and we launched a brain donation registry. We have conducted a continuous public education campaign around the need for brain donors, and we provide information about donations on our website. Today, over 1,100 athletes—in many sports, including professional wrestling—have pledged their brain to our research, and many have shared their pledge with the media to raise awareness.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nProfessional wrestlers have been an important part of this effort. I would like to personally thank WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley, WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash, Lance Storm, and Rob Van Dam for publicly pledging to donate their brains to CLF for research. I would also like to thank the other professional wrestlers who have donated their brains to CLF for research but who have chosen not to publicize their decision.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThis brain donation campaign has been incredibly successful, and our brain donation program has transitioned from active recruitment to a program where since 2013, 94% of brain donations to us are initiated by the family or medical professionals. In each of the past three years, CLF has seen a record number of donations. Since 2013, 12 brains have been procured through active recruiting, while 175 brain donations have been initiated by the family or medical professionals, including many through the registry.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nFor the last few years, we have met our target goal number of donated brains without active recruiting. That target is primarily based on funding and research staff capacity limitations. Active recruiting is now only used in rare circumstances where the case is of special interest to the research team, like ALS cases in athletes, or cases of special interest to public health or public education.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe goal of CLF's work through the brain bank is to move toward a cure for CTE and to advance public health.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe primary goals of our outreach and recruiting efforts are to advance research toward a cure for CTE and to promote public health. Professional wrestling remains a part of this much broader goal.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nTo support CLF's broad public health mission, which is particularly focused on youth sports, we try to secure brain donations from athletes in all sports. We focus broadly on many sports for several reasons:\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nMore than 30 million children participate in youth sports; we focus our resources on contact sports that children play, such as football, ice hockey, soccer and rugby.\u003cbr /\u003e\nSome CTE cases have public education value. The sports media has provided award-winning coverage of CTE in football, ice hockey, and other sports, providing great public health benefit. Professional wrestling does not have a large dedicated media following, and many media outlets do not cover professional wrestling. Notably, my hometown newspaper, The Boston Globe, did not cover Chris Benoit's CTE diagnosis.\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe Foundation's work regarding professional wrestlers has not changed.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nI have been asked if our professional wrestling-related research has changed since the WWE began providing funding to support CLF's efforts in late 2012. The answer is no. We applaud WWE's support and there has been no effort to influence CLF's mission. In fact since 2013, I have provided eight concussion and CTE education programs for WWE wrestlers.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe facts show that we have not changed our research protocols, nor has WWE funding influenced our research activities in any way. Here are the facts:\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe brain bank has a written brain donation criteria that states the background of donors eligible to donate. The criteria is primarily focused on sports or brain trauma exposure history. Professional wrestlers have always met the criteria.\u003cbr /\u003e\nSince our inception, we have never turned away the family of a professional wrestler who wanted to donate their brain.\u003cbr /\u003e\nBrain donation continues to be initiated by the families of many former wrestlers, including in 2016. Many of the donations to the brain bank remain private at the request of the family.\u003cbr /\u003e\nAlthough we have not successfully recruited the brain of a former professional wrestler, post-death, since 2009, we continue to reach out to families of professional wrestlers to raise awareness of our mission.\u003cbr /\u003e\nSince the beginning of our recruiting efforts we have only reached out to only a very small percentage of potential donors in any brain trauma exposure category.\u003cbr /\u003e\nTo be clear, we continue to encourage former professional wrestlers to pledge their brains to the brain bank, and we will continue to actively recruit the brains of professional wrestlers, particularly when the research will benefit public health and public education for all athletes.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIn the brain bank, professional wrestlers are the 4th largest category of athlete donors, behind football, boxing, and ice hockey, and ahead of soccer, rugby, baseball, and lacrosse. We are very interested in identifying CTE cases in the lesser represented sports, as from the lens of public education, identifying multiple CTE cases in a single sport has frequently led to swift rule changes to protect athletes, especially children, from risk.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nConclusion\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nI want to emphasize that professional wrestling has been and will continue to be a part of our work. I would like to thank the professional wrestling community for their support since a concussion ended my career in 2003. You have been among my earliest and strongest supporters, and together we have changed the world.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nYour continued support is allowing us to advance a cure for CTE. I applaud WWE for its unrestricted financial support that has accelerated that research effort. WWE has donated $1.67 million to the Concussion Legacy Foundation since 2012, of which $1 million in grants has been or will be provided to researchers at Boston University for projects focused on the understanding and treatment of CTE, which will benefit professional athletes in all sports, including professional wrestlers.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIf you would like to get involved in the research, join our brain donation registry here. Please contact me with any questions nowinski@concussionfoundation.org.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nChris Nowinski\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nCo-founder \u0026amp; President of the Concussion Legacy Foundation\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003e\u003cscript expr:src\u003d'\"http://feeds.feedburner.com/~s/Klq?i\u003d\" + data:post.url' type\u003d\"text/javascript\" charset\u003d\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c/script\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/7339084806264179323"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/7339084806264179323"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.klqwrestling.com/2016/06/chris-nowinski-responds-to-being.html","title":"Chris Nowinski Responds To Being Targeted For Being 'Too Cozy' With WWE"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kaliqo~"},"uri":{"$t":"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16883827855779815366"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"//images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url\u003dhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GAU61F_GcXw/Sq5xKvM2cyI/AAAAAAAAALA/SD6S9DAAU3M/S220-s100/allura-logo.jpg\u0026container\u003dblogger\u0026gadget\u003da\u0026rewriteMime\u003dimage/*"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964262.post-4279001358943164502"},"published":{"$t":"2016-06-12T09:26:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-06-12T09:26:15.682-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"WWE"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Concussion Syndrome"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Christopher Nowinski"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Ex-wrestlers say one of their own sells them short"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ciframe allowtransparency\u003d\"true\" frameborder\u003d\"0\" scrolling\u003d\"no\" src\u003d\"http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href\u003dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.klqwrestling.com\u0026amp;layout\u003dstandard\u0026amp;show_faces\u003dfalse\u0026amp;width\u003d400\u0026amp;action\u003dlike\u0026amp;colorscheme\u003dlight\u0026amp;height\u003d35\" style\u003d\"border: none; height: 35px; overflow: hidden; width: 400px;\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe night his professional wrestling career went bad, Chris Nowinski took a brain-rattling kick to his chin from a 325-pound brawler. Pain seized him, and his world turned gauzy.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNowinski performed many nights after his 2003 concussion, absorbing a rat-a-tat of blows to his skull for the entertainment of millions.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nBefore he launched his pioneering career procuring the brains of dead athletes for medical research, Nowinski suffered the kind of debilitating head injuries that damaged countless other professional wrestlers and helped inspire him to expose the hidden perils of the body-slamming entertainment and sports industries.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNowinski, a former Harvard football player whose star turn in the World Wrestling Entertainment arena was cut short by his brain injuries, is nine years into a campaign to try to solve the concussion crisis in sports, entertainment, and the armed forces — an effort he dedicated in part to former WWE colleagues such as Rene Goguen, who performed as Rene Dupree.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nBut Goguen and other professional wrestlers said in interviews that they believe Nowinski has sold them short because his Waltham-based Concussion Legacy Foundation has forged a financial bond with WWE, a billion-dollar corporation that has fought concussion-related lawsuits from its former performers.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nSince 2013, WWE has agreed to donate $2.7 million to the foundation, making it the largest benefactor the nonprofit has publicly acknowledged. During that period, Nowinski and his foundation staff have reached out to the families of 12 deceased athletes to acquire their brains for researchers to study for links between repetitive head blows and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative brain disease that has been diagnosed in hundreds of sports and military veterans, many of whom have committed suicide or succumbed to drug overdoses.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nBut none of those brains belonged to a professional wrestler, despite nearly 100 of them dying since the WWE’s initial gift to Nowinski’s foundation. Many of those wrestlers died before the age of 50, including some of Nowinski’s fellow performers.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003ca name\u003d'more'\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nFor a number of years, Nowinski gained renown for helping to lead a campaign to expose the incidence of brain damage in the National Football League by aggressively pursuing the brains of deceased players for CTE research. In 2007, he also procured the brain of WWE star Chris Benoit, which helped establish that Benoit suffered from severe CTE when he killed his wife, their 7-year-old son, and himself.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nBenoit was the first WWE performer diagnosed with CTE, a disease that can only be confirmed through a post-mortem examination of the brain.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNowinski, a cofounder and president of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, said by e-mail that he has not acquired the brains of professional wrestlers for CTE research since his nonprofit partnered with WWE in 2013, largely because he has scaled back actively pursuing brains of people who have died. He said he decided as early as 2009 that it would be more efficient and scientifically beneficial to acquire brains through a donor registry he established in 2008.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nMore than 1,000 athletes, military veterans, and others have pledged their brains to the registry, including at least eight professional wrestlers who have publicly acknowledged their pledges. And Nowinski said he has never rejected offers from families of dead wrestlers to donate their brains for research.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n“I want to make clear how inaccurate it would be to claim or insinuate that if there were no donations from the families of professional wrestlers since 2013, it would imply unprofessional activity,’’ he said.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nGoguen, who was featured in Nowinski’s 2006 book, “Head Games,’’ because of a brain injury he suffered in the ring, is among several former WWE performers who believe Nowinski has adopted a more passive approach to investigating CTE in professional wrestlers than he did with football players. They said they suspect a potential conflict of interest involving the WWE’s donations to Nowinski’s foundation, as did some nonprofit specialists.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nWWE has given Nowinski’s foundation $400,000 a year since 2013. In 2014, the payment accounted for 36 percent of the foundation’s total grants and contributions of $1.1 million, according to its most recently available federal tax statement.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n‘I take this work very seriously. I have friends dying with CTE.’\u003cbr /\u003e\nChris Nowinski, cofounder and president of the Concussion Legacy Foundation \u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nQuote Icon\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n“It certainly seems like a situation where you’re asking the foxes to help guard the chicken coop,’’ said Marc Pollick, president and founder of the Giving Back Fund, a nonprofit that for 20 years has created and managed charitable foundations for athletes, entertainers, and corporations. “If you’re partnering with a company that is facing those kinds of [concussion lawsuits], where’s the firewall?’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nWWE not only sponsors the Concussion Legacy Foundation but has a seat on the foundation’s board of directors that is held by Paul Levesque, an executive vice president of WWE who performs under the name Triple H and is the son-in-law of the company’s majority owner, Vince McMahon.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n“A lot of us are hurting, and Chris knows that,’’ Goguen said from his home in New Brunswick. “It makes me mad that he took WWE’s money and now seems to be working for them.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNowinski said his nonprofit, which solicits public funding, “has reviewed the possibility of an appearance of a conflict and taken steps to ensure that no conflict exists.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nHis foundation is affiliated with the Boston University CTE Center as well as a brain bank jointly operated by his foundation, BU, and the US Veterans Administration (known as the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank). Nowinski said WWE has never improperly influenced any research protocols.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nHe also denied turning his back on professional wrestlers.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n“I take this work very seriously,’’ Nowinski said. “I have friends dying with CTE.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThree of Nowinski’s wrestling contemporaries have died since February: Joan Laurer (Chyna), who was 46; Jonathan Rechner (Balls Mahoney), 44; and Brian Knighton (Axl Rotten), 44.\u003cbr /\u003e\nRene Goguen, known by his ring name Rene Dupree, lives in New Brunswick. His life has fallen into disarray, possibly as a result of the toll wrestling has taken.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nDale Preston for The Boston Globe\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nRene Goguen, known by his ring name Rene Dupree, lives in New Brunswick. His life has fallen into disarray, possibly as a result of the toll wrestling has taken.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIn an updated edition of his “Head Games’’ book, Nowinski wrote about feeling “a special obligation’’ to procure the brain of University of Pennsylvania football player Owen Thomas after Thomas committed suicide in 2010 because they had been both been Ivy League defensive linemen “and it felt as if I had lost one of my own.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nHe also wrote in his book about one of his tag team wrestling partners, Rodney Begnaud, who performed as Rodney Mack. Begnaud, in a phone interview from Lafayette, La., recalled trying to protect Nowinski after he absorbed the kick to his chin in 2003 from 325-pound Bubba Ray Dudley. Begnaud said he advised WWE officials to monitor Nowinski’s condition, and he assumed Nowinski would likewise look out for him.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n“I remember him telling me he was going to write a book one day and do research into concussions in the NFL and pro wrestling,’’ Begnaud said. “He said he was going to do everything in his power to help us athletes in football and wrestling who get concussions and get thrown to the side.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nWhen the Globe asked Nowinski why he did not attempt to acquire the brains of Laurer, Rechner, or Knighton for CTE research, he replied, “Many people who meet our brain donation criteria die each year, and I would estimate we do not pursue over 99 percent of cases.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nDr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist who directs the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank and is a prolific practitioner of post-mortem CTE research, has examined nearly all the brains Nowinski and his team have obtained since 2008. Nowinski said McKee has studied 187 brains since 2013, and McKee said only one of them belonged to a professional wrestler, whom she did not identify. She said the wrestler’s case was referred to her by a medical examiner, not Nowinski or his foundation.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nMcKee expressed no reservations about WWE’s ties to Nowinski’s foundation. “We take in as many professional wrestlers’ brains as come to our attention,’’ she said. “There has been no attempt to minimize the effects of trauma from professional wrestling in our research.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nWWE attorney Jerry McDevitt said the company’s grant to the Concussion Legacy Foundation is unrestricted, no strings attached. He praised the foundation for trying to find a way to diagnose CTE in the living and lauded Nowinski for educating WWE performers about concussions.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nWWE has covered Nowinski’s travel expenses eight times since 2013 for him to discuss concussion risks with its performers.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n“We don’t in any way try to control their affairs,’’ McDevitt said of Nowinski, his foundation, and its related organizations.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nUnlike the National Football League, WWE has not acknowledged a link between head trauma in its business and CTE. Nor have scientists made a specific finding about wrestling and CTE, in part because they have not studied enough brains of professional wrestlers to reach a conclusion.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nTo date, the only professional wrestlers who have been publicly identified as being diagnosed with CTE are Benoit and Andrew “Test’’ Martin, who died at age 33 in 2009. Both were diagnosed by Dr. Bennet Omalu, a neuropathologist who in 2002 made the first CTE diagnosis in an NFL player, former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIn Nowinski’s case, he broke ground in 2006 when he became the nation’s first researcher dedicated to asking the families of deceased athletes to donate their brains for the study of CTE. He initially teamed with Omalu, and within months he had obtained the brains of two former NFL players — Andre Waters and Justin Strzelczyk — as well as Benoit’s. All three were diagnosed with CTE.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNowinski’s work inspired hope among WWE veterans such as Goguen and Begnaud, who are coping with brain-related woes. Professional wrestlers have no union to represent them. Many are struggling financially and medically, including Begnaud. He said he is trying to make ends meet by mowing lawns, but his memory is so impaired that he often gets lost on streets he has navigated since childhood.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nGoguen, who filed a lawsuit against WWE in April over a royalty dispute but quickly dropped it, said he has endured many of the symptoms associated with CTE, such as severe depression, anxiety, and suicide attempts.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nBegnaud and Goguen said they know relatively little about Nowinski’s history since their WWE days, such as Nowinski’s bitter falling out with Omalu in 2007. In the years after the split, Omalu continued his research and gained a measure of fame when Will Smith portrayed him in the 2015 movie “Concussion.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNowinski, meanwhile, partnered with McKee and for many years embraced his role as a self-avowed brain chaser. Only later, he said, did he decide to shift his focus toward building a donor registry, believing he could procure brains more efficiently and deliver higher-quality specimens to enable better research.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nYet even with his vast registry, Nowinski’s critics said, he has missed many opportunities since 2013 to advance CTE research in professional wrestling. The roll call of deaths since then includes WWE greats Dusty Rhodes (age 69), Roddy Piper (61), and Ultimate Warrior (54), as well as lesser stars such as Sean O’Haire (43) and Viscera (43).\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nAs for Laurer, Rechner, and Knighton, their brains were donated by a representative of their families, Hingham-based lawyer Konstantine Kyros, for Omalu to examine. Omalu said in an interview that research on pro wrestlers is vital because so few cases have been studied for possible CTE.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n“It’s extremely important to continue the research,’’ Omalu said. “We can never have all the answers to CTE.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNowinski’s own brain injuries in professional wrestling began soon after he started competing for a role with WWE in 2001. He performed first as Chris Harvard then under his own name, playing a bad guy, a smarmy, know-it-all Ivy Leaguer.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNowinski twice won WWE’s Hardcore championship, although the victories were all but ensured. Professional wrestling operates in a realm between fiction and reality. Matches are scripted, the winners preordained, and the violence orchestrated to produce the greatest theatrical impact while limiting pain to performers, even as they feign agony. But repetitive impacts to the head are all but inevitable with moves such as “the brain buster’’ and “the face breaker.’’\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNowinski thrived in the ring until Dudley’s boot met his chin. But Nowinski blamed himself for his aborted career, saying he was not forthcoming enough about his post-concussion syndrome to give WWE a chance to protect him from additional head trauma.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNearly three years passed before he found himself at odds with WWE over Benoit’s CTE diagnosis. The publicly traded company, potentially exposed to the kind of lawsuits that prompted the NFL to settle a class-action case by former players for $1 billion, challenged the findings as well as suggestions that CTE contributed to Benoit’s crimes.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe situation grew testier in 2010, when Nowinski lashed out at WWE after one of his former tag team partners, Lance McNaught, died at 29. Nowinski accused WWE of fostering an “absolutely unsafe’’ environment in the ring, encouraging steroid use, and contributing to the abuse of painkillers by its performers. WWE countered with a seven-point attack on Nowinski’s credibility.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nBut now all seems forgiven. Nowinski credits WWE with “making considerable changes to their concussion programs and education in the last decade that provide for a significantly safer environment.’’ And he disavowed his other 2010 accusations, saying “they were driven by emotion and the pain I felt from the death” of McNaught.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nNowinski’s foundation honored WWE in 2013 with its annual Impact Award. In 2015, WWE announcer Corey Graves was invited to host the foundation’s awards gala. And the cozier the relationship became between WWE and Nowinski, the more some of Nowinski’s former colleagues cringed.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIn 2009, Chavo Guerrero Sr., one of six members of his family who have performed as professional wrestlers, granted Nowinski’s request to pledge his brain to the donor registry. Guerrero said he has not spoken to Nowinski since 2010 but has become increasingly concerned about Nowinski’s foundation accepting millions of dollars from WWE.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nLast month, Guerrero sent a message to Nowinski.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n“I wanted to ask him straight up if it was a betrayal, if he sold out to Vince [McMahon],’’ Guerrero said.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nHe said Nowinski has yet to respond.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003ci\u003esource:  bostonblobe.com\u003c/i\u003e\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003e\u003cscript expr:src\u003d'\"http://feeds.feedburner.com/~s/Klq?i\u003d\" + data:post.url' type\u003d\"text/javascript\" charset\u003d\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c/script\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/4279001358943164502"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/4279001358943164502"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.klqwrestling.com/2016/06/ex-wrestlers-say-one-of-their-own-sells.html","title":"Ex-wrestlers say one of their own sells them short"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kaliqo~"},"uri":{"$t":"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16883827855779815366"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"//images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url\u003dhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GAU61F_GcXw/Sq5xKvM2cyI/AAAAAAAAALA/SD6S9DAAU3M/S220-s100/allura-logo.jpg\u0026container\u003dblogger\u0026gadget\u003da\u0026rewriteMime\u003dimage/*"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964262.post-8086250232819732297"},"published":{"$t":"2016-05-18T15:29:00.001-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-05-27T11:25:40.651-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"WWE"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Concussion Syndrome"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Stephanie McMahon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bill DeMott"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Christopher Nowinski"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Vince McMahon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Triple H"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"WWE concussion lawsuit takes strange turn with deposition"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ciframe src\u003d\"http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href\u003dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.klqwrestling.com\u0026amp;layout\u003dstandard\u0026amp;show_faces\u003dfalse\u0026amp;width\u003d400\u0026amp;action\u003dlike\u0026amp;colorscheme\u003dlight\u0026amp;height\u003d35\" scrolling\u003d\"no\" frameborder\u003d\"0\" style\u003d\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:400px; height:35px;\" allowTransparency\u003d\"true\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\u003cbr /\u003e\nVince McMahon, Triple H, Dr. Joseph Maroon, Dr. Mark Lovell, Dr. Chris Amann, Bill DeMott and Chris Nowinski will all be deposed in the Vito LoGrasso and Evan Singleton concussion lawsuit, but Stephanie McMahon won't be.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIt has been almost two months since WWE won several important rulings in the concussion litigation filed by six former WWE wrestlers, with the Haynes and McCullough et al. lawsuits being dismissed outright and the LoGrasso and Singleton lawsuit being partially dismissed. The remaining claim against the company is that they committed fraud by omission after the institution of their Wellness Policy by failing to disclose to LoGrasso, Singleton and their other wrestlers \"information concerning a link between repeated head trauma and permanent degenerative neurological conditions as well as specialized knowledge concerning the possibility that its wrestlers could be exposed to a greater risk for such conditions.\"\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe case has since entered discovery, which was a slow moving affair until the last couple of weeks when the plaintiffs deposed on short notice:\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nVince McMahon (WWE Chairman \u0026 CEO),\u003cbr /\u003e\nStephanie McMahon (Chief Brand Officer),\u003cbr /\u003e\nPaul \"Triple H\" Levesque (Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events \u0026 Creative),\u003cbr /\u003e\nDr. Joseph Maroon (WWE Medical Director),\u003cbr /\u003e\nDr. Mark Lovell (President of ImPACT),\u003cbr /\u003e\nDr. Chris Amann (WWE Senior Ringside Physician),\u003cbr /\u003e\nBill DeMott (WWE's Head Trainer from June 2012 to March 2015),\u003cbr /\u003e\nChris Nowinski (Co-Founder and President of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, an organization that has benefited from WWE donations and Levesque is a current board member of).\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nA week ago, WWE filed an emergency motion for a protective order against these unilaterally-noticed depositions arguing that it amounted to harassment of some of their most senior executives:\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\"This barrage of unilaterally-scheduled depositions is a transparent attempt to prejudice WWE’s ability to properly prepare for these depositions including having counsel of WWE’s choice defend them. Plaintiffs are seeking depositions of WWE’s highest ranking executives, including its Chairman and CEO, Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events and Creative, and Chief Brand Officer, as well as third parties who Plaintiffs know have no information on any issues relevant under the Court’s discovery order and order on WWE’s motion to dismiss. Plaintiffs have no one to blame but themselves for causing their timing predicament and the resulting prejudice to WWE as they waited until just two and one-half weeks before the close of discovery to notice these depositions.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe Court has already found that Plaintiffs failed to establish good cause to extend the discovery period. The Court should also find that good cause exists to enter a protective order to prevent Plaintiffs’ attempt to prejudice, harass and unduly burden WWE with a host of depositions out of all proportion to the legitimate issues in dispute in this case.\"\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIt should be noted that WWE did not attempt to block all attempts at discovery as they had already agreed to produce a corporate representative for a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition scheduled on May 31st, 2016 before they were swamped with these additional requests.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nHowever, Judge Vanessa Bryant denied WWE's motion for the following reason:\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\"ORDER denying 132 Motion for Protective Order. The Court does not direct discovery. Counsel are expected to civilly and professionally conduct discovery in a consultative manner as provided by Rules 26 and 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and within the deadlines set by the Court.\"\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nSince that ruling, WWE quickly arranged deposition dates for everyone except Stephanie McMahon, who they are refusing to produce \"as \"Plaintiffs have failed to identify any relevant testimony that Ms. McMahon would have on the narrow issues on which the Court has authorized discovery.\"\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIt should be noted that Paul Levesque will now serve as WWE's corporate representative for the Rule 30(b)(6) deposition mentioned above and will answer both individual and company specific questions in his deposition.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIt is highly doubtful highly sceptical that the discovery process will find a smoking gun that will lead to WWE losing this case (Bryant's initial ruling went mostly in their favour and leaked excerpts from Singleton's deposition demonstrate that he didn't even realize that he was claiming fraud in his case against WWE), it should shine a light on WWE's Wellness Policy, in particular their handling of concussions and other traumatic brain injuries. That would be a positive development, even if it only proves that WWE's actions matches their words on the concussion issue.\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003e\u003cscript expr:src\u003d'\"http://feeds.feedburner.com/~s/Klq?i\u003d\" + data:post.url' type\u003d\"text/javascript\" charset\u003d\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c/script\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/8086250232819732297"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/8086250232819732297"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.klqwrestling.com/2016/05/wwe-concussion-lawsuit-takes-strange.html","title":"WWE concussion lawsuit takes strange turn with deposition"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kaliqo~"},"uri":{"$t":"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16883827855779815366"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"//images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url\u003dhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GAU61F_GcXw/Sq5xKvM2cyI/AAAAAAAAALA/SD6S9DAAU3M/S220-s100/allura-logo.jpg\u0026container\u003dblogger\u0026gadget\u003da\u0026rewriteMime\u003dimage/*"}}]},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7964262.post-2252371015751908666"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-17T14:09:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-17T14:09:09.805-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mick Foley"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Concussion Syndrome"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Jeff Hardy"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Christopher Nowinski"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Another WWE Hall Of Famer And WWE Champion Donating Their Brains For CTE Research"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003ciframe src\u003d\"http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href\u003dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.klqwrestling.com\u0026amp;layout\u003dstandard\u0026amp;show_faces\u003dfalse\u0026amp;width\u003d400\u0026amp;action\u003dlike\u0026amp;colorscheme\u003dlight\u0026amp;height\u003d35\" scrolling\u003d\"no\" frameborder\u003d\"0\" style\u003d\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:400px; height:35px;\" allowTransparency\u003d\"true\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe mentioned a couple of weeks ago that WWE Hall of Famer and former WWE and WCW Champion Kevin Nash was going to donate his brain to help CTE research after his death. Now, Mick Foley and Jeff Hardy have also joined in on the cause.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIn an interview that we published earlier, former WWE and TNA world champion Jeff Hardy said that he's only aware of about two or three concussions that he's had, but still wants to donate his brain to the research cause.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nIn addition, WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley mentioned on Twitter that he's also donating his brain, and that former WWE Superstar Chris Nowinski talked him into doing it. Nowinski had his career ended due to concussions over ten years ago.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe WWE has seen major issues with concussions in recent years, as both Daniel Bryan and Corey Graves have had to retire due to them. Although he hasn't officially retired, Christian has also been shelved due to concussion-related issues.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\u003cdiv class\u003d\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003e\u003cscript expr:src\u003d'\"http://feeds.feedburner.com/~s/Klq?i\u003d\" + data:post.url' type\u003d\"text/javascript\" charset\u003d\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c/script\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},"link":[{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/2252371015751908666"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7964262/posts/default/2252371015751908666"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https://www.klqwrestling.com/2016/03/another-wwe-hall-of-famer-and-wwe.html","title":"Another WWE Hall Of Famer And WWE Champion Donating Their Brains For CTE Research"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kaliqo~"},"uri":{"$t":"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16883827855779815366"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"//images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url\u003dhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GAU61F_GcXw/Sq5xKvM2cyI/AAAAAAAAALA/SD6S9DAAU3M/S220-s100/allura-logo.jpg\u0026container\u003dblogger\u0026gadget\u003da\u0026rewriteMime\u003dimage/*"}}]}]}});