A lawyer for more than 50 former professional fighters suing WWE for brain damage took the case to the United States Supreme Court.
Lawyer Konstantine Kyros filed the request on Wednesday after lower courts found the process frivolous or beyond the statute of limitations, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press.
Listed plaintiffs include famous fighters from the 1980s and 90s, including Joseph “Animal” Laurinaitis of the Road Warriors, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, Paul “Mr. Wonderful ”Orndorff, Chris“ King Kong Bundy ”Pallies and Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara, known in the ring as Mr. Fuji.
Several plaintiffs listed diagnosed with brain damage after death
Snuka died in 2017, and Fujiwara died in 2016. Both were diagnosed after their deaths with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the disorder commonly associated with repeated head injuries sustained in football.
Pallies died in 2019 and Laurinaitis died last year from undisclosed causes.
Other plaintiffs complained of dementia and other illnesses, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit accuses WWE of knowing the health risks of fighting without notifying participants and argues that WWE is more responsible for injuries than sports like football, because the organization sketches the matches that result in brain injury. The NFL settled a lawsuit over concussions with former players in 2016 worth more than $ 1 billion.
Federal judge Vanessa Bryant ruled in 2018 that there was no evidence that WWE knew at the time that collisions suffered in the fighting ring would result in CTE.
A WWE spokesman told the AP on Thursday that the lawsuit is without merit. It is not yet clear whether or not the Supreme Court will consider the case.
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