WWE responds to the wrongful death lawsuit by the widow of Nelson Frazier Jr. (aka Mabel/Viscera/Big Daddy V)

On Thursday, my colleague Sean Reuter reported that the widow of Nelson Frazier Jr. (aka Mabel, Viscera and Big Daddy V) had a filed a lawsuit against WWE for the wrongful death of her husband, arguing that the long term effects of brain trauma and concussions led to his untimely demise.

On the surface, the lawsuit seems flawed for two key reasons: 1) the lack of a formal diagnosis of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE); 2) even with such a diagnosis, the heart attack that led to Frazier's untimely death was most likely caused by his obesity than any other factors.

As reported by f4wonline.com, WWE has since responded to Cassandra Frazier's lawsuit, arguing that it's just as baseless as the other concussion lawsuits recently filed against the company by the former WWE wrestlers Billy Jack Haynes, Big Vito and Adam Mercer:

"WWE has not been served with a lawsuit by Cassandra Frazier.  If served, we will vigorously contest this lawsuit brought by the same lawyers who have been soliciting people to sue WWE without merit."

That the suits are without merit whatsoever seems a stretch, but so far they certainly have been lacking in hard evidence to substantiate their most damaging claims.

One possible game-changer is that tests are currently being developed to diagnose CTE in living people. According to TSN, Dr. Julian Bailes, a clinical professor at the NorthShore Neurological Institute, is about to publish a study that proposes such a test, whilst the Centre for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University is developing an alternative method. If these tests become validated and affordable, then WWE may have a problem on their hands, as the living wrestlers involved in these suits could potentially prove that they have CTE. However, we could be many years away from getting to that stage.

WWE will also be under pressure to institute regular CTE testing of its performers once the technology is fully established, given their ties to these concussion advocacy groups.

WWE's medical director Dr. Joseph Maroon has worked closely with Bailes in the past, publishing numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and even a book together on their joint research investigating both head and spinal cord injuries in athletes. Most recently, they wrote an opinion piece together for the Washington Times last month arguing that children should still be allowed to play American football because "the benefits of organized contact sports on childhood and adolescent development far outweigh the risks".

Meanwhile, Paul Levesque (aka Triple H) is on the Board of Directors for the Sports Legacy Institute, which was co-founded by Christopher Nowinski and Dr. Robert Cantu, and has Professors Ann McKee and Robert Stern on their medical advisory board, all of whom are involved with the BU CTE Centre that are currently developing a test for the disease.

Thus, it would be ironic if the research these groups are currently undertaking into CTE leads to more weight being given to these concussion lawsuits currently being filed against WWE.