Cabana is still suing Punk despite first case being thrown out

In an update to a story most of us are still following not because we care about the legal issues being contested but because we hope friendship triumphs in the end, PW Insider recently reported new details in Scott “Colt Cabana” Colton’s lawsuit against Phil “CM Punk” Brooks.

As you’ll likely recall, after a ruling said the pair did not defame WWE physician Chris Amann during the episode of Cabana’s The Art of Wrestling podcast which featured Punk’s version of his exit from WWE, Cabana sued Punk for unpaid legal fees and breach of contract. That was in August, and attorneys representing Punk filed a response in October.

On Nov. 26, Judge Daniel Kubasiak of the Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois sided with Punk’s team. He dismissed Cabana’s suit, saying it “has failed to allege that Brooks provided an offer that was definite and certain enough to support an enforceable contract.” The dismissal was not “with prejudice” however, meaning Cabana could re-file.

Re-file he has, with the new suit reworded to address the arguments the Judge accepted from Punk’s response. This includes an allegation that Punk knew his comments on the podcast would lead to a WWE-sponsored lawsuit against both men. Cabana’s new suit also seeks to further clarify the terms of their arrangement regarding that legal fight. It states he would not have refused to answer a Demand Letter from Amman’s legal team or assisted Punk in defending himself in the defamation case if Punk hadn’t informed him his own legal team would “handle it” and that Cabana would be “100% covered”.

What will really be distressing to fans holding out hope for an amicable resolution here is an April 2016 email from Punk telling Cabana he would no longer cover his legal expenses in the case:

“To date I have spent $513,736 dollars on this Amman lawsuit. My outstanding bill is at least 300K. Half of all this is yours. Divide the 513,736 by 2 that is what you owe me and what I expect you to pay me. Starting now, I will no longer be paying your bills. You are on your own. Whatever my bill is currently, will be cut in half and half will be yours. If you choose to make this all ugly, that’s fine too. I hope you won’t, but I gave up on you doing what is right a long time ago.”

There’s no mention of what caused the rift between the former friends, but this is around the time that wrestling websites noted the pair stopped following each other on Twitter amidst rumors Punk was furious Cabana had attended a Raw taping, gone backstage and taken pictures with WWE personnel.

It was around that time that Punk’s legal team of Loeb & Loeb also informed Cabana they would no longer represent him, saying it was done so to avoid any ethical impropriety. Colt’s lawsuit, however, alleges that Punk told the lawyers to drop him as a client. It’s the $200,000 in fees from the lawyers Cabana hired after Loeb & Loeb stopped representing him that he’s asking for from Punk.

The request was reportedly initially made by Cabana’s current lawyers shortly after they won the decision in the Amann case. Punk said no, which led to these suits.

Punk has until Dec. 28 to respond to the new suit, and they’re scheduled back before the judge on Jan. 4, 2019.

Fans of friendship will have to wait a considerably longer amount of time for answers.