Remember back in October when former pro wrestler Billy Jack Haynes announced he was suing WWE for $5 million for making him do steroids and cocaine and giving him Hepatitis C? That same attorney is now helping former wrestlers Vito Lograsso and Evan Singleton file a class-action lawsuit against WWE over concussions.
You may remember Lograsso as “Big Vito.” He competed in ECW and won Hardcore and Tag Team Championships in WCW, but is mostly remembered for wrestling in a dress in WWE. Singleton briefly competed as “Adam Mercer” in developmental territories FCW and NXT in 2012, losing to guys like Brad Maddox and Big E.
Vito claims he has “serious neurological damage, including severe headaches, memory loss, depression and anxiety, as well as deafness” as a result of his WWE run. Keep in mind that his WWE run started in 1993, ended in 2007 and was interrupted in the middle by 14 years of wrestling for other companies. Singleton says that in 15 WWE matches he suffered a series head injury (thanks to Erick Rowan) and “multiple traumas.” There are also claims that he suffers from “severe neurological symptoms” after being cleared to compete after “inadequate rest time.”
You’ve got to wonder how a guy could narrow down his injuries to the 3-year runs bookending his 20-year career, or how a kid who had a cup of coffee in the wrestling business three years ago could be irreparably damaged by it, but I guess that’s why I’m not an attorney. We’ll keep you updated on the story, which could either be a revolutionary next step in legitimizing WWE health practices, or the tried and true “never mentioning it again, waiting four years and hearing it’s been thrown out.”
