Now Doink The Clown’s Mother Is Suing WWE

Last week, a lawsuit filed on behalf of the children of the late WWF star Doink the Clown alleged that WWE continues a “course of conduct designed to mislead its wrestlers” and ignores injuries, leading to drug abuse and, in the case of Doink (real name Matt Osborne), a fatal overdose.

The situation has managed to get even more personal now as Osborne’s mother is now suing WWE. According to TMZ and a dramatic “WRESTLING KILLED MY SON” headline, Doink’s mother claims her son’s drug addiction was due to years of concussions in the wrestling ring, and that WWE willfully ignored the warning signs instead of helping him seek proper treatment.

In one of the more surprising claims, Osborne’s mother says WWE’s Wellness Program “deceived” her son. From the report:

Doink’s mom says the WWE did create a program in 2006 called the “Wellness Program” — but says it only deceived her son by creating a false sense of security that led him to NOT get adequate treatment for his problems.

But the most dramatic part of her suit … Doink’s mom says Vince McMahon has essentially turned a blind eye to the scores of WWE superstars who have died young over the years — ignoring huge warning signs that could’ve saved her son and others.

She lists dozens of examples … including the Ultimate Warrior, Mr. Perfect, Crush, Bam Bam Bigelow, Eddie Guerrero, Randy Savage, Big Boss Man, Yokozuna, Chris Benoit and more.

A lawyer for WWE reportedly told the Dallas Morning News that the family is trying to get “NFL money,” and that the suit has no merit.

One of the worst parts of any negligence lawsuit against WWE is the list of wrestlers who have died, because there’s such a spectrum of reasons for their deaths that it’s impossible to narrow it down and say, “WWE did this.” It’s like when Chris Benoit killed his family and Nancy Grace was like, “Andre the Giant died too young!” The premature deaths of professional wrestlers is a problem, but money-gouging and insane hand-waving is probably not the way to solve it.

(Via TMZ.com)

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