Former WWF Wrestler Billy Jack Haynes Issues Lawsuit Against WWE

Former WWF wrestler Billy Jack Haynes (real name: William Albert Haynes III) who wrestled for the company between 1986–1988 has filed a federal lawsuit against the company now known as WWE in a Portland, Oregon’s U.S. District Court. 

He alleges “egregious mistreatment of its wrestlers for its own benefit, as well as its concealment and denial of medical research and evidence concerning traumatic brain injuries suffered by WWE wrestlers.”

The suit goes to to read “Under the guise of providing ‘entertainment,’ WWE has, for decades, subjected its wrestlers to extreme physical brutality that it knew, or should have known, caused long-term irreversible bodily damage, including brain damage.”

Haynes adds, “WWE has engaged in a campaign of misinformation and deception to prevent its wrestlers from understanding the true nature and consequences of the injuries they have sustained. WWE’s representations, actions, and inactions have caused its wrestlers to suffer from death, long-term debilitating injuries, lost profits, premature retirement, medical expenses, and other losses as alleged herein.”

The suit ultimately makes the point that WWE provides no health care for their wrestlers as they are independent contractors and when they leave they have to deal with injuries sustained through the company themselves.

Haynes is asking in his lawsuit for WWE to create a trust fund which would provide for the medical care of affected wrestlers.

Haynes claimed once in a shoot interview that the WWF wanted him to lose the tag match in Portland which was his hometown, but when he said no, the WWF fired him.