Jonathan Coachman Blasts Current Lawsuit Against WWE

During this week's edition of ESPN's First Take, former WWE announcer Jonathan Coachman took the opportunity to talk about the current lawsuit brought against his former employer by many of its former talent. As previously reported, the lawsuit accuses WWE of hiding the long-term effects of various neurological injuries, failing to properly care for repeated injuries to the head, and more.

Coachman, in part, made the following statement, in which he defended both WWE and Vince McMahon while, at the same time, blasting the 50 individuals who have brought the lawsuit against both McMahon and the company itself:

"This is a very, very close topic for me. 2003 was the first time I got in the ring to train to be an in-ring participant. The very first day I was in there I suffered a concussion. There's a very good chance, I didn't get them all evaluated, but probably between 10 and 20 concussions during my time from 2003 - 2008. The one thing I've always said about Vince McMahon is this: he is more loyal than any person, boss or human being I've met in my life. and it's not just because he signed my paychecks for nearly a decade. I don't like it, in fact I hate it, when a certain group of people... and this was always the case when stars would leave to go somewhere else or they'd get fired because of something stupid they did, then they would blame Vince for whatever issues they had. Vince has recognized that, so he has paid all these guys for years and years. And all he asks, all he asks, is once a year at WrestleMania they show up, sign some autographs, shake some hands and then he pays them enough to live. In response to this, what do these 50 guys do? They go out and file a lawsuit that he was not there for them and the company was not there for them when they had all these concussion issues. This drives me crazy because for a lot of these people this is a dream, a dream come true. It's not an easy business, it's a tough business but to come out and say the company didn't take care of you because of these concussions is just wrong, it will go away and as a former employee and a person that loves that business, it just drives me crazy and I don't like it."

Below is video of Coachman discussing the lawsuit on First Take: