WWE News: Titus O’Neil Files Counter-Suit Against Cameraman Over Swerved Incident

It’s been quite some time now since we’ve had any updates on the lawsuit by cameraman Donald Anderson against WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil and the company (go here for the last update), stemming from an incident while filming the WWE Network program, Swerved. As we know, Anderson is suing both Titus, real name Thaddeus Bullard, as well as WWE, claiming he was injured after Titus kicked at his camera following a prank that saw fellow Superstar Paige shock O’Neil with a cattle prod.

Anderson’s suit in Florida is for Battery, Assault, Willful Misconduct, Gross Negligence, Negligence, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, plus Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress and seeks in excess of $15,000 in addition to damages. Originally, Anderson filed suit in California for $1.2 million in damages, but the case was then moved to Florida.

Titus is now firing back as PWInsider is reporting that he has responded with a counter-suit in the amount of $15,000. The counter-suit claims that Titus “acted out of necessity to prevent being assaulted”, as well as “did not create the danger to be avoided and stopped his action when the danger was gone”. It also states that Donald Anderson “knowingly and voluntarily assumed the risk when he intentionally conspired, planned and participated” when he agreed to “film/record the assault and battery”, thus forcing Titus to “used reasonable force that was not greater than necessary to end the threat of being cattle prodded repeatedly”.

O’Neil also alleges that this part of the segment was filmed without WWE’s knowledge and included evidence that showed the sketch was not included on the approved list by the company. Additionally, Titus is alleging that Uranus Productions, who was hired to develop Swerved, directed Paige to assault him with the cattle prod and he had never given consent for it.

EA’s Take: Lots of legal mumbo-jumbo here, so at the end of the day, I don’t have a clue how this could play out legally. My first inclination would be that the whole thing just gets thrown out because it’s starting to get a little over the top. The cameraman seemed like a bit of an ambulance chaser to me from the beginning and although there may have been some truth to his side of the story, the details of his lawsuit just seem to be like he’s reaching a bit far. Now that Titus has responded, I feel like there’s probably a lot of truth to what he’s saying as well, but now because he’s in defense mode, he too is reaching.

Continue following TheChairshot for all the latest skull smashing opinion, news, reviews and so much more! @theCHAIRSHOTcom on Twitter
Always #UseYourHead