Updated: 8:08 p.m. ET

(Bloomberg) -- World WrestlingEntertainment Inc. was sued on behalf of Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and dozens of other retiredwrestlers who claim the company hid the long-term effects ofneurological injuries from years of being pounded in and out of thering.

The suit makes the Stamford, Connecticut-based company thelatest professional sports organization to face litigation overhead injuries, following the National Football League and theNational Hockey League.

The WWE is accused in the lawsuit of failing to care forwrestlers’ repetitive head injuries "in any medically competent ormeaningful manner" and misrepresenting and concealing the nature oflong-term neurological injuries they suffered as a result of theircareers.

WWE "placed corporate gain over its wrestlers’ health, safetyand financial security, choosing to leave the plaintiffs severelyinjured and with no recourse to treat their damaged minds andbodies," the athletes said in the complaint, which was filed Mondayin federal court in New Haven, Connecticut.

WWE said it’s confident the case will be dismissed.

“This is another ridiculous attempt by the same attorney who haspreviously filed class action lawsuits against WWE, both of whichhave been dismissed,” the organization said in a statement. “Afederal judge has already found that this lawyer made patentlyfalse allegations about WWE, and this is more of the same.”

Other wrestlers suing the WWE include the lead plaintiff, JosephLaurinaitis, 55, also known as "The Road Warrior Animal," and ChrisPallies, 60, the wrestler known as "King Kong Bundy."

Body slam

Unlike other sports, WWE matches involve specific moves that are"scripted, controlled, directed and choreographed" by the company,the suit says. The head injuries are a direct result of thosemoves, which include the "body slam" and the "piledriver," thewrestlers say in their suit. A "body slam" is a move in which awrestler is picked up and thrown to the ground, and a "piledriver,"once popular but now largely banned, involves turning a wrestlerupside down and dropping him head first to the mat.

The retired wrestlers say the WWE deliberately ignored and hidfrom them "medically important and possibly lifesaving information"about specific neurological conditions, such as Chronic TraumaticEncephalopathy, that affect wrestlers and athletes who play contactsports prone to head trauma.

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"The WWE knows that its wrestlers including the plaintiffs areat great risk for these diseases such as CTE that can result insuicide, drug abuse and violent behavior that pose a danger to notonly the athletes themselves but their families and community, yetthe WWE does nothing to warn, educate or provide treatment tothem," the wrestlers said in the suit.

"These wrestlers don’t have medical benefits. They’reindependent contractors," said Daniel Wallach, a sports law expertwith Becker & Poliakoff in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. "Theycompletely fall through the safety net. They’re in worse shape thanretired professional football players or retired hockey players.They’re the most disposable athletes in the sports andentertainment business. It was inevitable this day would come."

More than 5,000 former NFL players sued the league seekingdamages for head injuries, and the league agreed to pay $765million to resolve the claims as part of a settlement approved inApril 2015 and upheld on appeal earlier this year. The NHL alsofaces a lawsuit by a group of retired players over claims itglorified violence and failed to protect them from repeated headinjuries. The league lost a bid to throw out the case lastyear.

The case is Joseph M. Laurinaitis v. World WrestlingEntertainment Inc., 3:16-cv-01209, U.S. District Court,District of Connecticut (New Haven.)

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