Canadian pro wrestler Devon Nicholson (a.k.a. Hannibal) recently won a huge lawsuit against WWE Hall of Famer Larry Shreve (a.k.a. Abdullah the Butcher), who Nicholson says infected him with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) while in the ring, CBC News reports. Devon, who also blogs for Hep, was awarded $2.3 million.

The legal battle centered on the wrestling practice of “blading,” in which a fighter purposely cuts himself or his opponent in a pre-arranged agreement to make the match appear more brutal. Nicholson claims that he was infected with hep C in 2007 after one of Shreve’s contaminated blades was used to cut both of them during one of their fights.

The WWE offered Nicholson a three-year wrestling contract in 2009, but revoked its offer after learning he had been infected with the contagious liver disease. Nicholson produced court records indicating that he had the same rare strain of hepatitis C as Shreve, suggesting that it was highly unlikely he was infected elsewhere.

However, Shreve maintains his innocence, claiming that it was Nicholson who gave the disease to him and that he was only following orders by going along with the cutting trick. The court ultimately struck down his defense based on lack of evidence and ruled that Nicholson did, in fact, contract hepatitis C from Shreve.

Nicholson originally filed the lawsuit in an Ontario Supreme Court in 2011, asking for $6.5 million. He says he has since been cured of hepatitis C with an experimental treatment regimen and is preparing for another WWE tryout next month.

To read the full CBC story, click here.

To read more on Devon Nicholson’s hep C journey, click here.