News of the brain injury Dallas Edwards suffered on Thursday night while refereeing a match for Ohio Valley Wrestling spread yesterday (March 13), along with video of the incident. That clip allowed industry insiders and the public to see the disappointing manner in which Edwards was treated in the ring after taking a flying forearm to the head, even though he was convulsing for much of the minute-plus the match continued after he’d been knocked out.
Friday afternoon, after those close to Edwards
informed the public that he was recovering at a Lousiville, Kentucky area hospital, OVW issued a statement on the incident. It made no mention of the handling of how the referee’s injury was handled in the moment. While it was probably all their lawyers would allow them to say, it was still disappointing to talent and fans who trust that situations like Edwards’ will be approached with, if nothing else, more common sense than what video of Thursday night’s match showed.
Edwards also issued a statement on Friday night. His is much better, and also echoes a call others in the pro wrestling community are suggesting all promotions and wrestlers take in hopes of preventing more scenes like the one that played out in an OVW ring this week:
Hey guys! I know everyone seems to know about the scary incident last night at OVW. I have been elvauted and I have a concussion as well as a subdural hematoma (brain bleed).
With that being said, I have made the decision to take some needed time away to get my life and health back in good spirits.
I appreciate all of the support everyone has been offering but as far as money goes, I am grateful to be in a position that I can manage an accident like this.
In lieu of donations, I instead implore all of my fellow workers to get some sort of training in assisting another’s life.
Being in the position before, it’s very important to be educated in all scenarios relating to injury, illness, or condition in the ring, especially when we’re performing.
I am not mad at anyone or anything other than the situation as a whole, and that I’ve been sitting for about 24 hours straight in a hospital lol.
As far as updates go, I am getting a CT SCAN in the morning and if that goes well, I’ll be home.
Thank you to everyone who has reached out or stopped by, it means more than any of you know.
Love, Dally
TNA’s Mustafa Ali is among those amplifying retired independent wrestler Terra Calaway’s call for all wrestlers (and show staff) to get some kind of emergency response training:
Frankly, it’s amazing this isn’t happening already. It could save lives, and from a business perspective (including independent contractor businesses like wrestlers and referees) is a relatively simple, low cost practice that — while I am admittedly not a lawyer or legally trained — would seem to limit organizational or personal liability should the person effected decide to respond more litigiously than Edwards apparently is.
The main thing is, of course, that Edwards seems to be okay. Let’s be grateful for that, and continue to encourage all involved to improve their readiness and ability to handle similar incidents in the future.
