AEW President Tony Khan, in a recent interview with PWinsider.com, mentioned that the promotion had upgraded their medical protocols. This was in response to criticism from fans and media members after various wrestlers were injured during matches over the last several months.
These new medical protocols will be starting this week at the AEW Full Gear PPV. Both Alex Reynolds and Matt Hardy suffered scary head injuries during live shows. Not to mention Abadons’ injury during a TV taping that did not air.
Hardy suffered a bad concussion at AEW All Out after a botched spot with Sammy Guevera. He missed a table hitting his head on the concrete. That match was briefly stopped then restarted despite Hardy being clearly knocked out. It ended with a very awkward finish, and Hardy’s wife posting on social media how upset she was with AEW staff.
Alex Reynolds, on the October 21st AEW Dynamite, was knocked out cold and laid motionless in the ring for a few minutes while wrestlers were doing spots around him. The Butcher eventually pull him to the corner and tagged him out.
“Yeah, you know, we’ve been recently doing everything we can to work on our protocols and make this as safe as possible work environment. I’ve added another independent neurologist to the staff.
We’ve added an independent doctor at all the shows in addition to our staff medical team, and we’re adding extra support. I’ve added a two-way feature where the referees can talk back to us if there are injuries so that the referee, you know, not all communication is going one way, and I’ve encouraged the referees to let us know what’s going on. “
Christopher Nowinski the former WWE Superstar and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, is being brought in for AEW Full Gear. It has been over a year since Nowinski has talked to all the staff and talent about head injuries.
“So I’m excited to have Chris come back because I think he’s the world’s leading expert on head trauma. As to other injuries outside of head trauma, I think we oughta do our best there too but I think that’s probably the area we’re the most concerned about, being…make sure we’re doing everything safe.”
