If there’s one thing All Elite Wrestling can consistently hang its hat on, it’s the in-ring action.
From bell to bell, AEW puts on as exciting a product inside the ring as any promotion in the world. The impact from whatever missteps and inconsistencies that exist elsewhere in the company, including a backstage rivalry that has essentially divided the locker room, is lessened by the fact that when the bell rings, AEW can be, at times, electrifying.
With that proverbial ace up its sleeve, AEW has garnered a passionate and dedicated fan base in only a few short years. However, things may begin to look a little different in the ring soon, and some AEW fans are very concerned.
Fightful Select (subscribe here) was the first to report Thursday that AEW sent a memo to the roster earlier this week outlining some new health and safety protocols for matches moving forward. The protocols range from certain moves and spots needing to have prior approval to some being outright banned. AEW plans to enforce these protocols by fining whomever breaks them.
Let’s pick this apart piece by piece.
First up are the moves that are now outright banned. AEW got rid of unprotected chair shots to the head, which should have been the case from Day 1. By 2019, we had plenty of evidence of the head trauma that could be caused by chair shots. There was never a good reason for AEW to ever allow them. This also includes shots to the back of the head.
Next up are buckle bombs or any move that sends someone backward into the turnbuckle. WWE once banned the buckle bomb when Sting and Finn Balor suffered serious injuries after taking a version of the move. It was apparently reinstated at some point because Seth Rollins is back to using it again. However, AEW is getting rid of them. I honestly believe WWE should do the same.
Then you have fencing response/seizure sells, which probably has Bryan Danielson somewhere seething. All jokes aside, this is pretty much always in poor taste and rarely has the desired effect. Danielson’s version of this at Forbidden Door would fall under both of those categories.
AEW wrestlers can no longer spit, which again, should not be a thing anyway. Spitting has always been disgusting, but you would think after an entire pandemic that we, as a society, would be more conscious of germs, especially when it comes to our saliva. But AEW has to remind everyone not to spit on each other. I don’t think this is going to hamper the product in any way.
For hygiene and legal reasons, AEW wrestlers are no longer allowed to bleed in the crowd. The last thing any company needs is for someone to attain some type of illness because they somehow exchanged blood with one of the wrestlers. That’s horrible overall, but it could also lead to a very, very expensive lawsuit. AEW does not want those problems.
Speaking of lawsuits, the wrestlers can no longer take weapons or projectiles into the crowd. Another thing AEW doesn’t need is for one of the fans to be mistakenly whacked over the head with a kendo stick. Soon after calling a doctor, that person is going to call a lawyer.
Wrestlers cannot physically interact with a fan or allow a fan to hit another wrestler because, again, lawsuits.
But all hope is not lost because there are things AEW wrestlers can still do. They just have to receive prior approval before doing them. That list includes things such as using weapons, spots on the ring apron, intentional bleeding, fighting in the crowd in general, bumping the ref, and any usage of a piledriver.
The list is long, but it is necessary. And like items on the banned list, they should have been in place from Day 1. AEW has employed agents and producers from its inception. If they weren’t already enforcing these protocols, what exactly were they enforcing? Could the AEW wrestlers literally just do whatever they wanted to?
As quality as AEW’s wrestling product can be, it comes at a price. And that price is usually the health and well being of the wrestlers. Left to their own devices, wrestlers are liable to do anything short of dying to make a name for themselves. It is up to the promotion to place governors on them to keep them healthy. It is up to the promotion to protect the wrestlers from themselves.
Even Forbidden Door, a night for AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling to showcase some of the best wrestling in the world, was marred by Danielson fracturing his arm and Kenny Omega being dropped on the back of his head via a Tiger Driver ‘91. Let us not forget that Omega has missed significant time in the last two years due to a variety of injuries. As Omega nears the age of 40, the injuries could have more lasting effects.
AEW diehards tried to talk these incidents down as the price of doing business when you want to witness great wrestling, but these new protocols are proof that the promotion itself saw Forbidden Door and many other nights as a major concern.
What should be of major concern is the quality of AEW’s product. I don’t see how these protocols could dampen anyone’s enjoyment. If anything, they should enhance it as they should make the major moments the wrestlers create even more meaningful.
Right now, everyone in AEW is trying to have the best match of the night and while that is a noble cause, it doesn’t help the flow of the show. It definitely doesn’t help when almost every match has variations of the same spots. The point of the list of moves that require prior approval is so that every single match doesn’t have a ref bump or an apron spot or a dive.
Watch AEW on a weekly basis, and you will see that these troupes are littered throughout the show. But when they happen in almost every match, it loses its impact.
Now, when you see that ref bump, we probably won’t see another one on the show, which makes it more meaningful. We’re still probably going to see a lot of dives because it is such an ingrained part of nearly everyone’s offense.
However, I do believe we will see fewer spots on the ring apron. And guess what? I’m fine with that. Having a spot on the ring apron is not required in order to have a great match.
So fear not, AEW fans. Your beloved promotion is still going to provide you with five hours of quality television on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights, you will still chant “Fight forever!” during the events, and AEW will continue to carve out its space in the marketplace.
Remember, the “e” in AEW stands for “elite,” and the promotion will maintain that status, even with some safety protocols.