Eric Bischoff says the response to the frightening incident involving OVW referee Dallas Edwards should have been immediate and decisive, arguing the show should have been stopped the moment the situation became clear.
Edwards was knocked unconscious during a match on OVW Rise after taking an unexpected shot to the head. He began seizing on the mat while the match continued around him before officials eventually halted the bout. It was later confirmed that Edwards suffered a brain injury.
Speaking on 83 Weeks, Bischoff did not hold back in his assessment.
“Everybody f**ked up,” Bischoff said. “There is really only one thing that should have happened in that situation, and that would be to shut the show down and make sure this young man was not in a situation worse than he obviously was.”
Bischoff explained that the unusual nature of the situation may have contributed to the delay. Normally, referees are responsible for communicating with production when a wrestler is injured, but in this case the referee himself was the one in distress.
“It is usually the referee who is in a position to talk to the truck if a talent gets hurt,” Bischoff said. “Referees are generally trained for that, or at least have thought through how they would react to that situation. Now we have reversed the situation, and you have got wrestlers who probably have never considered what to do if the referee has a heart attack or a seizure or a brain bleed.”
He acknowledged the wrestlers may have been unsure how to react in the moment, especially with the pressure of performing live.
“They are too caught up in their own situation,” Bischoff said. “They are inexperienced and probably never even imagined being in a situation like this. There is pressure on them. They do not want to screw up by stopping and falling for something that is part of the show. They are not going to want to take that risk.”
However, Bischoff stressed that the responsibility ultimately lies with whoever was overseeing the event.
“Somebody should have had the authority and the ability to shut that show down, and should have made that decision,” Bischoff said. “Whoever is accountable for overseeing that event should have been close enough to the ring and had enough experience and the ability to shut that thing down 15 seconds after we started seeing what was happening.”
He added that the footage made it clear something serious was unfolding.
“What that referee Dallas was doing had nothing that resembled selling,” Bischoff said. “That was pretty obviously a seizure. That is not 20/20 hindsight.”
Bischoff also warned that independent promotions will eventually be forced to tighten safety protocols, especially when legal liability becomes a factor.
“It is not until it hits somebody’s pocketbook that it becomes an issue that everybody needs to be concerned with,” Bischoff said. “As an independent promoter, it is just a matter of time. It is not if, it is when. When something happens at one of your events, you are going to have some lawyer come knocking on your door.”
Edwards later confirmed he suffered a concussion and a subdural hematoma from the incident. OVW has not issued further comment beyond an initial statement wishing him a speedy recovery.
