A referee was knocked unconscious and suffered a brain injury during OVW’s weekly series Rise on Thursday night in Louisville, Kentucky.
During the multi-man main event, OVW Rush Champion Brendan Balling came off the top rope going for a flying forearm on heel Tony Evans. Evans pulled referee Dallas Edwards into the path of the move, and Balling connected with Edwards, who struck his head on the mat and was knocked out. Edwards’ body began seizing and going into convulsions.
Balling and Evans continued performing around Edwards as his arms and legs were twitching on the mat. Evans then grabbed Edwards by his pants and rolled him over, using his foot to push him further away from the other talent. The incident can be seen below.
At that point, someone entered the ring, and the match was stopped. Cameras were kept off Edwards, and OVW announced they were going off the air due to his medical situation.
Edwards’ girlfriend issued a statement, which was shared by Fightful.com’s Sean Ross Sapp:
“Please keep Dallas in your thoughts as your day begins. I am not going to provide much more information at this time except to the parties who already know, but last night resulted in a brain injury that is being monitored and will continue to be monitored by doctors here. Seeing all the support you guys have already given is amazing and I didn’t want to leave everyone without some kind of update.”
St. Louis Anarchy also addressed the incident on Twitter.
Last night one of our referees @refdally suffered a medical episode during a match at another promotion. Dallas is a class act person and professional. Always willing to go the extra mile to make whatever event he’s on better.
I wish the people who’s safety he looked out for would of showed him the same professionalism that Dallas always showed but they made a different decision.
Everyone at Anarchy truly wishes Dallas a healthy and speedy recovery. My thoughts, prayers and positive energy is with Dallas and his family at this time.
Jackson
OVW, which holds trade school certification in Kentucky and is overseen by Al Snow, issued this statement:
Wow. Watching the video, how the fuck did they take that long to do something. Absolutely unacceptable. He showed fencing response immediately. I’m not sure if they thought he was selling or what. Also not just the wrestlers there but the support staff did nothing? No ring crew or anything? Al Snow is going to have some asses to chew out or downright fire.
This is horrifying, everyone should be ashamed of themselves. Like, the whole point is not hurting people.
I could understand the confusion in the first few seconds. He was moving normally a little bit and looked like he might have been selling.
But after mere seconds it became obvious he wasn’t selling.
It’s also dishonest how the companies have handled it. The first company (St. Louis Anarchy, “Do It For the Brand” 🤮) calls it a “medical episode,” implying it wasn’t a literal traumatic brain injury caused by getting knocked down.
Last night one of our referees @refdally suffered a medical episode during a match at another promotion
You call an epileptic seizure or fainting a “medical episode.” Not a traumatic brain injury caused by a concussion.
OVW calls it a “medical emergency.”
removed be honest, your meathead wrestler wasn’t careful and hurt someone.
On the one hand, I guess I can see people thinking the ref was just selling, but on the other, that doesn’t look like a normal sell.
From Dallas, the ref’s, Twitter. It sounds like he’s doing good, all things considered.
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Al Snow responded to the situation on OVW’s Instagram. I was going to post a screen shot, but it was too small to read easily, so here’s a copy of the text.
Hello everyone, this is Al Snow. I want to speak directly to our fans and the wrestling community regarding the incident involving Referee Dallas Edwards at last week’s event.
Professional wrestling has always carried an inherent risk of injury for everyone who steps into the ring. On March 12th, during a live OVW television event, Dallas was involved in a planned moment of physical contact with a wrestler that resulted in him suffering a head injury.
Traditionally, when an in-ring injury occurs, the referee is the central point of communication, assessment, and decision-making. In this unprecedented situation, the person who would normally make that assessment was the one who needed assistance. That unforeseen breakdown in communication contributed to a delay in stopping the match and concluding the show.
We are relieved to hear that Dallas is recovering and receiving the medical care he needs. Our thoughts are with him, and we’re hoping for his continued improvement.
At OVW, the health and safety of our performers and officials has always been our top priority. We are proud of the standards we’ve maintained over the years, but we also recognize that there is always room to strengthen and improve. With that in mind, we are reviewing our existing procedures and updating several of our in-ring and ringside protocols to ensure we continue to meet the highest expectations for performer safety.
These updates include enhanced communication systems, additional referee training, and expanded ringside response measures to help ensure that a situation like this is identified and addressed as quickly as possible.
We appreciate the concern and passion from our fans, and we understand the importance of transparency during moments like this. We will continue to share updates when appropriate, and we ask everyone to keep Dallas in your thoughts as he continues his recovery.
Thank you.
