Jon Moxley wants concussion detection protocol implemented for wrestling

[Chris]

AEW's Jon Moxley Calls For Major Change After Concussion

After getting injured during a match on 'AEW Dynamite' last month, Jon Moxley has an idea for how to better protect pro wrestlers.

themessenger.com

Jon Moxley was standing in front of more than 10,000 wrestling fans inside New York's Arthur Ashe Stadium, but he had absolutely no idea where he was.

During Moxley's AEW International Championship defense against Rey Fenix at AEW Dynamite Grand Slam on Sept. 20, Moxley suffered a mild concussion at the start of their match.

Moxley exclusively told The Messenger the concussion happened "30 seconds in," which ultimately sent him to "f---in' outer space for like 10 minutes."

"I just kept getting progressively more lost and couldn't figure out where the f--- I was," he explained. "Then I had this moment of clarity, 'Oh, I’m f---ed up. I gotta get the f--- out of here.'"

So, an in-ring audible was called to end the match early and give the title to Fenix.

Moxley returned to action on AEW Collision last week, but even being out of action a month was difficult for him.

"I’m a very physical person," he said. "I like wrestling for the sake of wrestling. I like to do sh-- with my body. So, sitting still and being injured is always very challenging."

Now fully in the clear, Moxley said the industry needs to adopt better safeguards to protect wrestlers in the ring.

"In pro wrestling, it's a really touchy subject," Moxley said, but acknowledged bluntly, "Somebody’s gotta f---ing bring it up."

"Pro wrestling is such a strange thing," he continued. "In football, if a guy goes down and he doesn't go back to the huddle, you know he's f---ed up. In pro wrestling, a lot of times it's hard to tell what's real and what's fake."

Moving forward, Moxley has a vision for a new system that he thinks might work.

"Maybe a really experienced wrestler and a really experienced doctor, who are trained to see signs of that sh--, are watching it on a separate feed," he explained. "Even if they have a doctor close to ringside, what if the guy f---ing spills outside the ring? He doesn't see that."

As Moxley articulates, these two hypothetical individuals would have no prior knowledge of what they were about to see.

"The doctor and wrestler are completely untethered to the creative portion of it," Moxley said. "They have no idea nor any interest in what the story is, who wins, who loses or how long it's supposed to go."

Why does Moxley think a wrestler needs to be watching alongside the doctor, you might ask? He's got that answered, too.

"If a guy f---ing spins around or something and the doctor goes, 'Is he OK?'" Moxley suggested, "the wrestler can tell him, '"That's just a pro wrestling thing. Don't worry.'"

Moxley's proposed system would make things as cut-and-dry as possible, no matter what it means for the overall competition.

"As soon as the doctor sees a sign of somebody being concussed, he just hits the f---ing red button," Moxley said. "Boom, this is over. No matter how much time is left. No matter if it's on live TV. It's just over, and you figure it out from there."

AEW Dynamite airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on TBS, AEW Rampage airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on TNT and AEW Collision airs Saturdays at 8 p.m. on TNT.

 

[Marty McFourth]

Definitely seems like something that should be in place for sure. Serious bumps to the head and concussions are nothing to play around with. I'm glad there's more focus on it in general these days and the seriousness of it. It was very worrying watching that Fenix/Moxley match and realising something had gone very wrong during it. I'm just glad it was only mild and he's doing good.

 

[Rosie]

A lot of sports are trying to implement it so I think wrestling is 100% needed too. Though the fact there's the chance someone is just selling, there may be moments, especially early on in its implementation, where a doctor stops a match when it is just "storytelling." But if that means less nasty brain damage, then a few "False alarms" interrupting matches is no big deal.

 

[Smart Marx]

I think the fact that professional wrestling has already started taking concussions seriously in the first place and won’t let a wrestler return to work until they pass concussion protocols has already vastly improved the safety and health of the workers. I’m not too sure how much safer you could realistically make it beyond that, but if they can find a doctor that can realistically watch a monitor and spot a concussion without stopping every match the way the WWE at one point was doing for cuts would obviously be optimal.

 

[Rosie]

I think the fact that professional wrestling has already started taking concussions seriously in the first place and won’t let a wrestler return to work until they pass concussion protocols has already vastly improved the safety and health of the workers. I’m not too sure how much safer you could realistically make it beyond that, but if they can find a doctor that can realistically watch a monitor and spot a concussion without stopping every match the way the WWE at one point was doing for cuts would obviously be optimal.

It'll take time to work out the kinks. Ideally a scenerio where a doctor knows enough about wrestling to have an idea "This move was excecuted fine, this may have lead to a legit injury, etc" but doesn't know what the match results/story is so they won't have to suddenly go "But... THIS GUY IS GOING OVER! WHAT DO I DO!?"