AEW has been fined $10,000 by the Maryland State Athletic Commission over the “Unsanctioned Lights Out match” between current AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and current AEW World Tag Team Champion Kenny Omega.
The order, seen below, notes that AEW was the promoter for a pro wrestling match between Omega and Moxley at the AEW Full Gear pay-per-view from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland on November 9, 2019, a match that saw the licensed talents suffer lacerations that caused blood to be introduced into the ring. The commission determined that administrative charges against AEW were appropriate for alleged violations of Maryland law pertaining to pro wrestling contests and related regulations.
The filing mentions how Moxley and Omega used “foreign objects including a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, a broom with bristles wrapped in barbed wire, and a tool similar to an ice pick.” It also states Moxley “used the baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire to strike” Omega three times across his back and cause lacerations from which Omega bled. It also details how Omega used the broom to cause Moxley to bleed from his head, shoulder and back.
The Commission alleges that AEW violated multiple regulations, including the Conduct of Wrestling Contest and Responsibility of Promoter. AEW agreed to pay a civil penalty to the Commission in the amount of $10,000 within 30 days of the order.
It was also noted that while the Commission acknowledges that AEW took precautions to reduce the potential for injury to both competitors by using materials to simulate injury and merely give the appearance of bleeding, blood was still introduced into the ring in other instances during the match, through deliberate and repeated actions of the two wrestlers, as scripted by AEW.
You can read the full three-page filing below:
AEW fined $10,000 by Maryland State Athletic Commission. Consent Order attached. pic.twitter.com/dsgGI6HuL6
— Justice (@ChrispyCruiser) May 6, 2020
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