AEW President & CEO Tony Khan recently spoke with PWInsider and revealed that the company has done a lot of work on their medical protocols as of late, to make the AEW working environment the safest as possible.
Khan noted that he recently added another independent neurologist to the AEW medical staff, and an independent doctor to be present at all AEW shows, in addition to their in-house medical team. Extra support for the team has also been added. Khan revealed that AEW also has a new two-way system where referees can talk back to management in case there are any injuries. AEW referees have been encouraged to let officials in the back know what’s happening.
Khan revealed these additions when asked about recent AEW injuries, and if they have given he and the company a chance to examine and look at ways they can address their medical protocols.
“We’ve been recently doing everything we can to work on our protocols and make this as safe as possible work environment,” Khan responded. “I’ve added another independent neurologist to the staff. We’ve added an independent doctor at all the shows in addition to our staff medical team and we’re adding extra support.
“I’ve added a two-way feature where the referees can talk back to us if there are injuries so that the referee, you know, not all communication is going one way, and I’ve encouraged the referees to let us know what’s going on.”
Khan also talked about former WWE Superstar Christopher Nowinski working with the company. Nowinski, a former college football player and WWE Hardcore Champion, is best known for being the CEO and co-founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, and the co-founder of the CTE Center at Boston University. Khan noted during a September 2020 media call that he is good friends with Nowinski, and he believes in Nowinski’s work with the Concussion Legacy Foundation. Khan revealed then that he requested Nowinski to come in and work with the AEW roster.
In the new interview with PWInsider, Khan revealed that Nowinski is coming back to work with the AEW roster and staff during Full Gear weekend.
“Chris is actually coming back this weekend, so Chris will be at Full Gear and I’m going to have Chris talk to all the staff and all the talent and me,” Khan revealed. “It’s been over a year since Chris came and saw us last and I think it’s probably overdue for Chris to come in and give us his thoughts and his critiques and it’s important that we listen to that.
“So I’m excited to have Chris come back because I think he’s the world’s leading expert on head trauma. As to other injuries outside of head trauma, I think we should do our best there too but I think that’s probably the area we’re the most concerned about, being…make sure we’re doing everything safe.”
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