Ohio Valley Wrestling competitor Tony Evans says he is “distraught” after moving an injured referee during a match.
The incident occurred during a live television taping on Thursday. Referee Dallas Edwards suffered a head injury following a planned spot. He later confirmed he is dealing with a concussion and a subdural hematoma.
Evans released a statement on his Facebook page on Saturday. The wrestler explained that his “heart hurts” knowing what his friend has gone through.
He stated that he moved the stricken official because he assumed the encounter was proceeding normally. The performer noted that he did not realize the severity of the situation at the time.
Evans added that he would have stopped immediately if he had known his colleague was hurt.
He confirmed that he has spoken with Edwards since the incident. Evans relayed that the referee understands there was no malicious intent behind his actions.
The full statement is available below.
I want to start by expressing my support and love for Dallas Edwards and wishing him the best in his recovery. I’ve spoken with him, he’s doing well, and he knows we’re all thinking of him.
During Thursday’s match, there was a planned spot that resulted in an unexpected injury to Dallas. The match was 35+ minutes with 12 men, 2 run-ins and 2 referee bumps. Dallas’ time came as planned and everything seemed fine from my point of view.
The next sequence had me falling next to Dallas and crawling away with my back turned to him, having my eyes focusing on the other wrestlers in the ring though I knew where Dallas was. As we set up for the next thing, in my periphery, I noticed Dallas was still close to center as he didn’t know what we were doing next, so I go to move him. Dallas and I have worked together frequently and he will usually always go dead-weight as I try to move him. When I touched him was the first time I had laid eyes on him specifically to this point for a brief second, and I saw OVW officials running from the back but assumed it was for the chaos that had just happened outside of the ring.
I go to move him and scooted him with my foot as I usually would, not realizing the severity of what was going on in that moment, as I was under the impression everything was going according to plan. I then did the next spot and turned to find many people in the ring huddled around Dallas and stopped in my tracks, confused, scared and worried for my friend.
Had I known in that split second moment when I moved him that something was wrong, I would’ve immediately stopped and tended to him as best I knew how. I wish I had known the severity of the situation, nothing is more important in pro wrestling than the safety of ALL involved.
Dallas and I have spoken, and we are good. He understands there was no malicious intent and per Dallas, he doesn’t “hold it to any of us personally”, and his perspective is the one that matters most to me. I am as distraught about this situation as everybody.
My heart hurts knowing what my friend has gone through. I look forward to being with him back in the OVW locker room soon and wish him a full and speedy recovery. Love you, Dally.
