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A wrestling referee was left convulsing in the ring before being shoved aside by performers during a horrifying incident at an event in Louisville on Thursday night.
That official, Dallas Edwards, is now ‘alert and doing much better,’ according to a statement from Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).
Asked why the show continued as the convulsing Edwards was pushed into the corner, OVW founder Rob Edwards told the Daily Mail in an email the company is ‘not commenting on particulars.’
Rob also told the Daily Mail that OVW remains in contact with Dallas’ family. Dallas and Rob are not related.
Prior to OVW’s statement, a woman identified as Dallas’ girlfriend wrote a Facebook post, explaining the referee was ‘stable’ after suffering a brain injury.
The Daily Mail has sought comment from Dallas’ reported girlfriend, identified online as ‘indie wrestling personality’ Mercy Keller.
The horrifying scene unfolded Thursday night as one performer jumped off the top rope
Referee Dallas Edwards was initially motionless and then began to convulse, which is when one of the performers dragged him by his belt into the corner of the ring in Louisville
The horrifying scene unfolded Thursday night as one performer jumped off the top rope and onto Dallas, who was left motionless on the mat.
One wrestler was seen checking on Dallas, but with others entering the ring, he soon returned his focus to the performance.
Meanwhile, Dallas began convulsing and actually raised his right leg at one point as he slowly rolled onto his side.
Things only got worse when one of the performers began to pull Dallas by his belt into the corner. Failing that, the wrestler decided to gently kick Dallas a few more feet to the side, all while panicked fans can be heard shouting from the crowd.
‘Referee Dallas Edwards is in some trouble here, guys,’ one announcer is heard saying as the camera panned away from the official’s convulsing body. ‘We don’t want to put this on camera. Our referee, Dallas Edwards, is having a medical situation.’
Ultimately, after several minutes of concern from announcers, the broadcast came to an abrupt end: ‘We’re going to go ahead and go off the air.’
After struggling to pull Edwards to the corner, the wrestler finished the job with his boot
One of the wrestlers, Brendan Balling, shared an update on Facebook with Edwards offering a thumbs-up from his hospital bed. Edwards is said to be in stable condition
The company released a statement on the incident Friday.
‘Last night during Rise, referee Dallas Edwards – a member of our OVW family – experienced a medical emergency during the broadcast,’ read the company statement. ‘OVW takes the health and well-being of all our performers extremely seriously, and as a company we are all distraught to see an injury to one of our own.
‘Dallas is alert and doing much better. We ask everyone to keep him in your thoughts and prayers and respect his and his family’s privacy at this time.
‘We will provide an update as soon as it is available, but in the meantime, we wish Dallas a speedy recovery and we can’t wait until he’s back with our OVW family very soon.’
One of the wrestlers, Brendan Balling, shared an update on Facebook with Dallas offering a thumbs-up from his hospital bed.
‘All prayers to Dallas,’ Balling wrote on Facebook. ‘Not only one of the best refs I’ve ever had but one of the best guys I’ve been able to meet during my time at OVW. Obvious accident, but can’t help but feel horrible about everything. Dallas will be back and better than ever and so will I. Thank you to everyone.’
