A bit convenient as Bret Hart would have probably loved to batter Vince across the head with a chair at Wrestlemania!!

Does this apply to chair shots even with the reciever's hands up or just direct shots to the head?

I'm for banning them actually hitting the head but what do you think of chair shots blocked by the hand with the illusion of hitting the head? I think they should be used.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't have a problem with them blocking it with their hand, but I'm unclear as to whether that would be allowed.

Why not ban any chair shots? Let's have it completely fake and boring why don't we?

I've never understood why they didn't just invest in trick (aluminum?) chairs.

wow, really? WWE is WAY to concerned about what the media thinks about them. The media is NEVER going to think positively of professional wrestling. NEVER. Vince McMahon is just wasteing his time by trying to get on their "good side" So why not just go back to TV14 and be edgy again?

Long overdue. That ppv match where the Rock hit Mick Foley multiple times in the head with a chair was truly freightening. If the guys don't know enough to stop the company should step in.

"Vince McMahon is just wasteing his time by trying to get on their "good side" So why not just go back to TV14 and be edgy again?"

---------------------------------------------------

Because that won't get Linda McMahon elected to the Senate. Her opponents have been trying to use the Attitude era against her in their campaigning. It wasn't just about $$ when they reverted back to the PG style of wrestling.

That's pretty weak. How much more are they going to water down their already stale product? In the not-too-distant future, I predict there will nothing left except for wristlocks and knee bars.

And for that matter, just eliminate the wrestling in general. Nothin' but promos for two hours every Monday, and then settle it in lively debates at the pay per view. That'll sell tickets...I can see it now:

John Cena: "You're a bad person, Mr. Triple H. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Triple H: "I disagree, Mr. Cena. That's merely your opinion, which everyone is entitled to have."

[applause]

Jeremy:

I'd say this is better for protecting wrestlers from needlessly excessive chances at serious injury more than catering to the media's opinion of wrestling.

Does someone getting hit in the head with a chair really make wrestling more interesting?

@ Jeremy...you're right the media will never think positively about wrestling. Vince is just trying to get on their good side 'til Linda's election is over. Once she flops, TV-14 will return.

@Jeremy: In this case beause it's trying to protect its wrestlers' health, not placate the media.

Jeremy, I don't think it is necessarily a policy meant to appease the media, but to protect the WWE's own commodities (wrestlers). If a chair to the back is just as effective as a headshot, then why would you mess around with the headshot? I think it's similar to how the piledriver, which is vicious and crippling if done poorly or incorrectly, has gradually been phased out of most move arsenals.

Is there anything in WWE's policy forbidding their wrestlers from being scripted to drop into the ring from a fishing line suspended from the rafters of an arena?

Hopefully soon they will come to their senses and not allow these guys to come off the top rope and just settle for coming off the second turnbuckle!

I don't know yet about that decision, but one thing popped immediately in my head, as I read your article. If WWE substantiates that stipulation via commentary "on air" and introduces it to the WWE Universe, the heels will now have a good way to get heat, by intentionally breaking this rule. Just like the heels did 35-40 years ago ( I guess that it was unusual then to use chair shots).

I'm for banning them actually hitting the head but what do you think of chair shots blocked by the hand with the illusion of hitting the head? I think they should be used.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't have a problem with them blocking it with their hand, but I'm unclear as to whether that would be allowed.

The policy says "in the head" so as long as it is a protected shot I am sure it is ok.

Especially as that was brought in in Jan and I am positive I have seen protected shots since then.

I think this is more about protecting the WWE from any future litigation as well as further bad press. With all the data available to the E now . If they didn't take some action they could be setting themselves up for major lawsuits later on. Although I may just be cynical

I think it's similar to how the piledriver...has gradually been phased out of most move arsenals.

And that occurred after Steve Austin, the all-time biggest draw in pure dollars, suffered a career-changing injury resulting from a botched piledriver. Make no mistake: This is, at least in part, about WWE protecting its own interest. Injuries cost Vince money.

I'm sure TNA will, like with the blood thing, have 57 unprotected chair shots to the head every single show in order to show much more edgy they are than WWE.

It's stupid how people are complaining about banning chairshots to the head. It's not about watering down the product, it's protecting the bloody wrestlers!

So, fine, it may be due to the whole PG and Linda's senate run thingy, but the fact that anyone would complain about the consequences (rather than the reasons) of this decision is just idiotic to me.

If Flair ever makes a WWE return, could he be exempt from this policy? His chairshots on Abyss remind me of the Family Guy where they recall the time in the dungeon:

Lois: My god, I haven't seen everyone this miserable since the time we were tortured.
Peter: Um oh I'm sorry were you just whipping me or did I just get bit by a mosquito?
Say Lois, it you happen to see the Dungeon Master could you tell him his grandmother was just trying to work me over.

Maybe if he went with the backhanded chair shot since maybe that's where his strength lies?

I think it is great that WWE or any other company would step up and remove chairshots to the head. That being said, I love how they were able to still kayfabe on WWE.com. Funny!

Took them long enough, who knows maybe they'll start taking steriod use a little more seriously.

Finally the PG era and Linda´s run for senate created something good.
While I still think it is unnecessary to get a doctor out when someone is bleeding (unless it is heavily) this is a really good decision.
And to those negative commentators here: for heaven´s sake this is about the health of the wrestlers (sorry, superstars) and not about you getting a kick out of some chair shots!

"That's pretty weak. How much more are they going to water down their already stale product? In the not-too-distant future, I predict there will nothing left except for wristlocks and knee bars."

Sean, do you remember what Chris Benoit's autopsy revealed? Did you read about it when the results came out? If not, here's what it said:

Their post-mortem diagnosis: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a form of brain damage that is associated with blows to the head and was found in former NFLers Mike Webster, Terry Long, Andre Waters and Justin Strzelczyk.

Indeed, by the time the 40-year-old Benoit killed himself, he had the brain of a man aged 80 or older with "very severe" Alzheimer's disease, according to Cantu. "His was the most extensively damaged of the brains we have examined so far," Cantu said.

It's impossible to know for sure whether that brain damage led to him killing his wife and child, or whether it was a factor, but if I were to guess I'd deem it pretty likely.

And THAT is why chair shots to the head are bad. That is your worst case scenario, and that's why it's best to err on the side of caution. WWE is doing the right thing here.

Pro wrestling has always been about creating the illusion of somebody getting hurt while inflicting a minimal amount of actual damage. You don't want people to get hurt for real, and if you absolutely need to see somebody get hit in the head with a foreign object to be entertained there are plenty of things to use that are safer than chairs. To name a few: title belts, Bret Hart's cast, ring bells, and sledgehammers. It's always seemed to me like a person could pretend to hit somebody else with any of those things and--if they knew what they were doing and the other person was good at selling it--make it look real without actually delivering a stiff shot that would knock them silly. There's really no way to do that with a conventional chair shot.

Kevin, based on what you know, how risky are the Conchairto and the Van Daminator? It seems to me like both would be safer than a regular chair shot to the head since the former involves hitting the other chair more than the guy's head and the latter lets the guy holding the chair keep it from actually hitting his face while still selling it, but I could be wrong.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I think both are safer. The conchaitro is more of an illusion, as, like you said, it's more the two chairs hitting together than anything else. And with RVD's move, the person on the receiving end has control of the chair.

I can hear the rabid old ECW fans now. Venting their complaints from their parents basements.

Complaining how weak the new product has become.

"Man its not %$#^#@ hardcore anymore! "

Why In a sport that is predicated on the simulation of violence, why would this particular violence be allowed or applauded?

I watch football to see people get laid out. I watch the Daytona 500 for the crashes. I watched the Sopranos to see who got whacked next. I watch MMA to see toes curled up after a knockout.

No other wrestling product compares to ECW. They get the same respect from me as a NASCAR driver, football player, and cage fighter.

It doesn't really matter to me because I can get my ECW fix elsewhere now. WWE isn't depriving me. It sounds like a prudent business decision by WWE.

OMG, can we make wrestling any wimpier?

Mark, I immediately thought of that too, the '99 Royal Rumble.

I love wrestling and have a healthy appetite for violence, real and/or fake, but that series of chair shots was so ugly that I quit watching wrestling for YEARS after seeing it. It made me feel sick and ashamed of myself & my pasttime (watching wrestling).

I like a little color, used judiciously... oh why lie, I like the CRIMSON MASK type stuff too... but I have no problem with WWE or anyone else discontinuing chair shots to the head. These guys are artists and can find other ways (besides something that demonstrably, reliably concusses) to convey the same level of seeming brutality.

Good news. One of the most painful things I've ever seen was Dan Spivey hitting Road Warrior Hawk with a few unprotected chair head shots at Clash of the Champions.

Anything to help make the business safer is great news. These guys are human. As much as we wish for bigger crazier bumps it doesn't need to be unsafe to tell a story. The art of pro-wrestling isn't about how many injuries you can be tough enough to walk away with, but how many injuries one can make the audience believe you walked away with.

When I first read about this, the first thought that came to mind was why? They block the chair shots with their hands. Is putting people through tables going to go next?

It's a good obvious first step but blows to the head from a chair are only one of the dozens of ways things that are standard practice can potentially cause concussions. What immediately comes to mind are powerbombs - dropped from 9 feet in the air squarely on the back of your head.