I think that is considered a foreign object. Wrestling is a weird form of entertainment as you never know what you might see. Yes the ending of the match is predetermined but at the same time, you never know what you might see take place in the middle. This can be both a good and a bad thing, as occasionally the result will not be what was originally planned. Maybe someone gets something wrong, maybe there is some miscommunication or maybe there is an injury. All of these are common situations, but what happened recently is not exactly common (at least I hope not).
Earlier this week, indy wrestler Cole Radrick was cutting a promo for Paradigm Pro Wrestling in Kentucky. Radrick was in the ring after his match with Kerry Awful was over when another wrestler named Hy Zaya came to the ring as a surprise. Zaya went on to pull a knife from his pocket and hole it to Radrick’s throat. In a tweet, Radrick said he was told the two of them could work together or “s*** would get rough for” him (it is not clear if the company or Zaya said this, though the latter seems more likely). Zaya was eventually removed and Radrick was fine. It is not known why Zaya pulled the knife on Radrick.
Paradigm Pro Wrestling has also put out a statement on the situation in which they take responsibility for the incident. According to the statement, Zaya had not appeared for the company in over a year but was a familiar name in the promotion. He had requested to come and work for the company as a surprise on that night in what he described as a passing of the torch moment with Radrick. Zaya will not be working with the company going forward and Paradigm Pro Wrestling has changed some policies to prevent such a thing from happening in the future.
In addition to the statement, here is Radrick’s tweet about the situation:
Last Friday, I had a knife pulled on me and held to my neck in the ring mid-promo in a situation I had no prior knowledge or approval of by a wrestler that was intoxicated and under the influence. I was then told we could work together or “shit would get rough for me.”
— raddy daddy (@ColeRadrick) October 28, 2019
We would like to publicly apologize to @ColeRadrick regarding an incident that occurred following his match with @kerryawful on Friday night. It was inexcusable, and we will do better in the future. Please see our full statement below: pic.twitter.com/5s2WfPjWwo
— Paradigm Pro Wrestling (@ParadigmProWres) October 28, 2019
I would say he deserves some attention. Check out some of Radrick’s matches, plus an incident in WCW where something similar happened live on pay per view:
Opinion: What is there to say here? This is the kind of thing that could have gone VERY bad in a hurry with someone seriously being in danger of losing their life, or at least being badly injured. I have no idea what was wrong with Zaya in this situation though you can almost guarantee some form of intoxication or inebriation was involved. It was a rather bad idea to just let someone show up unannounced like that, though I can understand the thinking given the situation. Hopefully this never happens again, as it was almost a disaster.
What is the craziest thing you have ever seen at a wrestling show? What should the company do to prevent this? Let us know in the comments below.
Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. His latest book is KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews.
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