Not On Their Watch: AEW Reportedly Introduces List Of Banned Moves, Many More Limitations

On the bad list. There are all kinds of things that have to be taken into account during a wrestling match, with the wrestlers’ safety at the top of the list. Wrestlers have to do everything they can to stay safe and that can often include eliminating certain things. Now AEW is taking it a step further, and we could be in for quite a different product from the company in the future.

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According to Fightful Select, AEW has issued a list of rules, banned moves and more that has been put together by referees, coaches and the medical teal. Several backstage have said the document is legitimate but the roster has reported not seen it yet. There are certain actions that are flat out banned, such as the following (not exhaustive):

*Chair shots to the head
*Blows to the back of the head
*Turnbuckle powerbombs
*Blind moves into the turnbuckle
*Spitting
*Bleeding in the crowd
*Weapons or projectiles in the crowd
*Physical contact with the crowd

In addition, the following moves are not banned, but would require approval from the medical staff and coaches:

* Spots and bumps on the ring apron and outside
* Table/ladder/chair spots in and out of the ring (Only allowed with padding)
* Any elevated spots outside of the barricades (dives and ladder spots on stage, around the arena, and other places outside of the ring)
* All piledriver/tombstone variations, including: sit down drivers, inverted/poison hurricarana and vertebreakers
* High-risk dives or top rope moves (450, 630, double moonsaults, SSP, etc.) Intentional bleeding (of any sort, not just blading)
* Throwing people into/through/over ring steps, commentary table, bell table, or guardrails/barricades Weapon usage:
* Chairs, pipes, kendo sticks, hammers, ring bells, bats, chains, etc. Title belts
* Thumbtacks, skewers, barbed wire, and other sharp/puncturing objects o Powders, aerosol sprays, or liquids
* Throwing any weapons or objects- chairs, etc.
* Choking/strangling with hands or a weapon or hanging spots
* Injury spots or angles, whether or not medical is involved/called to the ring
* Any physicality in the crowd or crowd brawling
* Any physicality involving referees, managers, extras, celebrities, or special guests

Several wrestlers Fightful contacted believed that the change was necessary, with one saying it could help to avoid repetition.

You might get a different version. Check out some of the top AEW stars before the change:

Opinion: This is the kind of thing that absolutely has to be done and it is great to see AEW do something about it. There are so many moves that you see in AEW that just do not need to be there for the sake of safety. In addition, there are so many matches that look similar because of how many moves that are done over and over. This should be a great change and something long overdue, assuming AEW actually sticks to the idea.