North Carolina Boxing Commission wants to..

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

N.C. Boxing Commission wants to step into pro wrestling ring

 

The Associated Press

Todd Harrison left the downtown ring with a plastic championship belt and a split lip. A crowd of less than 100 watched him earn a paycheck that barely covered the gasoline bill for his four-hour drive from Roanoke, Va.

 

Harrison, 28, is Southern Championship wrestler Dewey Cheatum, an undersized jail cook lured by the lavish lifestyle of televised pro wrestling. But he's doubtful the hard knocks he takes are worth it.

 

Wrestlers on small-time local circuits regularly suffer serious injuries, but only about half the states regulate pro wrestling. North Carolina, a longtime wrestling hotbed, is not one of them.

 

The N.C. Boxing Commission wants to change that, adding pro wrestling to its stable of bloodsports such as kickboxing and toughman contests. But it has yet to win permission from state lawmakers and faces opposition from wrestlers and promoters.

 

Industry officials say there are more than 200 pro wrestlers in North Carolina, where there are no minimum age or training requirements. There are also no required annual physicals, blood tests before a match or doctors at ringside. Matches are held in makeshift rings in nightclubs, armories and high schools.

 

Wrestlers often experience "stingers" - moments of temporary paralysis - and face opponents who cut themselves to bleed for effect.

 

The Boxing Commission supports a provision, cut from a bill two years ago, that would bring pro wrestlers under its authority.

 

"They're trying to get people's attention, so they cut themselves that's HIV and hepatitis right there," commission chairman Frank Douglas said. "These guys don't care. They want to make it to the big leagues."

 

Douglas wants the 27 commission agents who visit boxing bouts to oversee wrestling events. He wants wrestlers to demonstrate their training before entering the ring and submit a record of physicals and serious injuries.

 

And he wants wrestlers and their promoters to pay for the regulations.

 

Under the most recent bill, wrestlers would pay $25 a year, officials $50 and promoters $300. To get a license, promoters would have to provide $2,500 in medical insurance per wrestler or post an equal cash bond.

 

That would raise about $142,000 a year, enough for the commission to break even for the first time since 1995-96, the year it was created, according to state financial records.

 

Congress required states that hold professional boxing matches to create commissions in 1996, largely to protect boxers from unscrupulous promoters. State agents visit matches to ensure participants and promoters are licensed and insured.

 

Douglas wants similar oversight over pro wrestling.

 

"We're not inventing this," Douglas said. "The fees are not extraordinary. You don't want wrestlers getting injured or exploited."

 

But some wrestlers and promoters suspect the commission has its own best interests at heart.

 

"They need to find themselves a way to make money," said state Sen. Hugh Webster, a Yanceyville Republican who voted against creating a boxing commission and opposes expanding its power or budget.

 

Promoter Jeff Rudd, 36, of Burlington has been in the business for 18 years and led the lobby against wrestling regulation two years ago. He said the cost of insurance to cover wrestlers' injuries would devastate his business and wouldn't make it any safer.

 

"It's just a money grab," he said. "There would be no wrestling in North Carolina, because we couldn't afford to put it on."

 

Harrison, with liquid stitches in his lip from the Raleigh event, realizes regulations would force him to pay a licensing fee and probably get more insurance. But he said safety rules enforced fairly could clean up the business.

 

In the meantime, he'll try to regulate himself and not take too many chances in the ring.

 

"There's guys out there that I wouldn't trust to put me in a headlock," he said. "States that have regulated wrestling don't have that problem."

 

Information from: News & Observer

 

Well first off, I didn't know that NC had a boxing commission, however I think that for the most part this would be a good thing.

[Guest j.o.b. squad]

yeah it coude be good or it could be real bad.

 

on one hand it woude help protect the workers. on the other hand it could kill wrestling in that state and put the workers and promoters out of buisness.

 

$2,500 per worker is a lot of money for anybody to put up and if you multiply that by the 20 or so people on a card then you are looking at the neborhood of fifty grand

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

Most indies don't have $2500 to spend unless it's on something to drastically improve the promotion. Spending $2500 per worker is wrong, on an indy level, as that puts the promotion in a serious monetary problem.

 

"They're trying to get people's attention, so they cut themselves."

Apparently the man hasn't ever watched wrestling for more than a few matches, because this is what's known as BLADING. Many workers do it, and it is not a way to receive attention from bigger leagues, but rather to make the match seem as if it means more.

[Guest Kid Kablam]

Most indies don't have $2500 to spend unless it's on something to drastically improve the promotion. Spending $2500 per worker is wrong, on an indy level, as that puts the promotion in a serious monetary problem.

 

"They're trying to get people's attention, so they cut themselves."

Apparently the man hasn't ever watched wrestling for more than a few matches, because this is what's known as BLADING. Many workers do it, and it is not a way to receive attention from bigger leagues, but rather to make the match seem as if it means more.

Yeah, but there are certain workers who blade for attention. You know, the ones who do it every single PPV match they can. Also, I don't think blading would be outlawed, thye just want to make sure that bladers don't have HIV or Hepatitis.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't HIV die in air? I know I've read that somewhere, hence why there has to be a direct fluid-to-fluid transfer for infection to occur.

 

And I never said some workers don't blade for attention (read: Butcher, Abdullah The), but blading itself is meant as a way to enhance a match.