Cody Suffers No Concussion After Brutal Unprotected Chair Shot To The Head At AEW Fyter Fest
Star escapes with just stitches.
At last night's AEW Fyter Fest, danger accepted the invitation.
In an angle following Cody's time-limit draw against Darby Allin, Shawn Spears hit the ring, to, as alluded to on Twitter, make clear he was infuriated by the reduced position Cody had envisioned for him. He expressed this by cracking Cody over the head with the sort of unprotected chair shot effectively banished from mainstream wrestling. This, of course, added to the drama of a scene swarmed by various AEW personnel (including storyline frenemy MJF). The hardway (?) blood pouring from Cody's head indicated a serious situation, but then, you'd expect such a dangerous angle to be sold with that level of conviction.
In an age of CTE awareness, this resonated immediately as an unwise move, particularly since Cody is beloved by the crowd. This wasn't necessary to extract sympathy from the audience. Given what we know of CTE, an unprotected chair shot is difficult to justify in any context.
AEW President Tony Khan, speaking to the press after the event, explained that a carefully planned stunt had gone awry, resulting in this "regrettable" situation. A further investigation is to follow. AEW's official Twitter account, meanwhile, revealed that Cody received stitches, but did not suffer a concussion. AEW exists to present an alternative to WWE.
Beyond any subjective takes, this is one area from which inspiration should be taken.