13 Ways AEW Allegedly BROKE THE LAW At Full Gear
Hard As Nailz.
But, some full disclosure before sending Tony Khan and the gang to the slammer whilst breaking down Full Gear.
The list of laws included within this list were compiled by former WCW presenter/commentator Chris Cruise via his Facebook and shared by inspired Wrestling Twitter craic curator Ian. The agenda for raising them as of writing remains unclear, as does the response from the Maryland State Athletic Commission he's apparently gone to with these queries.
Dave Meltzer covered it in brief in The Wrestling Observer, but in truth, that's as far as the story will travel - this isn't a WhatCulture shakedown, not least when Cruise hasn't provided the full documentation that apparently render Cody and Co bang to rights for what proved to be one of the most significant shows in their brief history.
The tl;dr is that it's probably just a bit of brilliantly bizarre online wrestling banter that'll lead to nothing. But it's worth considering just how significant a part state laws have previously played in wrestling's past. Vince McMahon exploded kayfabe on the record in 1989 to try and avoid taxes in New Jersey, the NWA actively used commission laws for white hot blood stoppages in the 1980s, and wrestlers welcomed the rozzers dropping in every time they hit a hurricanrana over WrestleMania 34 weekend thanks to an odd quirk of the Louisiana regulations.
And anyway, where exactly did Full Gear fall afoul?
13. "Striking An Opponent With A Fist Or Using The Knuckles"
Cody's fists flying at Chris Jericho during the AEW Championship match weren't just illegal within the confines of the clash - they were also in direct contravention to pre-existing local rules and regulations.
Good on Maryland for trying to uphold wrestling logic let alone laws - punches were once punishable by disqualification before they were normalised within matches decades ago.