OVW issues statement on referee Dallas Edwards medical emergency
Ohio Valley Wrestling has now issued a statement regarding the scary incident that took place at the promotion’s Thursday night event in Louisville, Kentucky.
During a match at the event, referee Dallas Edwards suffered a medical emergency while participating in a planned spot. He went down after taking a Phenomenal Forearm and started to convulse in an apparent seizure. Though something was clearly wrong, the performers continued with the match until it was stopped. Edwards then received medical attention and the show ended.
Edwards was taken to the hospital, and OVW said he is now doing much better. The promotion asked everyone to keep Edwards in their thoughts and respect his privacy and the privacy of his family.
— OVW Wrestling (@ovwrestling) March 13, 2026
“Last night during Rise, referee Dallas Edwards – a member of our OVW family – experienced a
medical emergency during the broadcast,” OVW said. “OVW takes the health and well-being of all our performers extremely seriously, and as a company we are all distraught to see an injury to one of our own.
“Dallas is alert and doing much better. We ask everyone to keep him in your thoughts and prayers and respect his and his family’s privacy at this time.
“We will provide an update as soon as it is available, but in the meantime, we wish Dallas a speedy recovery and we can’t wait until he’s back with our OVW family very soon.”
Video of the incident has circulated on social media, with OVW and the wrestlers in the match drawing criticism for how the situation was handled. ROH wrestler Beef/Gnarls Garvin — who is one of Edwards’ best friends — said he’s ashamed of all of the wrestlers involved who did not put Edwards’ safety first. Others have called for a renewed focus on safety in the wake of this incident.
Speedy recovery to Dallas Edwards.
— Mustafa Ali (@MustafaAli_X) March 13, 2026
We can be upset with what happened AND make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.
This is a great idea ⬇️ https://t.co/geVUsGyOek
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.