AEW Opinion: Chair shots to the head shouldn't be tolerated in 2019

One of the biggest talking points coming out of AEW's Fyter Fest was the spot which saw Shawn Spears hitting Cody with a supposed "gimmicked" steel chair right. Following Cody's match with Darby Allin, Spears would enter the ring and hit the American Nightmare with the chair right on his head.

Chair shots to the head have been one of the hotly debated topics within the wrestling community, there being an almost unanimous mandate against doing them. WWE has been wise enough to know about its ill-effects to point where they have completely banned chair shots to the head.

If history has taught us anything it is that unprotected chairs shots to the head have been one of the worst thing to happen to professional wrestling, with the other one being the rampant abuse of drugs and steroids in the '90s.

We have seen superstars like Mick Foley, Val Venis, and Tommy Dreamer speak about the long-term ill effects of taking chair shots to the head.

One of the biggest news stories of the past week, which was sadly brushed aside, was Tommy Dreamer recounting his battle with Depression on his 'House of Hardcore' podcast. Just listening to Dreamer recount the tale about his tale with anxiety and depression was terrifying and shocking at the same time. It is safe to assume to Dreamer's hardcore style of wrestling played a major role in him not being in a sound frame of mind for a long time.

As excepted, this spot caused a huge furor on social media, with many criticizing the company for greenlighting the spot. However, there have been a few who have defended the company. Their argument has been chair shots to the head were a common occurrence in the Attitude Era - what's the hullabaloo about AEW doing them now?

Now, the last we heard, AEW was supposed to change the wrestling business, if we are not mistaken. 'Change the World' is a phrase which has been used extensively by the AEW crew. If bringing back the most dreaded elements from a bygone era is their way of changing the world, we'd rather it says the same.

The "whataboutery" regarding the chair spot at Fyter Fest is truly ridiculous, in our opinion. Given the amount of information we have regarding the ill-effects of concussions and head-related trauma, it is truly baffling to see people defend such a spot in 2019.

We are pretty sure that had the wrestlers and promoters during that period known about the long term effects of this spot, they would've thought twice before letting a wrestler crack another wrestler's skull with a steel chair. Besides, why should a wrestler even risk a potential concussion or head trauma for two minutes of entertainment? It's not a risk worth taking even if it garners the loudest reaction of the night.

We also do not buy AEW's lame excuse of the chair being "gimmicked" and the spot being a mere accident. Everyone involved with the spot knew beforehand what they were doing.The only logical conclusion one can draw at this point regarding the incident is that it was done to create controversy. Fyter Fest received a lukewarm response when compared to Double or Nothing, but Cody's chair spot was something which got people talking.

The opinions in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Sportskeeda