New Albany Wrestling

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) -- After an "extreme" wrestling match in New Albany made headlines last week, the Floyd County Health Department wants city council to change its laws.

During the event June 23, glass flew everywhere after a botched power bomb threw a wrestler through glass doors and chairs. Then, a wrestler dived over the top rope into a shopping cart full of glass.

It's the kind of stuff you won't even see some professionals attempt.

"That's just irresponsible, and that goes against everything a reasonable promoter stands for," said Shawn Bostock, whose son was seriously injured in the show and had to get 40 staples at the hospital afterward. "Other promoters are stepping up going, 'You're not being trained properly. That's why you're getting hurt. They're putting you at risk. They're using you because (my son) fits dwarfism.'" 

The "Welcome to the Wreckroom" event was so bloody that the health department told people who went to get tested for HIV.

"The problem we have is with an event that is specifically designed to cause bleeding and to mix the blood from different people and expose them to disease," Floyd County Health Officer Dr. Tom Harris said.

Harris asked city council Monday night not to ban the sport but to pass an ordinance with safety regulations.

The event has sparked worries within the local wrestling community.

"There was a concern for the ability or lack of ability for the performers who were in that," retired professional wrestler Mike Bucci said.

Bucci said the kind of "extreme death match" wrestling with sharp weapons is not what fans see at other Louisville-area promotions, like Ohio Valley Wrestling.

"(OVW) is more based on good vs. evil, storytelling," he said. "It's using athletics to tell a story, and it's not what you saw in New Albany or the death matches those guys are doing. It's not even the same universe."

City council will explore a new ordinance in the coming weeks.

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