We don’t talk much about wrestling by region anymore. The days of the territories are long over, and while there are still plenty of local indies, most wrestling fans (us included) spend most of their time focused on one international company.
But because WWE is constantly touring, local laws and regulations about wrestling still affect them. John Pollock at Post Wrestling reminds us of this, thanks to a conversation he had with Russell Naquin of the Louisiana Boxing and Wrestling Commission.
Naquin oversees pro wrestling in Louisiana, and this is here are some rules that he says will be in effect during WrestleMania week, affecting not just WWE, but all the promotions who’ll be there doing their own shows:
- No blood is allowed in pro wrestling events in Louisiana. WWE is usually on board with this rule anyway, although they do like to make exceptions from time to time.
- No piledrivers are allowed in Louisiana. This rule is apparently the result of an injury that happened in a wrestling match years ago.
- Every promoter has to have a license to run shows in the state, but licenses can be loaned by their holders. So if you’re a licensed local indie promoter in Louisiana, you can let an out-of-state promotion use your license to run a show.
- All wrestlers have to show recent blood tests that show they’re negative for HIV and Hepatitis B and C .
- On the day of a show, the promotion has to show all their paperwork including their performers’ blood test results.
- It costs $25 to become a licensed wrestler in Louisiana.
- Wrestlers will be subjected to a ringside physical on the day of the show. The Louisiana commission will provide an official at every show, plus an EMT.
All the stuff about blood and piledrivers and blood tests sounds pretty solid and safety-based. The part where you pay $25 just to wrestle seems to weird to me as an outsider, but most licenses cost money, and presumably that also helps pay for the official, the EMT, and everything else.
