POWELL'S TAKE POWELL: Candice injury should lead to immediate change of policy regarding in-ring reactions By Jason Powell, Torch columnist emeritus Oct 23, 2007 - 12:32:46 AM

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The Candice Michelle injury that occurred on Raw should force WWE to make an immediate policy change. None of this is meant to suggest that WWE is at fault because one of their employees was hurt in the ring. It's a physical job and the wrestlers are well aware of the risks involved. Rather, I believe this incident should serve as a wake up call to company officials regarding their approach to dealing in-ring injuries (assuming there isn't already a better system in place that simply wasn't executed properly).

Whenever it appears as though a wrestler has suffered a severe injury, particularly a head or neck injury, the referee should have the authority to immediately stop the match. No in-ring audibles or quick finishes, just the referee stepping in and calling for the bell. The overwhelming majority of WWE fans have been exposed to mixed martial arts and so the idea of a referee stepping in calling the match would not look totally foreign. Besides, the fans know the matches are simulated fights and generally recognize a potentially serious injury, so it's not like the company has to worry about protecting the business.

Most importantly, it would be in the best interest of the wrestlers' health. As if the footage of Candice falling on her head wasn't scary enough, I cringed even more when Beth Phoenix grabbed her by her head and dragged her a few feet toward the middle of the ring to make the pin. In fact, I'm almost certain that I heard the referee actually instruct Beth to move Candice and make the pin. I'm not blaming Beth or the referee, but rather what appears to be flawed company protocol for dealing with in-ring injuries.

If such a policy existed coming into this match, this referee would not have been forced to make a judgment call he's presumably not equipped to make, nor would Candice have been exposed to further injury by getting dragged around by Beth, who may not have even realized how badly her opponent was injured.

On a related note, accidents happen in pro wrestling, but one thing WWE could prevent is giving the impression that they're trying to capitalize from injuries. I had no problem with cameras rolling while the medical personnel were treating her in the ring, but it was a turnoff to see video footage of the treatment continuing backstage placed on the WWE website less than two hours later (granted, I couldn't actually access the video, but that's an entirely different WWE website issue). It's typical of the networks to show athletes from other sports receiving medical treatment on the field, but I can only hope and assume that NFL Films didn't follow Kevin Everett around with a camera crew once he was carted off the field after suffering a severe spinal chord injury earlier this season.

The WWE website team may be trying to give its users total access, but in this case they made the company look sleazy and left it vulnerable to criticism.

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