A frightening situation unfolded during Thursday night’s episode of OVW’s weekly series Rise in Louisville, Kentucky, when referee Dallas Edwards was knocked unconscious during the main event and later diagnosed with a brain injury.

The incident occurred during a multi man main event match featuring OVW Rush Champion Brendan Balling. At one point in the bout, Balling climbed to the top rope and launched himself toward Tony Evans with a flying forearm. Evans avoided the impact by pulling referee Dallas Edwards directly into the path of the move. Balling collided with Edwards, who fell to the mat and struck his head.

Following the impact, Edwards was knocked out and his body began to seize as his arms and legs visibly convulsed on the canvas. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Balling and Evans continued performing around the downed official as the match continued.

Moments later, Evans grabbed Edwards by the waistband of his pants and rolled him over before using his foot to push the referee further away from the other wrestlers in the ring. Footage of the incident quickly circulated online and raised concerns among fans.

Shortly afterward, someone entered the ring and the match was immediately stopped. The broadcast cameras avoided showing Edwards while medical attention was addressed. OVW then announced they would be going off the air due to the referee’s medical situation.

An update later emerged from Edwards’ girlfriend, who issued a statement that was shared publicly.

"Please keep Dallas in your thoughts as your day begins. I am not going to provide much more information at this time except to the parties who already know, but last night resulted in a brain injury that is being monitored and will continue to be monitored by doctors here. Seeing all the support you guys have already given is amazing and I didn’t want to leave everyone without some kind of update."

The situation has drawn widespread concern across the wrestling community. Promotion St. Louis Anarchy also addressed the incident on social media while fans and fellow wrestlers shared messages of support for Edwards.

OVW, which operates as a certified wrestling trade school in Kentucky under the leadership of Al Snow, later released an official statement regarding the incident.

I just watched the referee having a seizure in OVW, and its fucking horrible. These idiots just wrestle around him, and then as he's stiff and shaking, one of the clowns just drags him out the way. One of the worst things I've seen in wrestling, and that is saying something pic.twitter.com/PvJ7Oy7Hlm

, swerve (@swerve383658) March 13, 2026