New York State Athletic Commission issues statement on Brock Lesnar participating at WWE SummerSlam

Inquiring whether a potential suspension by the Nevada Athletic Commission for a still-under-investigation positive test conducted by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on Brock Lesnar prior to his fight at UFC 200 would trigger action by the state of New York regarding his upcoming appearance at WWE SummerSlam in Brooklyn, Wrestling Inc. reached out to the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) and received the following statement.

New York does still regulate pro wrestling, but as you can see from the statement, not to the extent they’d be involved with “bona-fide athletic competition”. As such, as long as the doctors and WWE agree Lesnar is fit to work against Randy Orton, it doesn’t sound like the state will stand in the way.

Here’s what was provided to Inc’s Brandon Howard:

In 2002, New York State passed legislation that scaled back the regulation of “professional wrestling” in many respects based on a recognition that the activity is entertainment rather than bona-fide athletic competition. Under current New York State law, “professional wrestling” is defined as wrestling “primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition” (NY Unconsolidated Laws section 8928-b[1]). As such, the State does not license individual wrestlers, and Mr. Lesnar is not a licensee of the New York State Athletic Commission. In the context of “professional wrestling,” as defined above, the State licenses only the promoter, such as the WWE. Per New York law, among other health and safety requirements that apply to the licensing of a promoter, the event promoter is required to have a physician examine each wrestler and determine whether each wrestler is medically fit to participate.

The question of whether Mr. Lesnar is fit to participate in a “professional wrestling” event is one that will be determined by the application of the professional medical judgment of the examining physician, the policies of the WWE, and the choices made by Mr. Lesnar with regard to his own participation leading up to the event date.

So, unless WWE decides to suspend Brock based on whatever comes out of the process whereby Lesnar is getting “to the bottom” of his positive test, expect to see the Beast Incarnate in Brooklyn next month.