Cody Rhodes took AEW’s first & last chair shot to the head, according to report

The feud which led to one of the “big four” matches at this weekend’s AEW All Out pay-per-view started at June’s Fyter Fest show when Shawn Spears hit Cody Rhodes in the head with a steel chair. What followed was a bloody scene, as Rhodes received a cut which required 10 staples to close.

After the show was over, we learned the blood was an unintended consequence of the chair shot. Further, we’d hear about how steps were taken to make it a safe spot. Cody’ fellow Executive Vice-Presidents Matt & Nick Jackson explained the chair had been “gimmicked”, the seats sanded down so thin it should have folded around Rhodes’ head like a cookie sheet. It was the way the edge caught the back of his skull that cut him open. President Tony Khan called the spot “regrettable” and chalked the accident up to “pilot error”.

Now, in a story from SB Nation’s James Dator on the Fyter Fest incident specifically and unprotected chair shots to the head in general, an All Elite Wrestling source told Dator the new company will be essentially be banning the spot going forward.

AEW, Rhodes and Spears have done a good job building a multi-faceted personal issue between Cody and his former friend for All Out without relying too heavily on the Fyter Fest chair shot. But the moment definitely generated - and is continuing to generate - headlines which might not have been there for a feud against the man who wrestled in WWE’s mid and undercard as Tye Dillinger.

Sounds like for the remainder of All Elite history, they won’t be able to rely on unprotected head shots to build heat. And as Cody’s mentor Diamond Dallas Page might say, that’s not a bad thing. It’s a good thing.