There was controversy this past Sunday at PROGRESS Chapter 101. During the Do Not Resuscitate vs OJMO & NIC match, William Eaver threw OJMO into the crowd. Reports are varied as to what exactly happened. Some fans saying no warning was given and others saying that Eaver told fans to move several times. Regardless, the end result had OJMO land on top of fans courtesy of a fallaway slam and anger in some quarters. Today PROGRESS issued the following statement:
William Eaver is suspended for the next 3 events, effective immediately.
We at PROGRESS believe that the up-close-and-personal nature of our shows is an intrinsic part of the PROGRESS experience. The nature of not having a barrier between wrestlers and ringside seats allows for up-close interaction between wrestlers and fans. The nature of a wrestling match means that on occasion, the action may not always be in the ring itself.
When the action spills into the crowd, we trust our wrestlers to take the necessary precautions with regards to making sure fans are safe from what may be about to happen.
On Sunday 19th January on one such occasion, William Eaver did not, in our opinion, take sufficient time or care to allow ringside fans to get themselves out of the way of an upcoming ‘spot’.We acknowledge that this was not a deliberate attempt by Eaver to endanger those fans in the immediate vicinity and thankfully, nobody was hurt as a result; however, we do feel that on this occasion not enough care was taken to ensure those fans were aware of what was about to take place. We have spoken with Eaver about his responsibilities as a wrestler and trust that he will take this time to consider how he can perform to the best of his abilities in the future.
Eaver had been scheduled to wrestle Connor Mills at Chapter 102 on February 2nd. That match is obviously now not going to take place. Also, the DnR madman will not appear for PROGRESS until Chapter 104 at the earliest (PROGRESS Tampa is not listed as a Chapter). This is an unfortunate situation, but I suppose PROGRESS had to be seen to be reactive. Hopefully Bill will be able to come back better than ever in three show’s time.
