Browsing: extreme

Darby Allin

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AEW has played a game of how far can we take things for a long time now with their storytelling. Weâ€ve seen houses burned down, people hanged, and plastic bags used to suffocate an opponent, among other outlandishly creative ways to inflict harm or threaten deadly harm. The list of things you normally wouldnâ€t see in a mainstream wrestling promotion has grown larger as AEW COO and booker Tony Khan attempts to push as far as they can go when it comes to booking violent content in a medium that is supposed to be based on sport and competition.

Khan really pushed things during the Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley feud, which culminated in an I Quit match at WrestleDream last weekend. We saw Darby light Moxley on fire to end All Out: Toronto last month. In the build to their match at WrestleDream, Darby confronted Moxley with a flame thrower.

It seemed as if the angle had gone as far as possible from the sporting elements that provide the foundation for most successful wrestling companies and into the realm of the dark and macabre. An I Quit match certainly didnâ€t seem to be the way to settle a feud that had me thinking one of these guys was going to have to shoot the other to end it.

The Darby vs. Moxley match was dark and grim. It was the sort of content I feel has driven more fans away from AEW than itâ€s brought in over the years, especially as Khan has attempted to push the boundaries of what he can get away with in the context of a sports-based pro wrestling promotion.

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The match itself was a really downer for the most part until the end. Darby had a hard time keeping up with Moxley when he only had Marina Shafir at ringside, but once all of the Death Riders came out to join in on trying to make Allin say “I Quit,†the match appeared to be a farce of what pro wrestling is supposed to be.

Moxley had tried to get Darby to quit by attempting to drown him in a large fish tank, but Darby wouldnâ€t quit and the beating from Moxley was going to continue. Then the magic of pro wrestling took over. The lights went off and on and when they came on, “Old Man Logan” Sting was in the ring.

Yes, someone finally had shown up to help Darby fight for the pride of AEW. Sting smashed the aquarium with his bat and cleared the ringside area of The Death Riders. This set the stage for an amazing reaction to Darby making Moxley quit with a Scorpion Death Lock and winning the match.

Stingâ€s surprise appearance and Darbyâ€s win over Moxley was a great end to WrestleDream, but the question remains how disciplined can Khan be going forward with this type of over-the-top storytelling. It remains to be seen, but at some point the question has to be asked if presenting this kind of content is worth it even to when it works as it did at WrestleDream.

It might have appealed to the fans that have stuck with AEW, but if this type of content continues to be part of AEW storytelling is it going to help grow the company in the future or is it going to continue to erode their existing fan base. Khan might be wise to take another approach if heâ€s ever going to grow AEWâ€s fan base back to where it once was.

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Jannik Sinner had tried everything but after baking for two and a half hours inside the suffocating sauna of Shanghaiâ€s stadium court, he was finished. Even around midnight, the humidity was still so oppressive that Sinner had spent the final 20 minutes of his third-round match against Tallon Griekspoor cramping, panting and in considerable pain. Eventually, he could not even walk properly. Midway through the final set, the 24-year-old hobbled slowly to his chair using his racket as a crutch and terminated the match.

Those scenes were representative of the Shanghai Masters so far as, throughout the past week, so many players have wilted in brutal conditions. Terence Atmane and Hamad Medjedovic both retired after struggling with the heat. Francisco Comesaña appeared close to collapsing and he had to be helped mid-match by his opponent Lorenzo Musetti. Despite the benefit of competing at night, Novak Djokovic repeatedly vomited in two consecutive matches and there were times in his fourth round win over Jaume Munar where he too looked as if he had reached his limit.

Novak Djokovic towels away sweat during his match against Jaume Munar at the Shanghai Masters. Photograph: Andy Wong/AP

Five hundred miles away in Wuhan, the weather has also been challenging for the top female players. Emma Raducanu and Jelena Ostapenko both retired in hot, humid conditions. Alongside a social media video that showed her wringing out sweat from her socks, Bianca Andreescu wrote: “Wuhan weather really said: ‘Go play tennis in a sauna.â€â€

As startling as these scenes have been, this is hardly uncharted territory. Every year players are pushed to their limits in a sport that chases the sun. However, tennis has failed to ensure players†safety by tackling the danger of competing in such extreme conditions.

The glaring problem was illustrated by Holger Rune during his medical time out at the weekend. Speaking with Gerry Armstrong, one of the ATP supervisors in Shanghai, Rune asked: “Why the ATP doesnâ€t have a heat rule? You want a player to die on the court?â€

While the grand slam tournaments and the WTA have their own extreme heat policies, the ATP still does not. The ATP entrusts the ATP supervisors, in coordination with its medical staff, to manage the players in stifling conditions.As such, Armstrongâ€s response to Rune was even more damning: “I donâ€t know, itâ€s a good question,†he said.

In a statement, an ATP representative said: “Under ATP rules, decisions regarding the suspension of play due to weather conditions – including extreme heat – lie with the on-site ATP Supervisor, in coordination with on-site medical teams and local authorities. In parallel, the ATP Medical Services team implements several measures in cases of extreme heat, to help protect player health during competition.

“This remains under active review and additional measures including the implementation of an official heat policy are currently being evaluated in consultation with players, tournaments, and medical experts. Player safety remains a top priority for the ATP.â€

Holger Rune feels the heat at the Shanghai Masters. Photograph: Andy Wong/AP

In a well-governed sport, a standardised extreme heat policy across all tournaments would have already existed for a long time. Tennis, however, is split uncomfortably between the four grand slam tournaments, the ATP, WTA and ITF, organisations that are often too focused on protecting their own interests.

Just one month ago, players similarly struggled in hot and humid conditions for two weeks at the Cincinnati Open before the tournament concluded with Sinner retiring against Carlos Alcaraz in the final due to illness. Global warming will only lead to further difficulties, so governing bodies should already be investigating how to adapt the calendar to avoid these unbearable conditions.

This is a challenging subject considering physical preparation and stamina is a key part of excelling at the top of the sport. Elite players pride themselves on being able to handle the elements and still find a way through. Everyone, however,has a limit.

“I think there should be some kind of rule,†Rune said on Tuesday. “We can handle a certain amount of heat because we are fit, weâ€re strong, weâ€re mentally strong as well, but thereâ€s always a limit. I think itâ€s also important to take care of your health. We need to survive.â€

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There are smaller changes to consider. Back in Cincinnati, as the heat wreaked havoc on the tournament, Iga Swiatek said she would like to see more flexibility with the time limit between points on warmer days: “This kind of heat is like something that we just need to survive, and itâ€s not like we canâ€t,†she said. “Maybe giving us five more seconds to use the towel or to have more time to breathe, because it is a bit harder, would be nice.â€

This latest issue of managing extreme heat comes at at the end of another gruelling, long season, and player welfare has been a significant talking point.

Aryna Sabalenka applies a pack of ice on her head during her defeat of Rebecca Sramkova at the Wuhan Open. Photograph: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images

The number of retirements, withdrawals and injuries this year has been shocking. With seven retirements or walkovers at the Shanghai Masters over the past week, there have now been 41 retirements and walkovers at the ATP Masters 1000 events this year, including nine in Madrid and eight in Cincinnati.

Last Monday at the China Open in Beijing, a combined WTA 1000 and ATP 500 event, five of the 12 matches ended in retirements. This does not even account for the injuries, physical pain and mental strain that many players on both tours are continuing to push through. It is increasingly difficult to argue that the tours have not done enough to prioritise player welfare.

The length of the tennis season has been a significant talking point for decades with minimal change, but recent initiatives from the ATP and WTA tours have only seemed to accentuate these issues.

Over the past two years, the WTA has enacted stricter scheduling controls for its top players and there is a growing consensus that the ATP-driven push to extend so many of the ATP and WTA 1000 events into protracted two-week affairs have come at the cost of the players themselves. With even more “on†days at tournaments and more time away from home, their growing physical and mental difficulties are clear.

In the final weeks of another campaign, as the injuries pile up and few competitors seem content, it feels like the tour is reaching breaking point. It is still unclear, however, if the governing bodies are ready to recognise those issues and take meaningful steps towards fixing them.

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