Austen Lane on the Unprotected Cody Rhodes Chair Shot Being Hard to Watch, Understands Why It Happened, Thinks It Brought AEW Good Publicity

– WrestlingInc.com recently interviewed ESPN radio host, MMA fighter, and former NFL player for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Austen Lane, for the WINCLY podcast. During the interview, he did discuss wrestling related topics, including AEW, Tony Khan, Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, his unprotected chair shot at Fyter Fest, and more. Below are some additional highlights from WrestlingInc.com.

Lane on how the NFL is handling the CTE issue and possible head trauma and brain injuries: “I’m gonna be 100 percent candid – it’s definitely an ongoing problem. Anytime you have guys with colliding heads that weigh 350 pounds, something’s gonna happen. You can make the helmets better and rules safer, but at the end of the day these guys are getting bigger, faster, stronger every year and our brains aren’t adapting. I appreciate all of the precautions with the rule changes but you’re still gonna have problems. I wish I had the answer on what you could do to help with CTE. I’ve been pretty blessed where I have had some concussions, but for the most part, I haven’t seen any side effects of those.”

Lane on why players might not report concussions: “If you go to report that concussion, a couple of things happen: 1) you have to sit out and that’s the worst thing you can do when trying to make a team in training camp. …And 2) it goes on your [medical] record and if you’re trying to get a new contract, a team can see your medical history, see 3-4 concussions and they’re not gonna sign you because they’re taking the risk.”

Lane on NFL having an opioid issue: “Another big issue in the NFL is the use of opioids where if you wanna use medical marijuana which might have better effects for concussions, but the way it’s set up, we just have to chase everything with Ibuprofen or a stronger pain pill. Then, of course, the pain pills mask the concussion symptoms and you have guys 3-4 years out of the league that you see getting in trouble for domestic violence or bad decisions. Guys that I always went to vouch for are completely different people and I think CTE has a direct correlation to that.”

Lane on Cody Rhodes’ unprotected chair shot to the head at AEW Fyter Fest: “It was a shot that we haven’t seen in a long time in pro wrestling on a main stage. As far as being on a ppv and a big spectacle like Fyter Fest, it was hard to watch.”

Austen Lane on how everyone talked about the chair shot after the show: “But at the same time from an entertainment standpoint, what was everyone talking about afterwards? What was the biggest story after Fyter Fest? It was the chair shot. You saw it on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Granted, it might have been bad publicity, but as they say any publicity is good publicity. Cody took that risk and he understands the consequences, so while I hated to see it I understand where it came from.”

Lane on Chris Jericho being able to reinvent himself: “Here’s the thing about Jericho that I respect: he always seems to re-invent himself. Now we have this ultra-heel…and right now you need to put the belt on Jericho because he is the household name. I think he’s the biggest heel in the company, no disrespect to MJF, but I think going forward Hangman Page is gonna be a legend in his own right. I still think the audience is still getting acquainted with him, so to me it makes sense to keep Jericho at the head of the company.”

Austen Lane on how competition will help WWE: “Honestly, I think competition brings out the best out in everyone. You see that now with Vince handing off the reigns to Paul Heyman on Raw…it shows that WWE’s paying attention.”