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The Fight To Keep Oklahoma Wrestling Alive

Posted: Oct 30th 2026 By: Stephen Watts

A wrestling community can disappear one canceled show at a time. Price enough performers out of the ring and make enough small events impossible to organize, and eventually there is no next card to advertise.

That is the danger Oklahoma’s wrestling community needs to confront in the State Athletic Commission’s proposed rules. We should speak up now, while these proposals can still be changed.

I have spent decades around professional wrestling. I know how much work goes into a show before the audience ever takes a seat. Somebody has to haul the ring, secure the building and convince people to spend their evening there. A wrestler has to get to the booking and make the trip worth what it costs.

For a small promotion, there may be very little money left after the bills are paid. An additional requirement that looks manageable on a government document can be the expense that makes the next show impossible.

The commission has a responsibility to understand that before it changes the rules.

Under the proposal, wrestling applicants age 40 and older would need an EKG and clearance from a board-certified cardiology specialist within 30 days of application. The acceptable age of a wrestler’s physical would also shrink from 12 months to 30 days at submission. [1]

Those are real appointments, real bills and time away from work. For a veteran who wrestles a handful of local dates, or a visiting performer considering one Oklahoma booking, the cost and scheduling could make participation impractical.

Wrestlers deserve proper medical care. They deserve to know when it is unsafe to step into a ring. That makes it essential for OSAC to explain the medical basis for these requirements and provide a realistic way to meet them. A specialist requirement carries an obligation to consider whether people can afford an appointment and obtain it within the required window.

The commission should work with qualified physicians and wrestlers on affordable screening, acceptance of equivalent current testing, and medically justified examination intervals. The people being regulated deserve more than a new obligation and a deadline.

Promoters face another substantial change. The official notice says the permit request and fee deadline would increase from four to 30 working days before an event. That is roughly six weeks before holidays are considered. [2]

When a venue falls through or a replacement date becomes available, a small promotion needs a process that can respond. OSAC should explain why independent wrestling needs that much advance notice and offer a practical route for legitimate changes. The ability to adapt can determine whether a show happens at all.

The proposed enforcement language also includes advertising without required licenses, permits or approvals. [1] Promoters need an unmistakable answer about when they can announce a show and sell tickets. They need timely approvals and a usable marketing window. Uncertainty over whether a poster can go online is a serious problem for somebody trying to fill a building.

The commission’s own impact statement acknowledges that added costs may reduce small promoters’ margins, raise ticket prices and affect the financial feasibility of smaller events. [3]

OSAC has put that risk in writing. It now owes the wrestling community a credible plan to address it.

Before adopting these provisions, the commission should examine actual independent show budgets and local medical costs. It should sit down with the people who would have to pay these bills and explain how they are supposed to keep operating. A statewide estimate means very little to a promoter who cannot afford the next event.

For those of us committed to preserving wrestling history, the stakes reach beyond one weekend’s entertainment. A local promotion gives young wrestlers somewhere to learn and experienced performers somewhere to pass on what they know. Fans build traditions around those shows. When a promotion closes, rebuilding everything it supported can take years.

We spend so much time trying to save wrestling’s past. We should care just as fiercely about whether the next generation gets to create a history of its own.

OSAC should withdraw or substantially revise the wrestling provisions before adoption. Bring independent promoters, working wrestlers and qualified medical professionals into the process. Establish requirements people can understand and afford, with a reasonable transition period.

Oklahoma’s wrestling community has an opportunity to insist on that. The public comment period runs November 2 through December 2, 2026. Written comments must arrive by 5 p.m. Central on December 2. Comments can be emailed to info@osac.ok.gov; a suggested subject is Public Comment – Chapters 1 and 10. [2, 4]

The hearing is December 3, 2026, from 1 to 2 p.m. Central at 5350 S. Western Avenue, seventh-floor conference room, Oklahoma City. Speakers have up to five minutes and must sign the roster. [4]
Speak respectfully and insist on answers. Put actual medical quotes, appointment delays and show budgets into the record. Tell the commission exactly what these provisions could mean for the wrestling you support.

The people keeping Oklahoma wrestling alive are already doing the work. They deserve rules they can afford to follow and a fair chance to put on the next show.

Sources
Official records reviewed October 26, 2026. Bracketed numbers in the article refer to the sources below.

1. Oklahoma State Athletic Commission — Chapter 10 Proposed Permanent Rule Document. Pages 5 and 18; advertising enforcement and wrestling medical requirements. Page 2 shows the redlined permit deadline.

2. Oklahoma State Athletic Commission — Chapter 10 Notice of Rulemaking Intent. Pages 4 and 5; permit deadline, public comment period and hearing notice.

3. Oklahoma State Athletic Commission — Chapter 10 Initial Rule Impact Statement. Section 9; acknowledged effects on small promoters, ticket prices and event feasibility.

4. Oklahoma State Athletic Commission — Rules and Public Comment Information. Email submission route, hearing address and speaking procedures.
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Wrestling’s future matters to WFIA.

This article originally appeared in the WFIA Monthly Newsletter. We’re sharing it publicly because the future of independent wrestling in Oklahoma deserves the attention of the entire wrestling community.
At the Wrestling Fans International Association, preserving wrestling’s history also means caring about the people creating its next chapter.

Our monthly newsletter features original articles, historical research, interviews, and perspectives from across professional wrestling. Beyond its pages, we share classic wrestling through Saturday Morning Fury, celebrate wrestling’s personalities through Legends & Legacies, and work to preserve the photographs, publications, memorabilia, and personal collections that tell wrestling’s story.