Deregulate Professional Wrestling in the State of Maryland

The Maryland State Athletic Commission has been responsible for regulating Professional Wrestling for over 50 years in the state of Maryland. Recently, certain rule changes been implemented that will hurt promoters running traveling shows (promotions running multiple states) and promoters running free events. 

The state athletic commission will no longer allow show organizers to rent promoters licenses for their events. Their reasoning for this rule change is due to the state not making enough money on tax to staff the extra events with inspectors and doctors.

This ruling will affect the wrestling community in Maryland in many ways. It will limit the amount of work that wrestlers can get in the State. It will eliminate groups that maybe run in rural areas of Maryland a few times a year, hurting affordable local entertainment in the process.

While I understand the purpose of the commission is to generate additional revenue for the state, the regulation of pro wrestling is outdated and should be eliminated for a few reasons.

1. Pro Wrestling is not an athletic contest. It is a performance art. It is a simulation of combat, no different than a fight scene in a movie or play.
2. The growth of the pro wrestling industry in Maryland over the last several years has been fantastic due to how welcoming the state has been to the industry until this ruling. This ruling will eliminate most, if not all organizations in rural areas that are already lacking affordable entertainment. 
3. On the subject of rural areas. Rural areas were specifically mentioned in the memo released by the commission. The state of Maryland needs to understand that there is more to Maryland than just Baltimore and Annapolis. 

If you care about the Professional Wrestling business in the state, please sign this petition and let's take one step forward to eliminate these outdated regulations.