Indie wrestler Hannibal’s (real name Devon Nicholson) stabbing of referee Lando Deltoro is an incident that is destined to be talked about for quite some time.
While the referee said that he hadn’t “seen so much blood since Fallujah”, Miranda Gordy revealed that she warned promoter Jerry Bostic about Nicholson being a dangerous individual. She said,
“I’ve worked with Lando a bunch, and he’s a sweet and passionate guy, and he put his trust in Nicholson. There’s a difference between a tiny cut versus someone assaulting you with a spike. It was unnecessary — it didn’t do anything to help their storyline, and Lando didn’t deserve it. You don’t do that. It was a blatant assault on him.”
Deltoro also spoke with WFAA in Dallas, TX and revealed that he went into hypovolemic shock, which occurs when the loss of blood or fluids makes the heart unable to pump enough blood which can cause organ failure. As noted, he received seven staples and underwent emergency surgery.
Nicholson tried to justify himself by saying that everything was planned, but still got banned by Bostic’s WCPW. Nicholson issued the following statement to the outlet:
“The attack on the referee after the match was a scripted angle. The company provided the prop and had put the match just before intermission as they planned to change the canvas after the match due to the blood. The referee was hired only to take part in that attack; he was not scheduled to referee any matches that night to my knowledge. The referee sold himself on the job based on the fact that he had bled before in matches and knew how to bleed well. I feel horrible that he got hurt, and I am regretful about what happened — even though it was not intentional.”
