Referee stops AEW match as wrestler is knocked out in sickening incident
A referee immediately stopped the match at AEW's All Out pay-per-view after wrestler Steven Borden Jr was knocked out cold in a terrifying incident.
All Out took place in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday night and featured a total of 12 matches.
But the big talking point coming out of the involved Borden, who teamed up with Darby Allin to take on the team of Kevin Knight and Kyle Fletcher.
The tag team bout was a No.1 contenders match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship and lasted 12 minutes.
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But the finishing sequence came abruptly as Borden suffered a nasty injury during a spot with Knight.
Update given after referee forced to stop AEW match following brutal injury
Opposite one another, both jumped across from the top ropes and hit one another in a frightening coast-to-coast before crashing into the canvas.
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The stunt was dangerous enough but Borden handed horribly, hitting his head on the mat. Replays showed he appeared to be struck by Knight's hand after a timing issue.
There was immediate concern from referee Bryce Remsburg, who checked on Borden as he lay motionless. The doctor soon ran to the ring and with cameras moving away, the official waved off the match before it was due to conclude.
ProtoJet, made up of Knight and Fletcher, were awarded the victory as a result.
Borden was taken away from the arena on a stretcher and transported to hospital. On commentary, Tony Schiavone gave a promising update.
"Steven Borden did arrive at the hospital. He is conscious. He is responsive "He's been talking to doctors about the match and of course our thoughts are with him. He has had a CT scan. But the good news is he's responsive, he's conscious, he's talking about the match. He's in tune about what happened."
Then, in the media conference after the event, AEW president Tony Khan confirmed that tests had brought "good results" and that he was "hopeful" that Borden would be able to fly home on Sunday.
Steven Borden is son of WWE legend and made wrestling debut last year
Borden has wrestling in his blood as he is the son of the legendary Sting, one of the greatest of all time who competed in all the major promotions like WCW, TNA, WWE and AEW.
The Hall of Famer retired from his in-ring career but his son is picking up where he left off.
Trained by Allen and Nick Dinsmore, Borden had sporadic appearances on AEW TV and made his in-ring wrestling debut in October 2025.
His first televised in-ring debut for AEW came in September before his first pay-per-view bout came at the weekend.
Borden himself has not commented on his status following the legitimate injury.
Josh Lawless