WWE tells wrestlers to stop leg slapping during matches

Leg slapping may be a thing of the past, at least in WWE.

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that there’s a story going around in the company about WWE fining wrestlers for “thigh slapping” when throwing kicks to add sound effects.

Some of the wrestlers have complained publicly about the current generation of wrestlers slapping their leg but “thigh slapping” or “leg slapping” dates back to the 50s when Mr. Wrestling II would do a back slap on his opponents when he would hit a knee lift and many wrestlers in all decades have been known to slap their leg or opponents back.

It was noted that Chris Adams did the thigh slap superkick when he came to the United States from the UK and Shawn Michaels, who is one of the key people in NXT, grew up watching Adams.

The Observer notes that a memo was sent out to NXT talent about thigh slapping in matches.