Seriously , I expected them to do something , but the sheer amount of denial and vitriol is amazing . I thought elections couldn ' t be rigged according to these people ? <| sep |> I ' m not so sure it counts as assaultbattery though . The passing out part may be where it crossed from welcome and expected contact into battery . However , There ' s a certain amount of risk of injury both actors had accepted and a headlock probably fell into that with the choking being reasonable to a degree . While it was more extreme than the rules of the rough play would allow , it was more along the lines of a rule violation of the game . Compared to a contact that was outside of the game and would unequivocally be considered battery . For example , in football elbowing the kicker in the gut while trying to stop his kick might lead to a penalty but the kicker has no legal recourse . However punching him in the gut during a timeout is outside the bounds of the game and he could an action for battery .