Speaking Out movement

The Speaking Out movement or #SpeakingOut is a movement against emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual harassment and sexual abuse in professional wrestling where people publicize their allegations of sex crimes committed by powerful and/or prominent individuals. The movement is similar to the Me Too movement. The phrase ″Speaking Out″ began to spread on Twitter in June 2020.[1]

Similar to other empowerment movements based upon breaking silence, the purpose of Speaking Out is to empower people to tell their stories of abuse they have experienced.[1]

History

On June 17, 2020, independent wrestler David Starr was accused of sexual assault by a former girlfriend of his.[2] Starr denied the allegation.[3] After the allegation came out, several wrestling promotions, including Over The Top Wrestling, stripped Starr of his titles and fired him.[4]

The following day, numerous people in and out of the pro wrestling industry accused several wrestlers, promoters, personalities, and journalists of sexual misconduct. The hashtag "Speaking Out" began to spread on social media when people told their stories. #SpeakingOut was a trending topic on Twitter. Soon after, one of the victims making the accusations stated that Yorkshire Police were investigating the accusations and that she and another victim had a list of 70 wrestlers with 100 incidents documented.[5]

Response

Many wrestlers, personalities, and journalists overwhelmingly supported those that spoke out on their experiences.[6]

All Elite Wrestling

All Elite Wrestling wrestler Jimmy Havoc was accused of physical abuse by a former partner. On June 19, 2020, AEW announced in a statement that Havoc would be attending therapy for a number of issues and they would come to decision about his employment a later date.[7]

On June 22, audio from a podcast in 2016 was went viral where Sammy Guevara joked that he wanted to rape WWE women's wrestler Sasha Banks. AEW subsequently suspended Guevara without pay with Guevara agreeing to undergo extensive sensitivity training. Guevara's pay check will also be donated to the Women's Center of Jacksonville.[8]

Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling wrestlers Joey Ryan, Michael Elgin, and David Crist were accused of misconduct. Impact Wrestling's parent company, Anthem Sports & Entertainment, released a statement saying they were reviewing the allegations.[9] Ryan would release a statement without addressing specific allegations.[10] It was later revealed that Ryan and Crist's contracts were terminated, while Elgin was suspended.[11] On June 26, Impact Wrestling announced Elgin would be removed from all future programing.[12]

Major League Wrestling

On June 20, 2020, Major League Wrestling ring announcer Mark Adam Haggerty was accused of sending inappropriate text messages to a minor. An hour later, MLW and two other promotions announced that they would no longer be working with Haggerty.[13]

National Wrestling Alliance

On June 18, 2020, National Wrestling Alliance Vice President Dave Lagana was accused of sexual misconduct. The following day, Lagana resigned from his position.[14]

Ring of Honor

On June 22, 2020, Marty Scurll was accused of taking advantage of a 16-year-old girl who was inebriated. Scurll would release two statements denying the allegations.[15] On June 25, Ring of Honor announced that they launched an investigation concerning the allegations.[16]

WWE

Joe Coffey was accused of harassing a woman and sending her unsolicited naked photos as well as sending voice messages.[17]

Jack Gallagher was accused of sexual assault. On June 19, he was released by WWE.[18][19] His profile was later deleted from WWE.com.[20]

Jordan Devlin was accused of physical abuse by a former partner.[21] Devlin denied the allegations.[22] He would be suspended indefinitely by Progress Wrestling following the allegations.[23]

Matt Riddle was accused of sexual misconduct by a female wrestler.[24] Riddle denied the allegation through his attorney.[25]

Travis Banks was accused of emotional abuse by former student Millie McKenzie, who had a relationship with Banks while aged 17. McKenzie also stated that Banks has had similar relationships with other trainees. Banks responded to the allegations via a statement. McKenzie proceeded to tweet screenshots of a text conversation between the two where Banks, who seemed to be intoxicated by the nature of his messages, had stalked McKenzie and was harassing her in a hotel room.[26] Banks would be released by Progress Wrestling and WWE following the allegations.[27][28]

Wolfgang was accused of emotional abuse and taking photos of schoolgirls.[29]

Ligero was accused of indecent assault, sending inappropriate messages, and engaging in inappropriate conduct. While he denied the indecent assault allegation, he admitted that he did send inappropriate messages and engaged in inappropriate conduct.[30] Ligero would be released by Progress Wrestling and WWE following the allegations.[27][31]

Velveteen Dream was accused of having inappropriate communications with minors as well as attempting to groom them.[32] He had previously been accused of sending inappropriate photos to minors several months earlier, which at that time he denied.[33]

WWE released a statement concerning Devlin and Riddle saying they took the matters seriously and were looking into it.[21][24] WWE would later issue a second statement saying that they would take action upon those who were arrested or convicted.[34]

Independent circuit

New Japan Pro Wrestling star Will Ospreay was accused by a former female wrestler of having her blacklisted after she made allegations towards one of his friends. While Ospreay denied the accusation, Progress Wrestling and International Wrestling League would release statements that contradicted his denial.[35][36]

On June 21, 2020, Joey Ryan shut down Bar Wrestling following sexual assault allegations.[37][38]

Progress Wrestling announced that the promotion underwent structural changes after several wrestlers were either suspended or fired due to the numerous allegations made against them. The promotion also announced that they would shut down until they were satisfied with the changes.[39][40]

Chikara removed Kobald from their roster.[41] Chikara original Icarus has been accused of showing other wrestlers pictures of bruises he inflicted upon a underage girl, whilst also claiming that she "liked it rough." Chikara owner Mike Quackenbush was also accused of abuse and neglect which led to many wrestlers on the Chikara roster such as Hallowicked, Kimber Lee, Jacob Hammermeier, Blaxstorm, Frightmare and Green Ant resigning from the promotion.[42] On June 24, 2020, Chikara announced they had shut down completely.[43]

Former NWA/WCW and WWE manager Jim Cornette and his wife now face accusations that while Cornette was in charge of Ohio Valley Wrestling, he forced trainees to engage in sexual intercourse with his wife while he watched.[1] Cornette would deny the allegations.[44]

See also

References
  1. Gartland, Dan (June 19, 2020). "Wrestlers Shed Light on Industry's Toxic Culture With #SpeakingOut". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  2. Powell, Jason (June 18, 2020). "David Starr accused of sexual assault by former girlfriend". ProWrestling.net. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  3. "David Starr Responds To Allegations, Premiere Date Set For The Miz's New Show | Fight-Size Update". Fightful. June 17, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  4. Lambert, Jeremy (June 18, 2020). "Multiple Promotions Sever Ties With David Starr Following Sexual Abuse Allegations". Fightful. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  5. Lambert, Jeremy (June 19, 2020). "Report: West Yorkshire Police Carrying Out Enquiries Regarding Alleged Abuse In British Wrestling". Fightful. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  6. "Wrestlers speak out in favor of #SpeakingOut movement, supporting the women giving accounts of sexual abuse, harassment, and assault". Pro Wrestling Torch. June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  7. Lambert, Jeremy (June 19, 2020). "AEW Releases Statement Regarding Jimmy Havoc Following Allegations Of Abuse". Fightful. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  8. Keller, Wade (June 22, 2020). "Sammy Guevara suspended without pay from AEW due to a podcast comment in 2016 about wanting to rape Sasha Banks, Sammy and Sasha comment". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  9. Nason, Josh (June 19, 2020). "Impact Wrestling's parent company releases statement on allegations". Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  10. Pollack, John (June 22, 2020). "Joey Ryan, Bar Wrestling deactivate Twitter accounts following allegations, Highspots issues statement". POST Wrestling. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  11. Nason, Josh (June 22, 2020). "Impact Wrestling fires Joey Ryan & Dave Crist, suspends Michael Elgin". Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  12. Satin, Ryan (June 26, 2020). "Michael Elgin Will Not Appear in Any Further Impact Wrestling Programming". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  13. Rose, Bryan (June 20, 2020). "Mark Adam Haggerty gone from MLW following misconduct allegations". Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  14. Powell, Jason (June 19, 2020). "NWA executive Dave Lagana resigns following allegation of sexual misconduct". ProWrestling.net. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  15. Nason, Josh (June 24, 2020). "Marty Scurll releases new statement on sexual allegations". Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  16. Currier, Joseph (June 25, 2020). "ROH launches investigation into accusations made against talent". Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  17. Thomas, Jeremy (June 18, 2020). "WWE Issues Statement on Jordan Devlin Accusations, Details on Other UK Misconduct Allegations". 411mania. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  18. "Jack Gallagher released". WWE.com. June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  19. Nason, Josh (June 19, 2020). "WWE releases Jack Gallagher following sexual assault claim". Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  20. Haring, Bruce (June 21, 2020). "Jack Gallagher Released by WWE As #SpeakingOut Movement Accuses Wrestling Stars Of Sexual Misconduct". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  21. Currier, Joseph (June 18, 2020). "WWE looking into abuse allegations made against Jordan Devlin". Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  22. Trainor, Daniel (June 19, 2020). "Jordan Devlin Calls Assault Allegation "Completely and Utterly False"". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  23. Satin, Ryan (June 19, 2020). "Jordan Devlin And Travis Banks Suspended Indefinitely From PROGRESS Wrestling". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  24. Nason, Josh (June 19, 2020). "Matt Riddle accused of sexual abuse, WWE releases statement". Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  25. Satin, Ryan (June 19, 2020). "Matt Riddle's Lawyer Releases Statement Denying Sexual Assault Allegation". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  26. Pollack, John (June 20, 2020). "Travis Banks responds to accusations by Millie Mckenzie". POST Wrestling. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  27. Rose, Bryan (June 20, 2020). "Travis Banks & Ligero dropped by PROGRESS amid abuse allegations". Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  28. Johnson, Mike (June 26, 2020). "WWE RELEASES TRAVIS BANKS". PWInsider. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  29. Lee, Joseph (June 19, 2020). "Jack Gallagher, Joey Ryan, Michael Elgin and Wolfgang All Accused Of Sexual Misconduct". 411mania. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  30. Trainor, Daniel (June 19, 2020). "Ligero Denies "Indecent Assault" Allegation, Acknowledges Inappropriate Messages and Conduct". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  31. Trainor, Daniel (June 26, 2020). "Ligero Released By WWE After Multiple Allegations of Inappropriate Behavior". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  32. Bergonzi, Ezequiel (June 20, 2020). "#MeToo in WWE: More evidence emerges against Velveteen Dream". Super Luchas. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  33. "Velveteen Dream denies allegation of inappropriate behavior". Figure Four Online. April 24, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  34. Satin, Ryan (June 19, 2020). "WWE Releases Statement Regarding Talent Accused in #SpeakingOut Movement". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  35. Lambert, Jeremy (June 20, 2020). "Will Ospreay Posts Statement Regarding Accusations He Helped Blacklist Pollyanna From Wrestling". Fightful. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  36. Lambert, Jeremy (June 21, 2020). "IWL Says Will Ospreay Told Venue He Was Uncomfortable With Pollyanna Being Booked". Fightful. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  37. Rose, Bryan (June 21, 2020). "Report: Bar Wrestling closed amid Joey Ryan sexual assault allegations". Figure Four Online. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  38. Lambert, Jeremy (June 22, 2020). "Bar Wrestling Closes Down Following Joey Ryan Sexual Assault Allegations, Highspots Issues Statement". Fightful. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  39. Lambert, Jeremy (June 20, 2020). "PROGRESS Wrestling Cuts Ties Will Multiple Wrestlers Amid Sexual Abuse Allegations". Fightful. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  40. Lambert, Jeremy (June 22, 2020). "PROGRESS Wrestling Shutting Down Until Changes Are Made". Fightful. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  41. Thomas, Jeremy (June 19, 2020). "CHIKARA Removes Kobald From Roster Following Abuse Allegations". 411mania. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  42. Lee, Joseph (June 24, 2020). "UPDATEDx2: Mike Quackenbush Announces CHIKARA Shutting Down, Resigning From Wrestle Factory". 411mania. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  43. Johnson, Mike (June 24, 2020). "CHIKARA SHUTTING DOWN". PWInsider. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  44. Satin, Ryan (June 22, 2020). "Jim Cornette Denies Recent Allegations, 'I've Been Charged with Having an Interesting Sex Life'". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
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