#tw: speakingout

[blackpoolcombatwriter]

I ended up going to bed before the scrum was done but I did see Tony get the second question about harassment. Going to put my reaction under a cut for TW.

I thought Tony's comments about the company's policy came from such a place of privilege. It's easy for the rich, male boss of the company to say his door is always open for anyone to come to him with concerns, or they can go to anyone in the disciplinary committee. In theory, sure it works. In reality, it doesn't matter how many times you assure a young rookie they'll be listened to and taken seriously when their accusation is against someone who's a powerful veteran, friends with the owner, with the ability to blacklist them from many promotions. In way too many cases there will be enough doubt and fear for them to decide to stay silent.

As a woman(and one who has been in the unfortunate position with a coworker), nothing Tony said reassured me. Nothing about it was handled well. Have a prepared statement at the beginning to address it because you are the owner of the company and it should be addressed. It shouldn't have been up to the journalists to have to ask. The first guy shouldn't have asked during Julia's time(he has since posted he regrets his timing but thought the presser vibe was Tony wasn't going to do solo time because it was different than all the other pressers, take that what you will). The WON journalist saying the accusations have agendas is so gross. Tony repeatedly saying AEW is the safest when a few months ago he said he feared for his life, someone needs to get this man media training so he stops rambling on forever.

It's just so unfortunate that something like this overshadows their last PPV of the year, and a lot of wrestlers big moments. I do understand that they're in a weird place because the accusation hasn't come directly from Kylie Rae, she's been dragged into this, but her reaction by tweeting a heart in response to a tweet accusing Jericho can't be ignored. Tony can call them "internet rumours" all he wants, but if people who know Jericho think he's not capable of doing something like this, where's all the supportive tweets? Where's the AEW locker room bad = talent rally of positivity tweets?

Trying to pass the responsibility of having to deal with it off by saying they haven't received any complaints is also ridiculous. It shouldn't have to come directly from a terrified wrestler to be taken seriously. Most of the Speaking Out Movement accusations weren't made directly to the companies but they were still investigated and people were fired. The only reason not to at least reach out about these accusations is if Tony already knows what happened and there's NDAs, but that would also mean something did happened and they covered it up.

It's going to be 2024 here in like less than 12 hours. Can we all just fucking learn that you are not entitled to someone else's body?

[superkixx]

#SpeakingOut: Updated

I was going to just keep reblogging my original list and adding on new information but because of the links attached, the updates don’t appear in the ‘replies’ so I thought it’d be best to put it in a separate post where everyone can access it better.

You can see my original list of those accused (and crimes they have been accused of) here, though I will say, it’s definitely not an easy read so please don’t force yourself through it if you don’t feel ready.

I also made a post including all news updates involving the wrestlers following the allegations and how it has (or hasn’t) affected them so far.

And this one includes information about a scam account spreading (likely) false accusations during the movement, and the British wrestling commentator who is asking for information to hand over to the West Yorkshire Police (UK).

Any new information I find on any wrestlers I will link bellow here:

Travis Banks

Matt Riddle (thank you anon for letting me know about this one)

Unidentified Trainer/Promoter

Unidentified Trainer/Promoter/Wrestlers

Dave Crist

Alex Pownall ‘PYRO’

Sid Scala

Unidentified Wrestler

Marty Jones (>Second Allegation<) (>Third Allegation<) (there’s quite a lot on Marty Jones I recommend just reading through the comments/thread if you would like for info)

Alex Cupid

Craig West

Unidentified American Wrestler

El Ligero

Danny Hudson

Jimmy Havoc

Trent Seven

Alex Cuevas (>Second Allegation<) (>Third Allegation<)

Unidentified Wrestler

Alex Castle

Pablo Marquez

Dan Ackerman

Jeff Crean

Peter Versoza

Jordan Chase

Justin Newhook ‘Justin Parsons Coady’

Cody Brown ‘Youngblood Cody Blade’

Marq Quen (this was an individual playing a very sick joke, I apologise sincerely)

Joey Ryan

-

Other information:

This has also brought back conversation on former WWE wrestler and assault victim Ashley Massaro who sadly passed last year.

Sierra Loxton, Millie Mckenzie, April Hunter, Alexxis Falcon, Leanne-Marie &  Mariah May have all been very helpful, reliable sources for the #SpeakingOut movement so I recommend reading through their feeds for additional info.

(I’d also just like to say that over past 24 hours I’ve spent about 8 hours thoroughly searching through the #SpeakingOut tag in attempt to dig out the original claimants for these posts. I have had people asking me things like, “what about so-and-so wrestler?” 

And all I can say is, if I can’t find an original personal claim against someone (and trust me, I’ve tried), I do not post it. I’m not saying it didn’t happen but someone tweeting that they heard something from someone else who heard something from someone else isn’t a very trustworthy source I’m afraid and I’m trying to keep my information as neutral and reliable as possible, thank you.)

[kalva-kane]

People like to say innocent till proven guilty... i say bullshit. For r*pe allegations, it should guilty till proven innocent. Since this is a WWE blog imma say, I believe the victims of Dr*am then himself.

And if anyone says "Well WWE looked into it and didn't find anything" its not like WWE has a history of burying shit like Snuka's murder case, Ultimate Warrior's bigotry, the ring boy scandal, Allegations against Vince, ITS NOT LIKE WWE WOULD COVER THERE ASSES SO THEIR NEW STAR GETS TO SHINE! ITS NOT LIKE ITS A CORRUPTED COMPANY OR ANYTHING!

[fagpeterstrahm]

matt riddle

[gdwessel]

Lion’s Break Collision Premieres 7/3/2020 on NJPWWorld; Statement on #SpeakingOut; NJPW Releases Updated COVID-19 Protocols for Attendance

Late last night, NJPW confirmed the reports of the secret TV tapings reported here (and elsewhere) last weekend, announcing the premiere of Lion’s Break Collision on Friday 7/3/2020 at 10pm EDT on NJPWWorld. This new show from New Japan of America is currently slated to run through the month of July on Friday nights in that timeslot. 

The premiere episode will feature Rocky Romero & Jeff Cobb v. TJP & Karl Fredericks, as well as Clark Connors v. Alex Coughlin. Upcoming matches will feature debutants to NJPW such as “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, The DKC, Rust Taylor and Danny Limelight. Whether or not Lawlor’s participation means some sort of deal between NJoA and MLW remains to be seen. 

Meanwhile, NJPW have released an updated protocol regarding COVID-19 for shows with fans in attendance.

The rest of this post is going to be under a cut, as TW: sexual assault & abuse.

In the last 48 hours, many wrestlers & wrestling fans, women, men & non-binary, have been revealing their stories about sexual assault, abuse, grooming, gaslighting, non-sexual violent misconduct being perpetrated upon them by fellow wrestlers, promoters, other fans, under the #SpeakingOut hashtag. The deluge has been eye-opening to quite a lot of people, including those who even say they knew wrestling had sex pests and abusers within it, in the sheer scope of what’s being revealed.

And to be sure, it isn’t just in wrestling at the moment either. Elsewhere, graphic novelist & Castlevania writer Warren Ellis has been accused, and revealed, of grooming and gaslighting and being a Bluebeard. At last count, sixty women have come forward about him, and there are probably more to come. I know comedian Chris D’Elia has had numerous accusations levied at him recently as well.

Where NJPW is concerned, Will Ospreay has been named, not as someone who’s committed sexual assault, but as someone with whom, along with his partner Bea Priestley, helped cover up the assault of womens wrestler Pollyanna and get her blacklisted, in defense of Ospreay’s mate Scott Wainwright, whom Pollyanna says raped her. Ospreay for his part has claimed he apologized 3 years ago for this, and did so again on Twitter, but since Ospreay has a tendency to shoot his mouth off, who knows how sincere this is.

There are going to be more revelations to come. Some names may be ones of wrestlers and people you like and admire. Some people have lost bookings over this (i.e. David Starr), and last night AEW revealed Jimmy Havoc is in “rehab” (which seems to be a weasel-word, and a way to get around being fired per Florida law, as AEW [and WWE] are currently based solely in Florida during these pandemic times).

I don’t think I need to state this, but I think it’s pretty clear where this blog stands on this matter. One of the earliest posts in the history of this blog was about Tomoaki Honma, and the domestic violence accusations levied against him by Kiyoko Ichiki. And then there was the whole Michael Elgin debacle, and where we stood on that. 

(To clarify: it did turn out the accuser against Elgin & Sean Orleans did admit to lying and the case was settled; however, during the course of all this, Elgin’s past history of sex assault and gaslighting came up as well, and the accuser was revealed to be grooming other young women/nb persons, so really, neither party are to be praised, and both are scumbags.)

That being said, believe women, believe victims. Don’t let your fandom of someone who wrestles, writes, whatever good blind you to any possibility that they, too, can be scumabgs who sexually assault people. Be willing to support people who have gone through this, and be ready for people to tell their stories in their own time.

This article here from FanFyte says it pretty well I think, so why not read that one? 

If you have gone through this yourself, I am sorry that it happened to you. For what little it’s worth, I am here if you need someone to talk to.

I will keep tabs on whether or not any further NJPW talents are accused during this time, or any other.

[ex-cogtfi]

TRIGGER WARNING: CHILD ABUSE

They took my voice away.

[superkixx]

#SpeakingOut: Update & A Break

I’m going to take a break from all of this today. Thank you to everyone who’s messaged me asking how I’m doing in this time. I appreciate you all so much and I realise that it’s not good for my mental health to stay burrowed away reading through this information for days at a time 💕.

Before I log off for today, an anon has just sent me some more information so I will share this with everyone before I go:

The Knight Family (WAW Promotion)

Mikey Whiplash

Lewis Girvan (ICW)

-

So here’s a reminder for anyone who’s going to do any research today:

Don’t trust the long list of wrestlers names you see with no claimants or source attached. This is the reason I started posting the links to begin with.

And please be weary of scam accounts.

So with all that said, please only listen to the victim’s claims DIRECTLY from them and make your judgement from there. This is the best way to avoid rumours and false information.

For all information I’ve posted, please search the ‘speakingout’ tag on my blog.

[angelkerisimasi]

Shouldn't have done it, but I went and listened to that fucking audio. How do you say something like THAT so goddamn casually?!