A controversial former World Champion, Joey Ryan, has faced immense backlash from fans and other wrestling promotions, leading to significant changes in his attempted comeback. New details have surfaced regarding the viral debacle, including a planned gimmick change.
Joey Ryan at WrestleCon 2018. Photo: Bill Pritchard
Early Career and Accusations
Joey Ryan made his in-ring debut in September 2000 on the California indie scene. After training under names like Bryan Danielson and Brian Kendrick, Ryan went on to make appearances for numerous promotions such as XPW, NJPW, PWG, WWE, NWA, ROH, TNA, Lucha Underground, and MTV’s Wrestling Society X, among others.
Ryan, known for using his penis as a part of some of his in-ring move-set, has not wrestled since a TNA event in June 2020 as multiple women accused the former PWG World Champion of sexual misconduct in the Speaking Out movement. While Ryan has denied the allegations, he was released by TNA and has been essentially black-listed from the industry.
Weeks later, TNA fired Ryan after conducting an investigation into allegations raised against him during the Speaking Out movement. During this period, multiple women accused Ryan of sexual assault and sexual harassment, resulting in Ryan’s exit from TNA and his ceasing of operations at Bar Wrestling.
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Ryan also issued a statement denying the allegations against him and filed a number of defamation lawsuits against his accusers. Ryan later dropped several of the lawsuits connected to him being named in the Speaking Out movement, with the added claim that he wasn’t trying to secretly return to the wrestling business.
Ryan filed lawsuits against some of his accusers and has focused on his acting career in recent years, and tried to work at Disney World. Nevertheless, Ryan was blacklisted from several major wrestling companies. He has attempted a few comebacks before, but he hasn’t wrestled since 2020.
Failed Comeback Attempts
An attempted return in 2021 was nixed after AEW’s Tony Khan got involved, and now another attempted comeback for the Los Angeles native has been dismissed. The veteran reportedly had a gimmick change planned for his comeback.
The promoter behind the revival of Portland Wrestling has pulled Joey Ryan’s booking after immense fan backlash. The controversial actor-wrestler had been announced for “Portland Wrestling: Reborn” on August 23 in Vancouver, Washington, but the promoter took to social media to confirm that Ryan’s flight was canceled.
It was reiterated that Ryan will not be working the show.
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It was noted in one comment to a fan that Ryan “wasn’t doing the sleazy gimmick anymore,” and that he “was just going to try to be a wrestler again, rather than a comedy sideshow.”
Another fan later asked about the thought process in announcing Ryan for the show. The promoter responded with a statement that drew more heat from fans.
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Promoter's Statement and Backlash
“Multiple other talent was unavailable, he was reasonably priced, other local guys wanted to work him, he hadn’t been here since 2014, he had soberingly repented from the man he was in the past, he was happy to leave the comedy gimmick in the past to just be a wrestler again, and it would be good for him as a person to wrestle in service of non-profits, which are what I exclusively try to work with when promoting a show. It takes about ten times the work to find a non-profit with the space to hold an event, but it is spiritually rewarding to know that a cut of the gate is going to benefit something much greater than myself and my show. Alas, other promoters have publicly threatened to blackball anyone who worked for me and explicitly stated that they would destroy my show before it even got off the ground.
They continued: “Prestige Wrestling’s promoter threatened to black ball every wrestler, trainer, and ring crew member who works with me, causing multiple wrestlers to drop out of the show and even the guy I was renting the ring from canceled the rental. We currently do not have a ring for a show taking place in less than three weeks,” the Portland Wrestling promoter wrote.
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Prestige Wrestling’s promoter threatened to black ball every wrestler, trainer, and ring crew member who works with me, causing multiple wrestlers to drop out of the show and even the guy I was renting the ring from canceled the rental.
Prestige Wrestling's Response
In response to the news of Ryan’s return, Prestige Wrestling has announced a show of its own in Portland, Oregon, on the same day.
Prestige Wrestling has a show that same day as a counter to the event that Ryan was nixed from.
“FJR (if you know, you know),” the promotion wrote, before promising, “a night of safe space pro-wrestling action, for the scene, by the scene that helped cultivate modern-day Portland wrestling.”
Tickets for Prestige’s FJR show on August 23 are donation-based, with patrons able to pay as much as they can to show support.
Following Portland Wrestling’s announcement, Prestige provided an update stating that their charity event will still be taking place as scheduled and all proceeds generated will go towards RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network).
“Stand on business” is a phrase that I have heard a lot lately & is something that I have practiced for years. Ever.WITH THAT SAID…FJR will absolutely still be taking place on August 23rd in Portland. The venue is to be determined but we are working on multiple options currently. We have wrestlers from numerous promotions, from all over the United States coming in for this event to support a good cause.100% of profit made after expenses will be donated to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network).If you’d like to support Prestige Wrestling, the wrestlers on this show & the cause that we are throwing this event for there are links below.
Prestige Wrestling counters Ryan’s return with their own show titled ‘FJR’