Wrestling #MeToo #SpeakingOut

[Carbomb]

I'd hold off on saying that they're as bad as WWE, though. Far as I know, Khan hasn't been accused of covering up a murder or a rape yet.

[wordsfromlee]

You don't generally become a billionaire by making ethical decisions.

[tiger_rick]

40 minutes ago, wordsfromlee said:

You don't generally become a billionaire by making ethical decisions.

Sometimes you just inherit it.

I think (and hope) AEW are a better version of a big wrestling company than WWE. That isn't all on a wing and a prayer. They're not perfect, I say that all the time, but they've done plenty good. They've run numerous shows for charitable causes, promoted those causes on TV, handled Brodie Lee's illness and death incredibly well, took care of his family, employed Trans and Gay wrestlers without making any sort of deal about it, gave tons of wrestlers work during the pandemic, sacked Jimmy Havoc, changed the donations to Susan G Komen quickly because of feedback, acted quickly to suspend Max Caster over his unacceptable comments, gave Page paternity leave despite him becoming their top babyface, supported Jon Moxley entering rehab.

To the best of my knowledge, there's been no suggestion that they've covered up a murder, discredited a rape victim, encouraged talent to take steroids, dropped a wrestler to his death, exploited deaths, booked racist characters and angles, promoted a confirmed racist as a legend, booked homophobic and misogynistic angles, had accusations of rape made against their chairman, allegations of abuse against their ring crew, left their talent stranded on a runway in Saudi Arabia and a million other things I've forgotten so any suggestion that they're just another WWF/E is ludicrous. 

[DavidB6937]

AEW - especially Tony - will have skeletons in the closet. Absolutely. No one is perfect after all and even TK slips up every so often. But as pointed out above, they're clearly and visibly trying to be a better company, whether that's to their staff or to the fans or just in general. They will absolutely make mistakes along the way but I hope they can continue their mostly high standards and stay on the right path in the future.

Of course they definitely should be held accountable for the bad stuff but they'd have to go a whole fucking long way to even get in Vinny Mac's league of disgraceful things.

[Keith Houchen]

17 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Of course they definitely should be held accountable for the bad stuff but they'd have to go a whole fucking long way to even get in Vinny Mac's league of disgraceful things.

Yeah agreed. I guess what they have in their favour is they’ve been a thing for a couple of years, not decades. At this rate though, they could be as equally scummy after 30 years. 

[Nick James]

At a time where wrestling should be at its most exiting, I feel I'm at my lowest ebb with it all. I don't enjoy wrestling anymore. The odd segment, I'll check out, I still read the headlines, but I don't watch anymore and most of that is down to the whole Speaking Out stuff and how it just seems like everyone in wrestling are rotters that just haven't been outed yet. Obviously, that isn't true, but it does feel that way. 

It makes you feel like you can't fully get behind anyone through wondering what the person behind the character is like outside of the ring. The hypocrisy is evident for all to see regarding who does and doesn't get 'cancelled'. As mentioned previously, Velveteen Dream was hounded out of the business after the allegations came out, while others seemingly get the 'wheres the evidence?' or 'who are we to say what action is correct?' treatment. (Not a defence of Velveteen Dream at all, just an example).

Whilst AEW, rightly are no where near the WWE levels of scumminess and scandal, there are still a few questionable decisions they have made in their short 2 years history.

I've watched wrestling since 1993, I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older, that I have kids now or just the way the world is changing, but whilst wrestling has always been a constant in my life, it isnt a necessity and I have certainly reached that line where I can say 'enough is enough'.

[DEF]

Really gutted about Lethal. I had no idea he'd been accused until after the PPV and read Keith's post at work last night. Really put a dampener on things.

Unfortunately it's a step to far for AEW to employ him for me. This is a massive mistake and I won't support them until they properly address it. I.E. sack him.

What he did is simply unacceptable and I won't ignore it.

I hate not paying for things I love and I really love AEW. I don't think of AEW like I do WWE mind you. They are pretty progressive and certainly not irredeemable but they need to be held accountable and the only way I can vote on that is by taking my money away from them. It's really no skin of my nose as its pretty easy to WATCH WRESTLING.

The thing that really hurts me personally though is having to tell my daughter that we won't be going to see them live when they eventually make it over. She will be devastated.

[Tsurutagun]

27 minutes ago, DEF said:

Really gutted about Lethal. I had no idea he'd been accused until after the PPV and read Keith's post at work last night. Really put a dampener on things.

Unfortunately it's a step to far for AEW to employ him for me. This is a massive mistake and I won't support them until they properly address it. I.E. sack him.

What he did is simply unacceptable and I won't ignore it.

I hate not paying for things I love and I really love AEW. I don't think of AEW like I do WWE mind you. They are pretty progressive and certainly not irredeemable but they need to be held accountable and the only way I can vote on that is by taking my money away from them. It's really no skin of my nose as its pretty easy to WATCH WRESTLING.

The thing that really hurts me personally though is having to tell my daughter that we won't be going to see them live when they eventually make it over. She will be devastated.

This is a joke right? 

[Hannibal Scorch]

I can’t really compare a wrestling company who have made some awful missteps with another wrestling company who employed murderers, rapists, wife beaters, racists and homophobes for decades.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be angry or disappointed or both with AEW, but I just don’t think they are even comparable.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

54 minutes ago, Tsurutagun said:

This is a joke right? 

He was doing really well until that last paragraph. 

[DEF]

18 minutes ago, andrew "the ref" coyne said:

He was doing really well until that last paragraph. 

No really I'm gutted to let her down. It blows.

[Sexy Dad]

6 hours ago, DEF said:

The thing that really hurts me personally though is having to tell my daughter that we won't be going to see them live when they eventually make it over. She will be devastated.

There were some valid points but I’ll assume you’ll also be throwing out any technology, household items and clothing sourced by overseas exploitation to teach a proper lesson about ethics and doing the right thing as well. Have a day off. 
 

[theringmaster]

I'm going to weigh in with a view some won't like but I'm not intending to offend, just make people think.

When The 'Britwrest Boom' was at it's height, 'certain' wrestlers took full advantage of fans goodwill; Selling a new t-shirt every week, setting up go fund me for when they needed cash quick, putting Whetherspoons number on twitter and asking for drinks, going with fans to clubs just to be bought drinks all night ("Hey, they got a selfie, they should be grateful") and it goes on and on. 

I can remember at the time thinking that a lot of people are being taken for mugs, believing these people are 'really nice' because they have a chat at the merch table or they call themselves 'Wholesome' on twitter or  t h e y  t y p e  l i k e  t h i s.

It is not for a single second the fans fault, its the wrestlers (men and women) who homed in on their good will and exploited it.

After Speaking Out, it was clear that these people were not 'wholesome' and now we have a situation like many above said that fans cant trust any wrestler or wrestling promotion. What's worse is I see a lot of fans falling into the same traps on social media now, "Support my patreon" has become the new Go Fund Me it feels (that's right-pay money for what is essentially a glorified Insta account! I 100% guarantee you that they are not laughing at you as you pay into their bank account each month...)

My point is you should be able to enjoy wrestling, just don't put your whole faith in these people and believe they could be your mate. There are countless movie stars, footballers, singers etc I admire that I know I would never want to meet or have a drink with (Adele is prime example, I actually think she would be really annoying in person but i love her music).

The entertainment industry will always have 'bad eggs' and 'jobs for mates' mentality, unfortuanly that's life and I'm not trying to make excuses for AEW bad decisions but if you're going to go down that road, where does it stop? Never watch EastEnders again because some people in BBC knew about Saville? Never watch a film starring Meryl Streep because she is friends with Roman Polanksi and probably knew about Harvey Weinstein? Never watch a Disney film because old Walt had a questionable attitude towards Jews?

[SuperBacon]

1 hour ago, Sexy Dad said:

There were some valid points but I’ll assume you’ll also be throwing out any technology, household items and clothing sourced by overseas exploitation to teach a proper lesson about ethics and doing the right thing as well. Have a day off. 
 

Morality and ethics aren't black and white, so its entirely possible that people are OK with some things and not others, and that's where they draw the line.

[Keith Houchen]

26 minutes ago, theringmaster said:

The entertainment industry will always have 'bad eggs' and 'jobs for mates' mentality, unfortuanly that's life and I'm not trying to make excuses for AEW bad decisions but if you're going to go down that road, where does it stop? Never watch EastEnders again because some people in BBC knew about Saville? 

It’s a personal decision. Everyone has their line in the sand. But this is conflating industry and company. Wrestling is scummy and of course AEW don’t have the rap sheet of WWE but that’s because they’re two years old. The concern is that already they have questionable decisions and aren’t as different as they like to think they are. And in 30 years time if they do have the rap sheet, what then?
 

I really get the feeling we will see “They’re not as bad as WWE” trotted out by apologists and fanboys whenever they do something abhorrent, and probably by people who still watch and give WWE money. But those people are entitled dicks who will never care as long as they get their show or can buy a shirt for a dead wrestler. 
 

It’s about personal responsibility. What would it take for you to stop giving an organisation your money? For some, there isn’t anything, for others, it’s different things. I can totally understand still watching something you really enjoy, it’s the giving them money I can’t.