#SpeakingOut

[supersonic]

https://twitter.com/JakesBadTweets/stat ... 5438704643

Gable Steveson was accused of sexual assault in college and no charges were brought against him because Minnesota has fucked up laws on consent when the victim is intoxicated

https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory ... t-67855516

[DougN]

WWE didn't even hesitate with Riddle and they not only kept Dream on the roster, but also tried their best to sweep it under the rug. No way in hell they pass on Gable Steveson.

[Shanahan]

Drunk chick later regretted it. That's not rape.

[DougN]

Drunk chick later regretted it. That's not rape.

Not up on the details of his case at all, but I really hope you realize that taking advantage of drunk women is predatory behavior in any circumstance.

[supersonic]

So, how complicit has Tommy Dreamer exposed himself to be in the culture that led to this very movement after what aired last night?

[famicommander]

So, how complicit has Tommy Dreamer exposed himself to be in the culture that led to this very movement after what aired last night?

What happened?

[Shanahan]

So, how complicit has Tommy Dreamer exposed himself to be in the culture that led to this very movement after what aired last night?

What happened?

Dreamer didn't wanna call Flair a sexual assaulter so he downplayed Flair telling/demanding/forcing Flight attendant to touch his dick. He said he didn't think it happened and said the woman should of went full force against Flair instead of taking a pay out. So now Dreamer is off Impact tapings,busted open gig may be gone and in process of being blacklisted. Kind of an insane reaction since he (from my understanding) hasn't been accused of anything but having a dumb opinion.

[famicommander]

Oh I forgot about Dark Side. I'll have to check the DVR. I was thinking maybe he did something on Impact but that didn't make sense to me because the spoilers seemed like standard Impact fare.

[NewROHFan2020]

Because of this? Total bullshit. I told you guys before, pretty much “ALL” wrestlers have done something “wrong” when it comes to women. You’re a fool if you think your idols are innocent of sexual “assaults” on women.

https://twitter.com/basilcabana/status/ ... 44424?s=21

[Shanahan]

Kinda of crazy that Dreamer will take the most heat. You think Flair will lose work? Nope. It will blow over for him. Brock is untouchable and the rest are dead or retired. Tommy needs to learn you don't always have to speak.

[famicommander]

What Tommy said was both gross and incredibly stupid. He should be fired.

It's ridiculous that Tommy is going to face more consequences than Brock, Ric, Dustin, or Hall though.

[Shanahan]

What Tommy said was both gross and incredibly stupid. He should be fired.

It's ridiculous that Tommy is going to face more consequences than Brock, Ric, Dustin, or Hall though.

That's my point. Flair deserves whatever he gets but i'm pretty sure Dreamer is gonna be the fall guy from all this. His sin is downplaying/making excuses for something one of his idols did. I don't know if i could narc on Flair. I'd probably just say no to the interview.

[NewROHFan2020]

What Tommy said was both gross and incredibly stupid. He should be fired.

It's ridiculous that Tommy is going to face more consequences than Brock, Ric, Dustin, or Hall though.

That's my point. Flair deserves whatever he gets but i'm pretty sure Dreamer is gonna be the fall guy from all this. His sin is downplaying/making excuses for something one of his idols did. I don't know if i could narc on Flair. I'd probably just say no to the interview.

It’s also dumb of the program to produce and air it as well. Who is going to want to talk to them in the future? They will be reduced to talking about dead wrestlers nobody cares about.

[Reaper G]

What Tommy said was both gross and incredibly stupid. He should be fired.

Because counseling and rehabilitation should never be an option.

[famicommander]

What Tommy said was both gross and incredibly stupid. He should be fired.

Because counseling and rehabilitation should never be an option.

Not in this case. He's a producer. He's in charge of the interactions between talents both male and female at Impact. Someone that is stupid enough to say the things he said, on national television no less, should not be in a position of power in a wrestling company ever again. Period.

[famicommander]

What Tommy said was both gross and incredibly stupid. He should be fired.

It's ridiculous that Tommy is going to face more consequences than Brock, Ric, Dustin, or Hall though.

That's my point. Flair deserves whatever he gets but i'm pretty sure Dreamer is gonna be the fall guy from all this. His sin is downplaying/making excuses for something one of his idols did. I don't know if i could narc on Flair. I'd probably just say no to the interview.

You're a terrible coward if you would be silent about a man forcing two women to touch his penis against their will just because you admired him.

If any of the people on that plane had half a lick of courage they'd have beaten Ric's ass for that on the spot.

[supersonic]

Dreamer can’t be trusted to do the right thing in these situations. His dismissive arrogance turned into a complete lack of empathy makes him a danger; he’s the kind of person worthy of being compared to those who looked the other way in scandals such as Penn State and USA Gymnastics.

This is the same person that contemplated murder-suicide towards Paul Heyman at WM17, and apparently has a history of lacking character when the issue of sexual assault is discussed.

As mentioned, Dreamer has spent decades in positions of power for ECW, OVW, and Impact. He has hosted his own promotion as well.

Whereas people like Maff and Scurll need to remain blacklisted from being predatory in training schools and locker rooms, the same need exists for Dreamer so that he doesn’t enable the types of behaviors that led to the Speaking Out movement.

In order for the business to be safe and clean, every layer of the abuse culture must be eradicated, and that includes the enablers like Dreamer.

Flair will be permanently damaged by this, but I expect Lesnar to get away with it completely due to the leverage he has on WWE.

[supersonic]

https://twitter.com/trevordame/status/1 ... 75170?s=21

Seeing a few people saying "Dustin is the only guy who comes out of Dark Side looking decent" and I hate to be a downer but there was a second flight attendant not interviewed but her lawsuit is online and:

https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/09/1 ... y-dreamer/

IMPACT Wrestling has suspended Tommy Dreamer (Tom Laughlin) for an indefinite period following comments made on Dark Side of the Ring.

On Friday, IMPACT Wrestling issued the following statement to POST Wrestling confirming his suspension, which was first reported by PWinsider.com:

We are aware of Mr Laughlin’s (Tommy Dreamer) comments on “Dark Side of the Ring”. The views expressed by him in the interview are completely unacceptable. We can confirm Mr Laughlin was suspended this morning with immediate effect, pending further action.

https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/09/1 ... -on-pause/

In the wake of Thursday’s Dark Side of the Ring episode covering the May 2002 “Plane Ride from Hell”, a national campaign featuring Ric Flair has been placed on pause.

Mike Johnson of PWinsider.com reports that the CarShield campaign featuring Flair will be put on hold. The site obtained the following statement from the Intermedia ad agency:

We take these matters very seriously. As of right now, we are pausing the campaign and we will do our due diligence.

Johnson adds that there is no timetable for the spots to return and that the commercial “will soon disappear pending additional investigation and decisions.”

https://www.postwrestling.com/2021/09/1 ... fic-watch/

Dark Side of the Ring resumed its third season on Thursday night with a chilling account of the May 2002 “Plane Ride from Hell”.

While the events of the flight led to a 2004 lawsuit being filed by flight attendants Heidi Doyle and Taralyn Cappellano, it appears that few were familiar with the grimier details of the flight.

The episode focused on Doyle, who ultimately reached a settlement with WWE and has never spoken publicly about the charges against Ric Flair. In the documentary, it was outlined that Flair exposed himself to Doyle while wearing his robe and cornered her in the back area of the plane and alleging that the performer took her hand and placed it on his penis.

Flair will likely respond to this story as he indicated when the subject was broached on Renee Paquette’s podcast last week:

We’ll see how it plays out, because I was there and I don’t care whose name I gotta drop if the heat falls on me. I know who was where and what and who and what took place. I know the whole story.

Doyle spoke of being subjected to harassment by Scott Hall, who believed he had been drugged on the flight, and grabbed Doyle by the blouse, and proceeded to lick her.

The lawsuit also alleged that Dustin Rhodes harassed and groped the other flight attendant, although she was not part of the episode.

The retelling of the events and post-traumatic effects were harrowing to hear and ones that have clearly affected Doyle and probably played a major factor in speaking about them all these years later with the idea that “sunlight is the greatest disinfectant” to prevent future behaviors from occurring.

There are so many layers to this episode of Dark Side of the Ring and serves as an expose on the culture of the industry both in terms of what was normalized behavior coupled with today’s mentality of protecting the business at all cost.

It was shameful to hear the accounts from Terri Runnels acknowledging that if she took legal action for every infraction she was subject to, she would be in court for the rest of her life. It was a culture of “don’t sell it”, which meant “don’t rock the boat” and left such discretions unchecked.

It was a surreal moment to hear Jim Ross, given his management capacity at the time, having no adequate reason for Flair’s lack of punishment for the 2002 flight and that “he got a pass”.

To understand the history of pro wrestling culture is an understanding that the rules in the real world don’t always apply. These stories and events are dressed up with glittery terms like “Rock ‘N Roll lifestyle”, “partying”, and “the boys being the boys”. In present-day society, we’re finally breaking down these terms and it’s a harsh exercise in decoding what contributes to these vague descriptions.

The stories struck an emotional chord for several reasons – you had Heidi Doyle’s firsthand account presented on the record, corroboration from others on board the plane, and not too far removed in relative terms to WWE’s history. This was in 2002 when the company was already a publicly-traded one, with figures on the plane that are still players in the industry today including one of the biggest names in the history of the industry.

Tommy Dreamer did not come off well trying to justify it as a joke and downplaying the obvious effects it had on Doyle. I would hope after watching the episode and hearing Doyle’s words for himself that Dreamer would have a different outlook today. But his defense of the situation goes back to “protecting the business at all cost” even when it’s indefensible.

It really irked me on the “cancel culture” theme that was brought up by Dreamer specific to this story. It has become a catch-all buzz term to excuse the most egregious actions knowing that the term will spark an emotion in a certain fanbase that wants to preserve its heroes and ignore reality. The facts are, something like the “Plane Ride from Hell” would never happen today because of both internal and external measures – and that’s a good thing. This is not a perfect industry, but the accountability is far greater and that should be applauded, not dismissed as “cancel culture”.

We are also just a year removed from the countless Speaking Out allegations and cannot lose sight of the fact that the modern scene has been rife with issues, as well.

Jim Ross, to his credit, placed himself in the line of fire on this episode by accepting the responsibility for this occurring under his watch. His explanation for Flair’s lack of punishment was an instance of a question where he could have made up some BS excuse (which WWE would never contradict for its own accountability) and instead, laid it bare that Flair was “a made man”.

I saw this episode on Thursday morning through an advance screener and knew it was going to be horrifying for others to watch and hear. It stuck with me throughout the day and I feel this is the type of episode that should stick with you because to ignore it would be the exact method that contributed to this repeated behavior continuing for generations.

We must be equipped to discuss these complicated subjects because ignoring them is a disservice to those willing to step forward and speak up. I also implore those to view this type of story not through the lens of your favorite wrestler but through the viewpoint of Heidi Doyle, and then imagine someone close to you being in her shoes on that same flight.

[supersonic]

https://twitter.com/jamesie_2015/status ... 35040?s=21

Dreamer obviously takes first prize in the Piece of Shit stakes but Chioda is a solid second. Just comes across as your typical wrestling fringe hanger on. Just glad to be involved. Laughs his way through the whole thing. Vile.

[famicommander]

Dark Side never goes after Vince as hard as they should. Never.