wrestling / News

UPDATEDx2: Joey Ryan Deactivates Twitter Accounts Amid Sexual Assault Allegations, Update on Impact Status

June 21, 2020 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Joey Ryan

UPDATE 2: Joey Ryan hasn’t just shut down his personal Twitter account following the sexual assault allegations against him, he has shut down his promotion’s account as well. The social media account for Ryan’s Bar Wrestling is also deactivated as of this writing.

Of note, Ryan’s Facebook page as well as the Facebook page for Bar Wrestling have not been deactivated.

In addition, while Impact has not publicly addressed Ryan’s specific status PWInsider reports that sources inside the company have given the impression that Ryan will not be returning. In Impact, Ryan has been working as Joseph P. Ryan and is the leader of the #CancelCulture stable that also includes Katie Forbes, Rob Van Dam, and Jacob Crist. Crist joined just recently, turning on his brother David Crist who is facing his own sexual misconduct allegations.

It must be noted that PWInsider did not say they had confirmed Ryan is not returning, only that this is “the impression” they have received. Currently, #CancelCulture is set to face Crazzy Steve and two mystery partners on this week’s Impact Wrestling.

UPDATE: Joey Ryan has shut down his social media account following another allegation of sexual assault being levied against him from somone joining the #SpeakingOut movement. Ryan deleted his Twitter account sometime today after a new allegation joined the multiple accusations against him.

The allegation came from former With Spandex Editor Danielle Matheson, who alleged that Ryan assaulted her in 2019. She said that she did not want to go into details, instead saying, “All I need to tell you, a stranger, is that I said I wasn’t interested and was tired and just wanted to go to sleep more than once. That I didn’t want anything that happened, and felt so trapped my body just didn’t know how to fight or escape what was going on. If you think that isn’t real, I’m happy to direct you to Google so you can educate yourselves on not only the mental/chemical reactions one can have when being assaulted, but also all of the ways your body works to protect you when fight and flight just aren’t possible.”

Matheson goes into some detail on the aftermath, why she didn’t report it and more, which you can read at the link. She joins ring announcer Charlie, a fan named Marky, and Corinne Mink as accusers of Ryan. She posted to Twitter as well to thank Allysin Kay and Briley Pierce for helping her tell her story, and added, “Anyways, I’m okay I swear! I’m in a good, healthy place and have a great support system when I’m not. If you feel bad please use those feelings to make an effort to help people who are still struggling to deal with the things they’ve been through who don’t have the same!”

ORIGINAL: Joey Ryan’s statement in regard to the sexual misconduct allegations against him isn’t doing much to help him, and Joey Janela had a very pointed response to it. As previously reported, Ryan posted a lengthy statement to Twitter in which he said that while his lawyer has told him not to address specifics in the multiple accusations of sexual misconduct against him, he wanted to take responsibility for not always treating people with respect and acknowledged that it was possible that it is possible he pursued people who were not interested in him, invaded their personal space, and made them feel uncomfortable. Ryan also said that he began attending counseling in late 2018 and is still doing so.

Janela was among many people who weren’t pleased with the statement, posting to Twitter to take some very direct shots at Ryan and saying, “the allegations him now and about to come out about him without an doubt are 100% true.”

In addition, Ryan Nemeth has taken to Twitter to level his own shots at Ryan. Nemeth, the brother of WWE star Dolph Ziggler who worked in NXT as Briley Pierce, accused Ryan of “assaulting women for your entire wrestling ‘career'” and said that he stopped taking bookings for Ryan’s Bar Wrestling “as I found out who he is, and what he does. I wish there were more who did the same”: