Portland Wrestling Cancels Joey Ryan Booking After Backlash

Joey Ryan was set to return to pro wrestling at a Portland Wrestling event, but that is no longer the case. As you may recall, Ryan was hit with nearly 20 allegations of sexual misconduct during the Speaking Out movement in 2020, which resulted in his Bar Wrestling promotion closing down. Ryan filed a number of lawsuits against his accusers, many of which were dismissed or eventually dropped in 2021.

Portland Wrestling booked Ryan for their August 23rd show Reborn, with the tagline reading, “Exiled from the sport he loved in 2020….Joey Ryan is Born Again.” However, that booking is no more following backlash online with the promotion announcing on Facebook that Ryan will not be appearing and his flight was being canceled.

William Quintana, the promoter of Prestige Wrestling which also operates out of Portland, was critical of Portland Wrestling’s decision to book Ryan and announced an event “FJR” that will also take place on August 23rd. Prestige announced the show as “A night of safe space pro-wrestling action, for the scene, by the scene that helped cultivate modern day Portland wrestling.

After Portland Wrestling unbooked Ryan, Prestige posted a statement that confirmed their show will still be going on and reiterating that the event is “pay what you can” in terms of tickets with all profit after expenses donated to RAINN (the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network).

Prestiges’s full statement is below:

“(Some of this stays along the lines of the “if you know, you know” tagline, do some research and you’ll figure it out)

We have been informed that the show that our event was “counter programming” has removed the source of our inspiration from their event & is proclaiming on social media their show is at risk of being cancelled due to our interference.

I believe it is something to note that you should visit their Facebook page & read their responses in regards to this situation. Between their current status & their reaction on a previously deleted status it is clear they did not make changes to their event in any sign of good faith, but instead couldn’t handle the public backlash & are attempting to frame the situation in a “poor me, we were trying to do something good” light.

“Stand on business” is a phrase that I have heard a lot lately & is something I have practiced for years. While other promotions in the region may choose to stay silent & just let things like this pass without issue, I believe it is up to those that have helped build the scene into what it is today to make sure we don’t fall victim to the same bullshit that has plagued independent wrestling for years, to make sure our talent, fans & employees have a positive & save experience always.

We have built a reputation over the past 8+ years of being the pinnacle of professional wrestling in the Pacific Northwest & we won’t let some goof that runs a Facebook page give our scene a poor reputation. 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.

Tickets are “pay what you can”, so please get tickets.

Subscribe to our Patreon or donate on PayPal/Venmo/CashApp, every little bit will help!”

🚨 NEW SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨

FJR (if you know, you know)

A night of safe space pro-wrestling action, for the scene, by the scene that helped cultivate modern day Portland wrestling.

August 23rd, 2025
Portland, Oregon
Venue TBA this week
All ages

Tickets are donation based (pay… pic.twitter.com/HCfaW0a3ki

— Prestige Wrestling (@WrestlePrestige) August 5, 2025