WrestleCon Removes Rick Steiner From Detroit Show, Announces Code of Conduct & Anti-Harassment Policy

Rick Steiner will not be appearing at WrestleCon Detroit after all, as the convention has pulled him from the event. As previously reported, the convention announced the Steiner Brothers for the SummerSlam weekend convention and issued a statement explaining why he was allowed to return after being removed from the WrestleMania weekend convention over transphobic comments that he had made toward Gisele Shaw. The original statement had noted Steiner apologized privately for his comments and that Steiner would be on a “zero-tolerance scale” moving forward.

After the announcement of Rick Steiner’s inclusion drew criticism online, WrestleCon announced that they had spoken with SB Nation Outsports and LGBT In the Ring host Brian Bell and agreed with their opinion that Steiner had to make a public acknowledgement and apology to attend the convention. They noted that they gave Steiner 24 hours to make the statement but there has not been one and they don’t expect there to be one, so they have revoked his permission to attend. They also announced that they’ve created a first draft of a Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment policy, which is now available on their website. It was also stated that they have partnered with other wrestling conventions including Starrcast, Wrestlecade, Wrestlebash, and The Gathering who will adopt a similar code of conduct.

The full statement reads:

Attention: Rick Steiner has been removed from Wrestlecon.

When we allowed Rick Steiner to return to our Convention as a vendor guest of Tony Hunter Promotions, we did not adequately take into account the impact his past words from our last event still held in the LGBTQIA+ community. We initially allowed him to return because

1) We still feel that people deserve a second chance.

2) Rick did make an apology to all parties that chose to be present.

3) We lacked any type of code of conduct/harassment policy that clearly defined our expectations as a convention participant.

After a thoughtful dialogue with Brian Bell from SB Nation’s Outsports and host of the LGBT In the Ring podcast on Monday morning, we agreed with their opinion it was necessary to have some type of public acknowledgment/apology from Rick Steiner, at an absolute minimum, to allow him to attend Detroit. Because we understand this issue required great urgency, we gave Rick Steiner 24 hours to make such a statement. Unfortunately, there is not currently and we do not expect to receive such a statement, and we have therefore made a decision to revoke our permission for him to attend.

Additionally, we now have created a first draft of our Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment policy that will be posted on our website for everybody to see later today. We will continue to improve upon this code of conduct over time and with the cooperation of others. We understand and appreciate that there will be many differences of opinion among our participants and we want to create a safe and enjoyable space for everybody at our Conventions.

At this time, we have partnered in solidarity with other Wrestling industry Convention leaders, notably Starrcast, Wrestlecade, Wrestlebash, and The Gathering (Charlotte Fanfest) who also agree to adopt and adhere to a similar code of conduct for their events.