Wrestling

Joey Ryan on Assault Allegations and Tony Khan Not Wanting AEW Talents to Work with Him, Ryan Goes Back & Forth with Fans

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Veteran pro wrestler Joey Ryan isn’t as active on Twitter these days as he once was, but he took to Twitter this week with several interesting comments on the fallout from last summer’s “#SpeakingOut” allegations, and comments on AEW President & CEO Tony Khan.

We noted how in early March a wrestling charity event was announced with AEW stars Brian Cage and Sonny Kiss on the card, along with Ryan. Khan tweeted that his wrestlers wouldn’t be allowed to work the show, due to Ryan’s involvement, but he would still gladly donate to the charity. The entire show ended up being nixed due to the controversy.

Ryan began his series of tweets when a fan knocked Khan for “grandstanding against” Ryan and then having Mike Tyson on AEW Dynamite this week, referring to Tyson’s rape conviction from many years ago. The fan asked, “What really matters more, your morals… or cheap pop ratings?”

Ryan responded and wrote, “My background check comes up spotless. The only things I’m guilty of are womanizing and infidelity and neither of those are crimes. As far as ‘rape’ goes, most of the stories didn’t even include any physical intimacy and none of them used that word.”

One fan responded and said Ryan was also guilty of sexual assault because he made other wrestlers touch his penis.

Ryan wrote back, “It’s not possible to ‘shoot’ a dick flip on anybody.”

Ryan told another fan that he hasn’t started another indie promotion because the country is in the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating that he may pursue plans in the future.

One fan compared Ryan to The Zodiac Killer, someone who committed crimes but also was never convicted. Ryan responded, “I’m not hiding. I welcome an investigation.”

Regarding the indie charity show, Ryan went back & forth with one fan and they asked him about when he “faked a charity event” to knock him. Ryan responded, “No matter how you try to reframe it, that show was for a good cause and a charity lost out.”

Ryan then told the fan that he was working the charity event for free. He also said the AEW talents were booked through AEW’s third party booking system, and that the only request they gave the indie promoter was that they did not want Kiss or Cage to be in a match with Ryan, which shows that they knew ahead of time that Ryan was involved with the show, before Khan’s tweet.

“Brian and Sonny were booked through AEW’s third party booking system and the only request they gave the promoter was that they didn’t want them to be in a match with me so clearly they knew,” Ryan wrote.

Ryan was also asked about how it was said the charity event would be airing on FITE TV, and then a FITE executive dismissed that claim. He responded, “I have a copy of the contract they sent.”

Ryan has been in treatment for his addictions and noted that March 31 marked 9 months “free from acting out in sex and love addictions” and that he is “happy to be making positive strides.” Ryan is also pretty religious these days. One fan mentioned Khan and noted that Ryan wasn’t taking a “very Christian approach to the situation” and that he should maybe turn the other cheek.

Ryan responded and said he doesn’t know why Khan has a personal problem with him.

He wrote, ‘I don’t see how this “isn’t very Christian.’ I didn’t bash anybody. I made a factual statement followed by a legitimate question. I don’t know why he has a personal problem with me. I don’t dislike him. I don’t even know him.”

Ryan commented on another meme that knocked AEW for using Tyson. He mentioned Tyson being booked and how AEW allowed SCU to wear Kobe Bryant jerseys on TV, referring to Kobe’s sexual assault case from 2003.

“Between booking Tyson and allowing SCU to wear Kobe jerseys on TV, it’s pretty clear he isn’t some women’s advocate. It must be personal against me. I just don’t know what I did to personally irk him. Maybe my vocal disapproval of his intergender to DV comparison? Only he knows,” Ryan wrote.

Another fan knocked Ryan for those comments but he doubled down on how he was never accused of actual rape. He also said most allegations didn’t include any physical intimacy at all.

Another fan knocked Ryan for other wrestlers feeling obligated to touch his penis for money, a reference to the “dick flip” move he used. He responded, “I always suggested alternatives to doing the dick flip.”

Ryan’s last single tweet included a statement on the allegations against him.

“Never forced anyone. Never threatened anyone. Never held anyone down. Never tore anyone’s clothes off. Never coerced anyone. Never acted outside of consent. Everyone willingly disrobed and/or participated. I’m beginning to think you guys don’t know what the word ‘assault’ means,” he wrote.

As noted before, Ryan announced back in mid-March that he was dropping several of his defamation lawsuits that came after the allegations against him in the “#SpeakingOut” movements last summer. He also issued a lengthy statement on his addictions, lawsuits, allegations, and the nixed indie event that Khan had commented on. You can click here for that statement and report. He then announced that he had decided to drop the multi-million dollar lawsuit against former ROH star Pelle Primeau, ending the lawsuits. These tweets from this week were his first since the statement on the lawsuits and other troubles in mid-March.

Ryan has not wrestled since working for Impact Wrestling last June. He was released that same month due to the “#SpeakingOut” allegations.

Ryan made several more tweet on the assault and racism allegations against him, and more comments on some of the other controversies surrounding him over the past few years. You can read all of his related tweets below:

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