Monday, June 10, 2019

ROH Responds to Bully Ray's Kidnapping, Doesn't Consult Fan (And More Wrestling Spit Antics)

Bully Ray allegedly got "investigated"
Photo Credit: WWE.com
If you're a ninny like, say, Vince Russo, and believe that any attention is good attention, well, you must be feeling really bullish on Ring of Honor right now. This past week has been nothing but people showering attention on the company for Bully Ray and possibly Hunter Johnston kidnapping a fan to scold him for what they thought was ribaldry in the direction of The Allure at the Kent, WA and Portland, OR shows last weekend. Of course, the fan, @xIAMHOLLYWOODx, claimed he was just booing and heckling the heels in bog standard fashion with people around him vouching for the lack of sexism in his chanting. Normally, this scenario is where I would take the side of the women being heckled, except for the fact that Mandy Leon spit on the guy, Bully Ray is a known misogynist on top of other things, and that ROH has never really respected women in its post-Gabe Sapolsky history (and it probably didn't respect them before his firing, but I'm not one to speak on what I don't know).

Much in the same way it did when Taeler Hendrix accused Jay Lethal of demanding she sleep with him, ROH is conducting, or has conducted, an internal investigation of those antics. General manager Greg Gilleland issued this statement, (via Cageside Seats):
Ring of Honor prides itself on providing a fun and entertaining environment for both our fans and wrestlers to experience professional wrestling at the highest level.

Fans are encouraged to cheer, boo, and chant during the show while wrestlers interact both positively and in rivalry, as that is the engagement that makes the ROH experience what it is. Wrestlers interacting with fans is core to the experience, however, under no circumstance should any of our athletes or staff confront or engage fans outside the bounds of this entertainment experience or outside the bounds of the area that hosts this experience. We hold all of our athletes and staff members to the highest standards and, because of the actions over the weekend, we fell short of meeting those standards.

We are still in the process of investigating this matter as well as reviewing and assessing internal security protocols to ensure a safe environment for all fans and athletes. All of our athletes and staff will also be trained and reminded of our policies and protocols for fan interaction and appropriate behavior in all situations.

To our amazing and wonderful fans, we apologize for the matter that transpired this past weekend as it does not reflect who we are as an organization or how we hope to engage with our fans. ROH fans are known worldwide for their passion, admiration, and appreciation for our athletes, and we share this same admiration and appreciation for our fans. We encourage all of our fans to continue attending our events and supporting our amazing athletes in a respectful manner as they have done in the past, and we promise to continue delivering what the fans deserve – the best wrestling and the best fan experience on the planet.
If it smells like bullshit, and it looks like bullshit, it probably is bullshit. Nowhere does the apology name Bully Ray, who orchestrated the whole deal, or any members of The Allure, specifically Leon or Velvet Sky, on whose suggestion this probably happened. And the language, "we are still in the process of investigating," is the same language used when the company released its statement on the Hendrix accusations against Lethal.

And the kicker? This investigation did not even bother to consult the person who was kidnapped and intimidated:
You would think that if you were truly investigating an incident that involved the unethical and probably illegal handling of a non-employee/contractor attending your show that you'd want to interview that non-employee/contractor attending your show. It just shows that whatever ROH is doing to amend this situation or even show it learned something is less than not enough.

Unrelated to ROH but related to expectorant, Impact Wrestling held a pay-per-view event this past Saturday where Taya Valkyrie and a fan got into a verbal altercation. Valkyrie was personally attacked by the fan in question, and unlike with the altercation between @xIAMHOLLYWOODx and The Allure, a bystander caught video footage of it:
It doesn't show the beginning of it, but it shows the fan getting personally abusive with Valkyrie, who held her cool until the dude called her a hoe or something similar (hard to make out what the dude was saying). She knocked the beer out of his hand, which was dumb on her part because it's probably actionable by law even if she was justified, and honestly, he probably didn't need that beer as he appeared to be extremely drunk and belligerent. After she walked away, the fan in question hocked a loogie at her.

Just because the one fan in question in ROH was treated maliciously for what he maintains is innocent behavior doesn't mean all fan interactions with wrestlers proves them to be victims of overzealous and sensitive performers. The video with Valkyrie shows that more often than not, fans, especially male fans who've had too much to drink, can get really abusive, especially with female wrestlers. Luckily, Impact Wrestling did not decide to go all secret police on his ass and interrogate him backstage. Rather, he was banned from all future events, as should be the case for all abusive fans who get caught being abusive. In 2019, the former TNA does the marginal right thing, and ROH can't even be assed to reach that low bar. If you'd told me this would be the case in like 2011, I would have laughed at you.
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