Portland Area Indie Show Seemingly Canceled After Booking Blackballed Star Joey Ryan
Joey Ryan's return to professional wrestling has been canceled just hours following the announcement that he would be stepping back inside the squared circle for the first time in five years in new promotion Portland Wrestling.
Since 2020, Ryan has been absent from the wrestling business after several women accused him of sexual misconduct in the midst of the #SpeakingOut movement. Therefore, once it was revealed that the 45-year-old would appear at an event in Vancouver, Washington on August 23, wrestling fans took to social media to air their frustration about the news. After facing an immense amount of backlash to feature Ryan at the show this month, the promotion explained that they would not unbook him, but later revealed that his flight had been canceled and that he would not be appearing. PWInsider also reported that the promotion released a statement on the decision to hire Ryan, which outlined the reasons they went ahead with booking him for the event.
"Multiple other talent was unavailable, he was reasonably priced, other local guys wanted to work him, he hadn't been here since 2014, he had soberingly repented from the man he was in the past," the promoter wrote in explanation for Ryan's initial booking. "Alas, other promoters have publicly threatened to blackball anyone who worked for me and explicitly stated that they would destroy my show before it even got off the ground. They were successful at that."
The promoter also explained that the show was intended to be a non-profit event, and were pleased about some of the proceeds going to a greater cause, but now feel that the entire show will likely be canceled.
Although Ryan never faced criminal charges from the allegations, several wrestling promotions parted ways with him over the last five years, with many performers also speaking out against him. Ryan contacted PWInsider after being removed from Portland Wrestling's event, where he requested that a video he posted in December 2024 be shared.