Joey Ryan Suing Impact Wrestling For $10 Million Due To Breach Of Contract
The fallout of the Speaking Out Movement continues for Joey Ryan as he filed a lawsuit against Impact Wrestling after they terminated him following sexual assault allegations, which was first reported by PW Insider. Impact terminated Ryan in June and he is alleging that they breached their contract in the wake of the allegations. Ryan filed the lawsuit against Impact's parent company Anthem Wrestling LLC in Nashville, Tennessee last month.
According to the lawsuit, Ryan's contract was scheduled to run through 8/31/21 but Impact terminated it on 6/22/20. Ryan was the subject of several allegations of sexual assault and harassment which not only cost him his job at Impact but also cost him his relationship with the venue that hosts his indie promotion, Bar Wrestling.
Ryan's lawsuit doesn't mention why Impact released him as it only focused on why Anthem failed to live up to their end of the deal. He included part of his contract in the lawsuit and argues that Impact breached the contract by not giving him a five-day period to resolve the issues they felt he breached. As a result, Ryan states that he has suffered "substantial monetary damage to his income, as well as damage to his reputation."
Ryan is seeking a judgment of $10 million against Anthem as well as attorney fees for the case and "further and general relief." Anthem was served on September 24 and they have 30 days to file a defense which they haven't done as of yet.
This is the sixth lawsuit Ryan has filed against various parties with the others all denials of sexual assault claims against him. In those cases, Ryan claims the women who made those allegations have hurt his ability to make income not only as a wrestler but also through merchandise, social media accounts and his Bar Wrestling promotion.
Ryan has gone on record in denying the accusations made against him and even stated that he has proof in the form of text messages and direct messages. However, wrestlers who were once friends with Ryan or worked with him before have claimed that the allegations of sexual abuse against Ryan are true.