Posted in: Sports, TV | Tagged: Marty Scurll, roh, wrestling

ROH Parts Ways with Marty Scurll Months After #SpeakingOut

Published Tue, 05 Jan 2021 14:35:56 -0600

Months after he was the subject of sexual misconduct allegations as part of the #SpeakingOut movement that swept the wrestling industry last Summer, Marty Scurll has parted ways with ROH, who had just re-signed with the company one year ago as both a top in-ring star and head booker. ROH announced the departure on Twitter in an extremely brief statement.

The official statement from Ring of Honor on Marty Scurll

Scurll exiting ROH with zero fanfare marks a stunning fall from grace for the man who was once widely considered a shoo-in to join his friends in the Elite at the newly-founded AEW, but instead signed a massive deal with ROH to gain creative control of the company. Two months later, the coronavirus pandemic effectively shut down live pro wrestling and put ROH on hiatus. Then, in June, #SpeakingOut happened, and Scurll was accused of sexual misconduct by a fan who was sixteen-years-old and, according to her, intoxicated at the time.

In response to the allegations, which have since been deleted from Twitter, Scurll tweeted in part, "Although I truly believe that our encounter that evening was consensual, and the fact that the encounter was legal; is almost not the point. I understand that she now views our encounter as part of a bigger problem within the wrestling community." In the United Kingdom, where the misconduct allegedly took place, sixteen is the legal age of consent.

The official logo for Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH).

According to the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, one might expect the allegations would make Scurll seem toxic to any company, which may not be the case for WWE. Dave Meltzer speculated that WWE might not feel the same pressure as AEW or other companies to avoid Scurll and points out that several current WWE stars have had #SpeakingOut allegations made against them and continued to be featured on WWE television. Austin Theory and Velveteen Dream are two such stars.

Meltzer's words were speculation on WWE's unique position and what they might do, not a report of actual backstage plans, but they still fueled some headlines Tuesday morning claiming Scurll was likely WWE bound, including one now-deleted article saying WWE was "very interested" in Scurll.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!