A flurry of allegations came out against wrestling veteran Tommy Dreamer over the weekend, with stories recounting alleged harassment and threats of blackballing over the past few years.
Discussion about Dreamer kicked off last week, shortly after it was revealed that he had departed TNA Wrestling’s creative team, amid numerous changes happening within the company.
It all started on Saturday, when independent wrestling referee Dan Perch said that Dreamer once told him he’d try to blackball him from the industry.
Tommy Dreamer pulled me aside backstage at a TNA show, telling me he would do everything he could to make sure I don’t earn a job in the wrestling business. All I did was try to learn and grow from experiences, though his words were very discouraging for a young student to hear.
In the hours that followed, other allegations surfaced regarding Dreamer’s treatment of women in the industry.
Vermont-based wrestler Kennedi Copeland alleged that, since she was a woman, he insisted on doing a “spanking spot” during their match together, despite her initial proposal to do a cane spot. They were able to share a photo to corroborate the moment.
On Sunday, Atlanta’s Dani Jordyn said that Dreamer “insisted on doing a crotch grab spot” during a match they had together: “He didn’t care to ask. I did not want to do this, said how uncomfortable I was, but I’m just a woman, right.”
AEW talent Carlie Bravo also said that Dreamer once told him he was “very talented” but couldn’t hire him because “he didn’t know if he could market ‘cocky black guy’ to the world.”
There have been some who, amid the allegations, have come out in defence of the former ECW star. Mickie James most notably responded to referee Perch, expressing skepticism that he was telling the full story. “I know [Dreamer] well enough to know that ‘if’ he truly said this. There is far more to the story that you are conveniently leaving out.”
GCW owner Brett Lauderdale said, “I think one thing people forget is that Tommy Dreamer is an *ecw guy* and he comes from a different era. The antics that many consider to be inappropriate (or worse) today are the very same that made him (and ecw) so cool and universally celebrated/romanticized in the 90s. I’ve always known Tommy to be a decent and gracious person. I think his greatest flaw is probably that he didn’t evolve with the times. But its not hard to understand why… everywhere he goes to this day people chant “ecw ecw ecw” at him. its hard to leave that behind. Tommys always been blunt & honest (to a fault) and uses language that isnt always thoughtful or sensitive but he means well & hes helped advance a lot of peoples careers As for the interaction w perch, idk if it did or didnt happen but the last thing i know perch to be is a liar”.
Dreamer, who is a co-host on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio, has yet to comment on any of these allegations.
