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PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
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Current NJPW wrestler Michael Elgin has been removed from multiple independent bookings as a result of his handling of an alleged sexual harassment incident between one of his students and a female fan. Smash Wrestling based out of Canada has also removed Elgin from two of their upcoming events on Dec. 17 and Jan. 21.
Limitless Wrestling owner Randy Carver Jr. issued the following statement to PWTorch regarding Elgin being removed from the Jan. 19 event:
For two years, we’ve been striving to make Maine a pro wrestling destination by mixing some of the best locally with some of the best in the world. Most of all, we want to create a FUN & SAFE environment for fans and wrestlers to enjoy and create.
Michael Elgin has been pulled off of our event on 1/19 in Westbrook, ME. We feel it’s in the best interest of our fans, wrestlers, and staff to move in this direction due to Elgin’s potential knowledge and handling of an alleged assault incident including one of his students. We take anything like this extremely seriously and will be monitoring the situation moving forward. Jeff Cobb replaces Elgin at our 1/19 event.
Smash Wrestling has since issued a statement on their Twitter account regarding Elgin being removed from show:
Due to the allegations against a former student of Michael Elgin and Elgin’s potential knowledge of the incident in question, we deem it in the best interest of both Smash Wrestling and the fans to suspend Michael Elgin’s upcoming bookings with Smash Wrestling both on December 17 and January 21.
We at Smash Wrestling take the subject matter very seriously and will continue to monitor and stay aware of the situation as it continues to unfold.
At Smash wrestling, we pride ourselves in providing an environment that is all inclusive, harassment free and a welcoming place for all to enjoy and celebrate pro wrestling. While we understand the claims and allegations of all parties involved, it is our hope that the issue is resolved in a timely manner for all parties involved and we as a wrestling community can learn from the situation.
Multiple sources have also confirmed to PWTorch that Elgin has also been removed from the Dec. 29 AIW event.
Elgin was accused of ignoring a sexual harrassment claims by a fan that goes by the handle @Th_BodyElectric on Twitter. She claimed in a tweet that Elgin’s former student, Sean Orleans, sexually assaulted her in March and that she told Elgin about it in March. Orleans wrestled in Elgin’s Glory Pro independent promotion after the alleged incident took place until November when Elgin suspended him when she shared her story on Twitter.
Since that time, @Th_BodyElectric has posted many private messages on Twitter alleged to be between her and Elgin about the incident and their own alleged relationship. Elgin’s behaviour became erratic on Twitter after the private messages were posted. He announced he had sold Glory Pro and was getting a lawyer and and then deleted his account on Monday. Elgin then returned to Twitter yesterday after @Th_BodyElectric posted a conversation between them where Elgin made several disparaging remarks about his current tag team partner in NJPW, Jeff Cobb.
Elgin restored his Twitter account and issued a tweet saying he had sent @Th_BodyElectric the private messages about Cobb knowing they would be revealed publicly. Elgin wrote, “I’m not posting the entire message, but I said some things the other day knowing they’d be posted. I told a friend so I had proof. I’m sorry for saying Jeff’s name.” Elgin also included screen shots of him telling his unnamed friend he was going to send @Th_BodyElectric a message she would likely post. Elgin’s unidentified friend responds by writing: “Risky business. Wouldn’t even speak to her.” Shortly after posting this message with screenshots of his text to his friend, Elgin deleted his Twitter again.
Elgin is currently scheduled to have his next tag match with Jeff Cobb on Dec. 9. NJPW has made no public statement about the incident and how it was handled by Elgin.
NJPW has not made any public statement about Elgin’s status as of the writing of this story.