Tommy Dreamer Issues Statement Following Insensitive Remarks on “Dark Side of The Ring”
Tommy Dreamer has issued an apology for some recent remarks on “Dark Side of the Ring” that led to him being suspended by Impact Wrestling.
This past Thursday’s episode of “Dark Side of the Ring” focused on the infamous WWE ‘Plane Ride From Hell’ in May 2002. Following a WWE Insurrextion PPV in England, the company chartered a plane and after a long delay to take off, the WWE talent on the plane behaved poorly. It would results in fines, lawsuits and men like Scott Hall & Curt Henning get fired due to their behaviour.
The episode featured comments from former WWE superstars sharing their memories of the plane ride. They also talked to Heidi Doyle, who was a flight attendant, that shared a lot of the horrific details of wrestlers behaving badly. Doyle told a story about Ric Flair getting too close to her while Flair was naked under his robe and she felt really uncomfortable about it.
During the episode, Dreamer said of Doyle’s accusations of what Flair did:
“Flair is not going to impose, by force, any sexual stuff onto anybody. He’s just flaunting…stylin’ and profilin’…like the Ric Flair stuff where everybody’s going to laugh about it. Obviously, somebody took offense to it.”
Dreamer later commented:
“It’s a joke. It’s a gag. Today? 1000% inappropriate. I have hung out with Ric Flair and have never seen him force his will against anybody.”
Due to the horrific comments that Dreamer made, Impact Wrestling informed their talent roster that Dreamer was indefinitely suspended. Part of Impact Wrestling’s statement said:
“We are aware of Mr. Laughlin’s (Tommy Dreamer) comments on “Dark Side of the Ring”. The views expressed by him in the interview are completely unacceptable. We can confirm Mr. Laughlin was suspended this morning with immediate effect, pending further action.”
Dreamer has worked for Impact as an on-screen talent and also in a creative capacity.
While not addressing the issue publicly for several days, Dreamer decided to go on Twitter to apologize for what he said on Dark Side of the Ring. He wrote:
— Tommy Dreamer (@THETOMMYDREAMER) September 19, 2021
The 50-year-old Tommy Dreamer has been a part of the pro wrestling business for 30 years. He rose to prominence during the mid-to-late 1990s as one of the ECW Originals that was a fan favorite in the company. Following ECW’s death in 2000, he joined WWE where he was a regular fixture on their shows until ECW was relaunched in 2006 and Dreamer remained in the company until 2010. Dreamer also worked in the WWE Talent Relations department as well.
Following his WWE departure, Dreamer has worked for many other wrestling promotions like TNA/Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, MLW and he also started his own House of Hardcore indy promotion as well. It’s unknown what his future in pro wrestling is now.