Joey Ryan isn’t staying quiet; he’s actively defending himself after a fan said he should stay out of the business and that none of his contributions mattered.
After years of controversy tied to the #SpeakingOut movement, where he was called out over a number of sexual misconduct allegations and a failed attempt at a comeback in 2025, Joey Ryan found himself in a heated exchange on Twitter when a fan publicly called him out and told him to stay away from wrestling entirely. The fan kicked things off with a blunt and aggressive message, directly targeting Ryan’s past and questioning why he would even consider returning.
“So? That doesn’t change the fact that you’re a creeper and an embarrassment to wrestling, and an overall shit stain of a human being. Also, any promotion that is unfortunate enough to hire you should go out of business.”
Instead of ignoring it, Ryan responded by shifting the focus to his résumé, bringing up his influence on independent wrestling and the promotions he helped build.
“I started PWG. I change the idea of what wrestling could be with World’s Cutest Tag Team. I had an incredibly viral video that hit mainstream media. I started Bar Wrestling. I created a template to make a 6-figures as an indie wrestler. Nobody can take away my impact.”
That didn’t slow things down. The fan came back even harder, pointing out where others from Ryan’s past have ended up — specifically referencing Candice LeRae — and contrasting that with Ryan’s current situation.
“Nobody gives a s*** that you started some company where wrestlers can go to act out their indie fantasies. You mention your tag team, let me ask you, what’s Candice LeRae doing? I’ll answer that for you, she’s in the biggest wrestling company in the world and has won a couple titles there while you’re struggling to find work in wrestling because of your tendency to be a weirdo. Maybe you should ponder your f****** actions.”
Ryan doubled down again, defending both his contributions to the industry and the role he believes he played in helping others succeed — especially when it comes to intergender wrestling and the indie scene.
“Those companies helped launch careers of people you watch today. WCTT made Intergender wrestling marketable and my partner helped elevate women’s wrestling. I helped make indie wrestling as profitable for freelance workers as TV wrestling does. You can’t deny my contributions.”
The fan wasn’t convinced and shifted the argument toward the viability of intergender wrestling itself, dismissing Ryan’s claims about its success.
“Intergender wrestling isn’t marketable, dude. The only people that watch that are people that like seeing the women get beat in the matches and wish to do it themselves.”
Ryan fired back again, this time boiling it down to one point — money: “It sure made WCTT a lot of money.” That led to another reply from the fan, who questioned just how successful those shows really were and mocked the scale of indie events.
“No it didn’t. You guys were doing it in f****** high school gyms for 34 people, a stray cat in the building and you got paid with a free hotdog and a iTunes gift card. If intergender wrestling was profitable, WWE would’ve done it a lot more recently than almost 5 years ago.”
Ryan closed the exchange by pointing to his personal success, ending the argument with a statement about what he earned during his indie run.
“I bought a house in Los Angeles on my indie money. 🤷🏻♂️”
Bottom line — this wasn’t just a random spat. It turned into a full-blown argument that pulled Ryan’s past, his legacy, and his place in wrestling right back into the limelight. And based on how this played out, he’s clearly not backing away from defending himself anytime soon.
Do you think Joey Ryan’s impact on indie wrestling still holds weight today, or does his past overshadow everything else? Let us know your thoughts.