According to IMPACT officials, Tommy Dreamer will not be at this weekend's shows.
Fightful has learned that at a production meeting today, staff was informed that Tommy Dreamer would not be at this weekend's Nashville taping for the brand.
Dreamer appeared on last night's Dark Side of The Ring, where he recounted the events of the Plane Ride From Hell, brushing off Ric Flair's behavior during the event, and saying it was simply a "joke," among other things, which gained significant criticism following the airing of the VICE series.
During the show, a flight attendant, Heidi Doyle alleged that Ric Flair approached her and forced her to touch his penis, which Dreamer disputed. Doyle indicated that she did not believe Flair's intention was to rape her in the allegations.
"He could move his hips, twirl it and so his well-endowed penis spins around like a helicopter. So, hey, he’s the Nature Boy for a reason, he’s got a hammer on him," Before later adding. "Ric Flair’s not going to try to impose by force any sexual stuff onto anybody. He’s just flaunting, styling and profiling, doing the Ric Flair stuff where everybody’s going to laugh about it. But obviously, someone took offense to it."
WWE, ECW, TNA, IMPACT veteran Rob Van Dam backed up her claims. WWE and Doyle settled a lawsuit regarding the Plane Ride From Hell, as covered in the show.
"If that’s how she felt, maybe she should have not taken a payout and went to the fullest extend of the law to then truly put this heinous person in jail. My opinion," Dreamer added, before saying that today, those actions aren't acceptable, noting that people are offended over anything, including his double ponytail. "I feel this is trying to portray someone as a sexual predator, and it's not. It's a joke. It's a gag. Today, it's 1000% inappropriate. My hairstyle is inappropriate right now. I'm somehow offending someone right now with my double ponytail. How dare I have two ponytail? My answer is I'm 50 years old and I'm happy I have hair. If you're asking me, I've hung out with Ric Flair. I've never seen him try to force his will onto anyone."
We were not told of his role going forward and how it is affected.
On Friday afternoon, PWInsider reported Dreamer was suspended by IMPACT. The following statement was given by the company:
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.
Fightful will work to find out more about this story. You can see the episode of Dark Side Of The Ring with the full context of Dreamer's comments at the top of the page.
If you are a victim of sexual assault, you can get help and learn more about steps to take at RAINN.
