Joey Ryan is now suing IMPACT Wrestling for breach of contract after they fired him in June amidst a high number of allegations of sexual assault made against him.
According to the lawsuit filed on September in Nashville, Tennessee’s Circuit Court of Davidson County, Ryan (Joseph Ryan Meehan) claims the contract he signed on September 1, 2019 was supposed to run through August 31, 2021 but it was breached when IMPACT‘s Scott D’Amore told him on June 22 that the promotion wouldn’t be booking him anymore due to the “recent allegations” made against him. Following this exchange, Ryan claims he received a formal release notice (signed off by Anthem Wrestling President Ed Nordholm) and that his contract termination date was “amended” to that day, which IMPACT followed with a public statement (seen below) announcing that they had terminated his contract.
“IMPACT Wrestling confirms that it has terminated its contracts with Dave Crist and Joey Ryan, effective immediately,” the promotion told WrestleZone. “In addition, it has suspended Michael Elgin pending further review of allegations of misconduct.”
Ryan’s lawsuit claims IMPACT parent company Anthem “failed to perform as guaranteed in the express language of the Contract by failing to follow and abide by the terms prescribed in Article VIII. Term and Termination” and that they failed to adhere to the “express terms prescribed in Section 8.03 (a)-(i).” The lawsuit also includes a copy of his 23-page contract, which Ryan claims the language in the contract allows him to receive written notice of breach of contract and a five day “cure period” to work out any issues. If nothing could be worked out to alleviate the breach, then he and IMPACT would have a period of 30 days to resolve the matter together, and after that, IMPACT would then be able to terminate the deal if they had been unable to resolve all matters.
Ryan claims that since IMPACT did not follow proper procedure, he suffered substantial damage to his income and reputation. He is requesting a judgment of $10 million for damages caused by the defendant’s (IMPACT / Anthem’s) actions, as well as legal fees and any monies for “further and general relief” the Court declares he is entitled to. Anthem was served with the lawsuit on September 24 and has 30 days to respond. Ryan’s lawsuit against IMPACT was first reported by PWInsider.com.
To date, Ryan has been accused by 18 different women of sexual assault. Ryan also filed lawsuits on September 24 against three of the women who accused him of sexual assault, claiming their allegations are false and it has cost him almost $20,000 in monthly income. In July, Ryan posted a video statement where he addressed his IMPACT Wrestling status and said there was a clause in the contract that says he can’t be fired for any actions that took place prior to signing that deal. He claims that since all of the accusations allegedly took place before he signed the deal, he was considering legal action.
