When news broke that WWE legend Rick Steiner went on an unprompted transphobic rant directed at former PROGRESS Women's Champion and current Impact star Gisele Shaw at Los Angeles Wrestlecon, it left many a professional wrestling fans not only disappointed in the former WWF Tag Team Champion's behavior but completely disinterested in seeing Bron Breakker‘s father at a professional wrestling event ever again.

For Steiner, the ramifications of his actions were swift; he was booted from the event in LA, costing himself potentially thousands of dollars in autograph/photograph money, banned from the convention indefinitely, and left with a legacy forever tarnished as a result.

So naturally, when Wrestlecon announced that the Steiner Brothers were scheduled for a signing at the Detroit edition of the convention on SummerSlam weekend, it left many wrestling fans with far more questions than answers, even after the event's founder, Michael Bochicchio, released a lengthy statement explaining why he felt as though the “Dog Faced Gremlin” deserved another chance (to make him money), so much so that not even 48 hours later, the decision was reversed, as the company noted on their Twitter account.

Attention: Rick Steiner has been removed from Wrestlecon.

When we allowed Rick Steiner to return to our Convention as a vendor guest of Tony Hunter Promotions, we did not adequately take into account the impact his past words from our last event still held in the LGBTQIA+ community. We initially allowed him to return because 1) We still feel that people deserve a second chance. 2) Rick did make an apology to all parties that chose to be present. 3) We lacked any type of code of conduct/harassment policy that clearly defined our expectations as a convention participant.

After a thoughtful dialogue with Brian Bell from SB Nation's Outsports and host of the LGBT In the Ring podcast on Monday morning, we agreed with his opinion it was necessary to have some type of public acknowledgment/apology from Rick Steiner, at an absolute minimum, to allow him to attend Detroit. Because we understand this issue required great urgency, we gave Rick Steiner 24 hours to make such a statement. Unfortunately, there is not currently and we do not expect to receive such a statement, and we have therefore made a decision to revoke our permission for him to attend.

Additionally, we now have created a first draft of our Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment policy that will be posted on our website for everybody to see later today. We will continue to improve upon this code of conduct over time and with the cooperation of others. We understand and appreciate that there will be many differences of opinion among our participants and we want to create a safe and enjoyable space for everybody at our Conventions. At this time, we have partnered in solidarity with other Wrestling industry Convention leaders, notably Starrcast, Wrestlecade, and The Gathering (Charlotte Fanfest) who also agree to adopt and adhere to a similar code of conduct for their events.

Did Wrestlecon make the right decision? In a word, yes; giving Steiner a pass for such reprehensible behavior when he didn't so much as offer up a public apology set a dangerous precedent and left more than a few fans feeling as though the convention cared far more about making money off of older fans than the respect and safety of other performers they hired to entertain at their events. And based on the comments on the tweet, it's safe to say the reactions to his announcement are far more positive than their last one.

Wrestlecon's first statement regarding the WWE Hall of Famer aged very poorly.

With Rick Steiner officially out of Wrestlecon, it's worth revisiting the initial statement by Michael Bochicchio, who had to back-peddle pretty darn hard from his initial feelings to justify adding Rick Steiner to their forthcoming convention.

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Bron Breakker with a text bubble reading "Goodbye NXT" next to Baron Corbin with the NXT logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Paul Heyman with a text bubble reading "This crop of talent that is taking over the industry right now" with the blacked-out silhouette of Bron Breakker on his left and the blacked-out silhouette of Jade Cargill on his right with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Jerry West delivering a speech in the Hall of Fame.

Nathan Yasis ·

I'm going to address the Rick Steiner issue here instead of responding to every post. I hope everyone takes the time to read, but I also understand if you choose not to hear another side.

Rick made completely inappropriate remarks to Giselle Shaw at our event in Los Angeles. As soon as we were made aware of what happened, we swiftly addressed the issue,  but we never shared details of what happened at the event. In hindsight, it was probably a mistake not to share more details during or immediately after the event concluded. I take full responsibility- my wife died 3 weeks after the LA show at the age of 46, after a long battle with cancer, and I made a lot of mistakes during that time.

However, at no time then or after do we condone the remarks Rick made at LA. We did not fail to act after we were notified, and as a result, we removed him from the convention for the duration of that event. Rick’s poor decision forever impacted his brand , relationships within the wrestling community,  and alienated many of his fans.

One of the positive things Rick did, and it was not publicized, is immediately apologize.  He apologized to members of the Wrestlecon staff, he apologized to many of his fellow wrestlers, and offerred apologies to the members of Impact Wrestling staff that chose to hear from him at a private mediated event. 

Giselle chose not to attend Rick's apology, which we 100% understood, supported, and still support to this day. She had no obligation to hear anything from Rick nor should she ever feel obligated to accept any apology from him then or now. 

Now that we are three months beyond this event, I feel that Rick learned a lot from his huge mistake.  I know it's easier to cancel people when they make mistakes than to forgive and help educate.  However, sometimes I think it's important that we give people a second chance.  That being said, Rick will forever be on a zero-tolerance scale moving forward at any of our events. If we are proven wrong, that he has not learned from his mistakes, we will enforce a permanent ban. That is not to imply that everyone gets one free strike.

We continue to strive to have an environment where everyone feels safe and included. If we are faced with issues that compromise that environment, we will take all necessary action.

After suggesting that Steiner made amends for his actions in Los Angeles, albeit not publically or to Giselle Shaw specifically, it's clear the wrestling community as a whole didn't agree, with performers like Effy speaking out publically on giving a platform back to the WWE Hall of Famer despite showing very little signs of learning from his mistakes. Though the company ultimately made the right decision in the end, it's certainly troubling just how far Wrestlecon was willing to go to justify their booking and how quickly the backlash overshadowed their desire to make money from the older Steiner Brother.