Tommy Dreamer Releases Statement On His Dark Side Of The Ring Comments
This past week's Dark Side of the Ring told the story of WWE's "Plane Ride from Hell" that took place on May 5, 2002.
The episode included how Flair allegedly exposed himself to a flight attendant. Flair has denied these allegations. Both Flair and Tommy Dreamer trended on social media with Dreamer getting heat from fans due to his defense of Flair's actions on the flight.
"He could move his hips, twirl it and so his well-endowed penis spins around like a helicopter," Dreamer said. "So, hey, he's the Nature Boy for a reason, he's got a hammer on him. 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 offence to it."
Two flight attendants (Taralyn Cappellano and Heidi Doyle) then sued in 2004, ultimately settling out of court for an undisclosed amount of money. Doyle appeared on this week's show to talk about her experiences on the flight.
Dreamer also commented about Doyle deciding to take the money — at the request of her husband, who wanted to avoid the story being made public — instead of pursuing what happened in a court of law to find justice.
"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 said.
Dreamer has since been indefinitely suspended by Impact Wrestling with the company saying his comments were "out of line with our core values." Along with wrestling from time-to-time, Dreamer has worked behind-the-scenes for the company since 2018.
Dreamer released a statement today on his DSOTR comments:
"Regarding my comments made on Dark Side of the Ring. It was never my intention to offend, hurt or victim shame anyone. I understand my comments were insensitive and could trigger emotions in someone's own personal past. I do not condone sexual misconduct of any kind. I apologize to anyone I offended. From the bottom of my heart. I am so sorry."
— Tommy Dreamer (@THETOMMYDREAMER) September 19, 2021