Disneyland Fires Joey Ryan
After a recent photo surfaced online of Joey Ryan working at Disneyland, it has now been confirmed that the 42-year-old has been fired.
According to the LA Times, Ryan — real name Joseph Meehan — had been working on the Jungle Cruise attraction at the theme park in Anaheim, California. It is said that he worked at the "Happiest Place on Earth" for three months on a probationary period, but the organization did not decide to hire him as a full-time member of staff.
Ryan was called out in 2020 during the damning "Speaking Out" movement that saw a plethora of brave individuals share their shocking and distressing stories about abuse within the wrestling industry. In particular, Ryan was accused of sexual misconduct and harassment involving a number of women. Though denying he played a role in the accusations against him, Ryan has seemingly been expelled from the business, with his last recorded match taking place the same year as he was accused — against Crazzy Steve for Impact Wrestling, before his release from the promotion.
A Disneyland spokesperson commented, "Mr. Meehan is no longer employed by us," but did not expand on the reasoning behind why Ryan's probationary employment was not turned into a permanent role. It was noted that the background checks conducted by the company did not reveal any allegations of sexual misconduct during the screening process, likely due to those allegations being leveled using his pro wrestling name rather than his real name.
After the allegations came out, Ryan filed a number of lawsuits against his accusers and his former employer, Impact Wrestling. Although he won a default judgment against one of his accusers in January 2021, several others were dropped or dismissed, but he reportedly kept the Impact lawsuit open. Ryan also said that he had been seeking help by attending Sex & Love Addicts Anonymous meetings.
Despite the allegations, the former NWA World Tag Team Champion was booked to appear at a show called "Wrestling 4 Women's Charity" in March 2021, but the event was ultimately canceled once his involvement was revealed and AEW owner Tony Khan pulled talent from the show.