An Australian independent wrestler says the country’s wrestling scene is sliding back into the same culture everyone promised to leave behind after #SpeakingOut. In his view, the bigger problem isn’t just the allegations themselves—it’s how some people are treating the women who came forward.
Chuck Cunningham took to Facebook with a lengthy statement following recent allegations against Peak Wrestling and ACW promoter Raneem Abbouchi. According to Cunningham, three female workers recently accused Abbouchi of workplace abuse, non-payment and quid pro quo sexual harassment. He also claimed he knows of at least four other women with similar experiences who haven’t spoken publicly.
“Three female workers recently came forward with serious allegations regarding workplace abuse, non-payment, and quid pro quo sexual harassment involving promoter Raneem Abbouchi (Peak Wrestling / ACW). I know of at least four other female workers, both on stage and behind the scenes, who have similar stories to tell, but that is for them to share if and when they ever feel comfortable.”
To back up his point, Cunningham included screenshots from an Instagram post where other women described their own experiences. One wrestler alleged the same promoter tried to book her in a “bikini street fight” before later telling people she had been blacklisted after refusing.
“The same promoter who tried booking me in a ‘bikini street fight’ match. I recently found out that he went around telling other workers that I was blacklisted for saying NO.”
Another woman claimed she was repeatedly asked to work a bra-and-panties deathmatch before saying no: “I was also asked many times to do a bra and panties deathmatch. No means no mate.” Cunningham also shared a screenshot from someone who claimed to have worked with the promoter, alleging he regularly belittled people backstage, spread rumors and failed to pay talent.
“He’s a HORRIBLE person to work with. He screams and belittles everyone when it comes to ring crew… as if it’s okay? He talks s*** about everyone, is fake to their face. He is notorious for not paying his talent. He spreads a lot of rumors and starts a lot of shit with the wrong people.”
Cunningham explained that he deliberately removed the names of the women from his own post because he believes they deserve privacy after taking the risk of speaking out.
“They put their careers on the line to make things better and safer for everyone, they deserve respect and accountability, not public belittling.”
The reason he decided to make the post, though, was what happened afterward. Cunningham took aim at the Australian Indie Wrestling podcast, accusing hosts Chris Bell (“Scar”) and Michael Morleone of mocking the women instead of discussing the allegations. He claimed Bell called them “off their tits,” mocked one wrestler’s size and even displayed a graphic replacing one woman’s image with a cow alongside the word “LIEEE!!!”
“Chris went as far as calling them ‘off their tits,’ mocking one talent’s size, and displaying a graphic where he replaced a female worker’s t-shirt image with a cow with giant letters saying ‘LIEEE!!!’—effectively calling the female talent a cow. This cow graphic is blatant fat-shaming weaponized against a female worker simply for coming forward about quid pro quo sexual harassment.”
Cunningham said he later contacted Bell directly and asked him what the woman had actually lied about. According to Cunningham, Bell couldn’t answer and instead brought up an unrelated dispute from nearly a decade ago.
“When I put this directly to Chris and asked what she actually lied about in those posts regarding sexual harassment, he couldn’t answer. Instead of addressing the serious workplace abuse being called out, he deflected to a petty argument from 7 to 10 years ago about a match fee from a defunct promotion. Digging up an unrelated personal grievance from a decade ago because you cannot defend mocking women who report sexual harassment today says everything.”
For Cunningham, that’s exactly the problem. He questioned what happened to the promises wrestling made during #MeToo and #SpeakingOut, arguing that people are slipping back into the same behavior those movements were supposed to change.
“We all stood up and promised that we were going to make this business better, safer, and cleaner for everyone. Now that the dust has settled, people are slipping right back into the same gross, toxic habits. It is time for us to actually honour the promises we made.”
He also pointed to past discussions surrounding alleged historical abuse involving referee Rowdy, saying plenty of people have claimed they would’ve acted if they’d known what was happening at the time. Cunningham believes the industry has another opportunity to prove those weren’t just empty words.
“The warning signs are right in front of us. It is time to stop blatant toxic masculinity in its tracks and start actually protecting our daughters, mothers, sisters, and partners who step into this business.”
Cunningham closed by urging people to stop dismissing wrestlers who raise workplace concerns as “trouble” or “drama” and instead support them for trying to make the industry safer.
“Repost this. Spread the word. Tell people this is NOT OK. Let’s make this stop and push this toxic behaviour out the door. Stop the gross. Stop the boys’ club. We need to stop stereotyping people who raise genuine workplace concerns as ‘trouble’ or ‘drama,’ and start respecting them for stepping up to protect the future of Australian wrestling.”
Cunningham clearly isn’t interested in letting this story fade away. Instead of focusing only on the allegations themselves, he’s challenging how the wrestling community responds when people come forward—and whether the lessons from #SpeakingOut have actually stuck.
Do you think the Australian wrestling scene has learned from the past, or are the same old problems still being ignored? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
