PWInsider learned on Friday that Michael Elgin has been removed from all future episodes of Impact Wrestling programming. It is believed that the wrestler has been fired from the company, as he’s been removed from the roster page and his merchandise is no longer up for sale on the website.
Elgin, who was likely informed of his release earlier today, was already suspended prior to being removed from the company. The 33-year-old has been embroiled in the #SpeakingOut movement after multiple women came forward and accused him of misconduct and inappropriate behavior.
The company previously stated that Elgin would remain employed until all investigations pertaining to the accusations had been carried out. The accusers alleged that he sent unwanted lewd photographs to them, and his release suggests that the company may have found sufficient evidence to support those claims.
Elgin has still to comment on the latest development, but PWInsider notes that it’s unlikely that he’ll return to the company at a later date. As of now, all ties appear to have been severed.
Now that Elgin looks to have been released, Impact Wrestling officials must return to the drawing board and reconfigure their plans for the upcoming Slammiversary pay-per-view, where he was supposed to challenge for the World Championship.
As The Inquisitr reported yesterday, World Champion Tessa Blanchard was also released from the company and stripped of her title. With both competitors no longer set to appear at the event, the World Championship will be contested among Trey Miguel, Eddie Edwards, and Ace Austin.
The company hasn’t confirmed how it plans to creatively cope with the changes, which weren’t expected when the latest batch of television episodes was recorded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbDL4RyoC1k
As noted by Fightful the contracts of Joey Ryan and Dave Crist have also been terminated over the last week following misconduct allegations. This resulted in the company having to re-edit the latest episode of Impact . The episode reportedly almost didn’t make the air as the company had to make so many changes in order to remove all mention of the fired employees.
Impact Wrestling appears to be taking a zero-tolerance policy with performers who have either been accused of wrongdoing or aren’t willing to represent the company’s best interests. Elgin and Blanchard were two of the biggest stars on the roster prior to their release, but that didn’t give them preferential treatment.
WWE has also recently released some superstars for similar reasons.
