Chris Jericho holds a lot of weight in the world of professional wrestling.
The legendary wrestler is currently with All Elite Wrestling, where he was their first heavyweight champion, but previously spent years in WWE, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and WCW, winning various championships along the way.
Now, Jericho is coming to the defense of a transgender wrestler who went viral over the weekend for calling out pro wrestling legend Rick Steiner over “hateful” comments he made about her.
“Hey! Don’t even worry about this,” Jericho wrote as a comment on Gisele Shaw’s Instagram post. “[Rick Steiner] has always been a bully and has gotten away with so much because he is a ‘Steiner’. Makes me laugh cause I fell for the same **** when he bullied me, Eddie (Guerrero), Chris (Benoit), Oscar (known as Rey Mysterio), and Juvie (Juventud Guerrera) at World War 3 1997!! I got your back @giseleshaw08… and if Rick has an issue with this, I’d love to discuss with him anytime. It’s 2023 dude… grow the **** up.”
Shaw, who currently wrestles for Impact Wrestling, had shared details of an incident between her and Steiner on social media.
“I have been bullied all my life and have never stood up for myself because I’m scared that I would get beat up physically, mentally or emotionally. The bullies in my life have always silenced me, but that ends today!” Shaw said.
“I was at an autograph signing event today at WrestleCon and while I was walking to my table, I hear someone yelling, ‘You’re a man,’ ‘You’re a dude,’ ‘You’re a piece of trash,’ ’You are filth,’ ‘Get the **** away from here.’ I kept my head down and kept walking as I did not want to acknowledge that hate.
“When I arrived at my table, I spoke to another IMPACT Wrestling talent who was at the signing with me and mentioned the incident. It didn’t sit well with me and I wanted to know who was saying that because it’s unacceptable, so I decided to take a walk in that area and I hear that some person saying the same derogatory comments. I looked at the person and it was Rick Steiner saying those statements. I was shocked and could not believe that this was happening. To have someone saying those comments who a lot of people look up to and consider their hero was quite shocking and disheartening.
“I was in disbelief so I asked him. ‘Excuse me?!’ He kept repeating those hateful phrases and started yelling at me in a public setting. It was inexcusable and unacceptable.”
“Judging from that experience, it was more important for them to watch something wrong go down as supposed (sic) to standing up for someone who’s being bullied and doing what’s right.
“I am not writing this because I want sympathy. I am writing this because I am done being bullied to silence. Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility and I am standing up for myself and for other people who go through the exact same situation on a daily basis. I want everyone to know what kind of deplorable person Rick Steiner is and that this cannot be tolerated. This keeps happening because people let it slide and do not take any action. If you do business with these type of people then I will not to (sic) do business with you.”
[Fox News]
