IMPACT Wrestling has suspended Tommy Dreamer ‘with immediate effect’ following his comment on Dark Side of the Ring.
The 50-year-old wrestler was featured on the Plane Ride From Hell episode of the Vice TV show where he appeared to make light of a sexual assault allegation made against Ric Flair.
In a statement to Metro.co.uk, IMPACT Wrestling said: ‘We are aware of Mr Laughlin’s (Tommy Dreamer) comments on Dark Side of the Ring.
‘The views expressed by him in the interview are completely unacceptable.
‘We can confirm Mr Laughlin was suspended this morning with immediate effect, pending further action.’
Dreamer earlier played down a sexual assault allegation made against Flair following the infamous Plane Ride From Hell in 2002.
The private flight back to the US from WWE’s European Tour saw the wrestlers on board given an open bar, with the plane grounded for seven hours due to weather conditions in Connecticut.
Speaking on this week’s episode of Dark Side of the Ring, flight attendant Heidi Doyle alleged that Flair exposed himself to her and made her touch his penis.
‘I was in the galley… Ric Flair was naked in a cape only, and then he decided to come back to the galley to get a coke and then he wouldn’t leave the galley,’ she claimed.
‘He had me up against the back door, and I couldn’t move.
‘I couldn’t get away from him… I couldn’t… I couldn’t move. He was spinning around his penis and he wanted me to touch it. He took my hand and put it on him.’
Producers noted in the episode that Flair has denied the allegations in the past, and a settlement was reached at the time between Doyle and WWE.
Dreamer also popped up in the episode and appeared to make light of the incident.
‘He could move his hips, twirl it and so his well-endowed penis spins around like a helicopter. So, hey, he’s the Nature Boy for a reason, he’s got a hammer on him,’ he said, referencing Flair’s nickname.
‘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.’
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