The first night of the Scenic City Invitational, one of the most prestigious tournaments in independent pro wrestling, delivered matches and moments worthy of the status built by the event over the last nine years on Friday night.
Highlighted by beloved pro wrestler Daniel Makabe’s bloody and technically brutal retirement match in the night’s only non-tournament battle, out LGBTQ pro wrestlers Rico Gonzalez and Mad Dog Connelly showed why they earned their spots in the tournament. The night also featured superb performances from pro wrestlers Manders, Landon Hale, Adam Priest and Matt Makowski among others.
To go along with the physical excellence on display, the team behind the event showed a different kind of strength in the face of bigotry from one fan in attendance at the TWE Arena just outside Chattanooga, Tenn.
The incident occurred as the stellar first-round matchup between Pan Afrikan World Diaspora World champion Suge D and TWE Chattanooga champion Darian Bengston got underway following intermission. The opening moments of the match saw a male fan direct a derogatory statement about Bengston’s ring gear, which features a piece of fabric covering half of his waist that resembles a kilt or a skirt. “You’re wearing a skirt,” he said.
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The comment was in violation of the SCI’s code of conduct, which promoter and ring announcer Scott Hensley outlined prior to the event going live on pro wrestling streaming service IWTV. The fan’s comment immediately drew a response from Suge D. “What’s wrong with that,” he retorted.
Both wrestlers turned their focus back to the match, but the fan continued making comments about Bengston’s attire. His conduct drew the attention of Matt Griffin, founder and promoter of Georgia-based ACTION Wrestling, who regularly helps run SCI. ACTION is also the presenting promotion of the “ACTION Futures” tournament that takes place during SCI weekend.
According to Griffin, he approached the fan and asked him to stop making comments about Bengston’s attire. The man responded by repeatedly yelling “men don’t wear skirts” and the word “skirt” toward Griffin. “He just kept yelling ‘skirt, skirt, skirt’ at me like it was meant to be something derogatory,” Griffin told Outsports. There were several LGBTQ fans in attendance (including myself) who also expressed annoyance at the man’s comments.
The fan’s family told him multiple times to stop making the comments to no avail. Then his comments switched from slur-adjacent to straight up hate speech. “He asked if I was a liberal and said the word ‘tranny’ real quiet while he was still seated,” Griffin said. At that point, Griffin informed the fan that he was being ejected from the event and he was removed from the building after initially refusing to leave his seat.
The scene turned more volatile after the man left the building. He attempted to escalate the situation as Griffin, a collection of wrestlers and personnel working the event and members of TWE ownership followed him out. According to Griffin, the man tried to pick a fight with him, repeatedly directed the transphobic slur at him and insulted pro wrestler Jameson Shook, who helped defuse a previous incident of transphobia at the TWE Arena last year. According to multiple sources, Shook had to be restrained by multiple individuals after the fan asked how he, as a Christian, could support LGBTQ people.
Law enforcement was called to the scene, but it is unknown currently if a police report was filed. Ultimately, the fan left without the situation turning physical. “His brother and family apologized profusely for his actions,” Griffin said. Outsports has learned that TWE ownership has banned the man from future events at the company’s venue.
Fans, wrestlers and other SCI personnel praised the handling of the situation via social media.
The quick addressing of the situation falls in line with TWE, SCI and ACTION’s strong stances against hate speech and how the promotions have handled similar situations in the past. It is great to see them continue to stand behind their word and keep their wrestling environments as inclusive as possible.
The rest of the weekend’s festivities went without incident. Shook won the “ACTION Futures” tournament Saturday afternoon, his tag team partner Pha’Nesse won a gauntlet match to earn a spot in next year’s “ACTION Futures” tournament and Gonzalez reached the SCI finals Saturday night.
