Several NXT UK Wrestlers And More Accused Of Sexual Assault And Harassment

This could be big. Back in 2017, the MeToo movement began and quickly gained steam, becoming international in a hurry. The idea was to gauge the amount of women who had been sexually assaulted or harassed and try to make some sort of a change. This led to a new era of fighting back against such issues, with Hollywood and politics being major areas of change. Now, it is wrestling’s turn.

Earlier this week, independent wrestler David Starr was accused of sexual abuse and admitted to some of the allegations. On Thursday, this set off what is being called SpeakOut, as a host of allegations accusing other wrestlers, many of whom are from the United Kingdom, of sexual harassment or assault, have come forward. There have been allegations made against over several wrestlers, many of whom work for WWE under the NXT UK banner. The following list of examples is by no means exhaustive.

One of the bigger names is NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin, who is accused of beating a woman named Hannah Francesca. While Francesca’s tweets are private, she accuses Devlin of leaving her bruised and when she complained to a promotion he worked for, she was told “one of my boys wouldn’t do that”. The tweets can be seen here, and here with Devlin being listed by name.

Also named is Travis Banks, who has been accused of being emotionally manipulative during a secret year long relationship with wrestler Millie McKenzie (who has appeared on NXT UK). Other NXT UK talents facing various allegations are El Ligero and Joe Coffey. Pete Dunne and Big E. have both spoken out regarding the allegations, saying that they hope the business can be changed for the better.

Very scary doing this. But I don’t want anyone else to have to go through what I did.
Things need to change. #SpeakingOut
Things didn’t end with Jake. I began training under Travis Banks. When I was 17, we had a secret one year relationship in which he wouldn’t speak to….

— Millie Mckenzie (@MMckenzieWWE) June 18, 2020

Me or be near me in public incase anyone would find out.
Cheated on me multiple times in-front of my face, and was horrible to me.

Had a massive effect on my mental health and self confidence. I hated wrestling and the person I became when I was with him. #speakingout

— Millie Mckenzie (@MMckenzieWWE) June 18, 2020

I really hope that #SpeakingOut movement actually creates the changes the wrestling industry so desperately needs.

— Millie Mckenzie (@MMckenzieWWE) June 18, 2020

i am so unbelievably scared but i guess i have nothing to lose. thank you to those who have encouraged me to come forward ? pic.twitter.com/P0AmpZWNp1

— Natalie Sykes (@NatalieSykes_) June 18, 2020

I had to block Joe Coffey on all my social media accounts because he wouldn’t leave me alone.

I’ve been told tonight that hes sexually harassed 3 girls, sending unsolicited naked images, voice notes, stalking. #speakingout

— Sierra Loxton ??? (@SierraLoxton) June 18, 2020

I’m disgusted by what I’m reading.

Well done to those speaking out. I really hope we can make British wrestling a better place and keep everyone safe.

This is a huge eye opener and let’s hope it will force a big change.

— ‘The Bruiserweight’ Pete Dunne (@PeteDunneYxB) June 18, 2020

I pray our industry is swiftly rid of all these predators & abusers. To everyone brave enough to tell their story, I’m so sorry you had to endure this. #SpeakingOut

— Ettore “Big E” Ewen (@WWEBigE) June 18, 2020

According to SportsKeeda’s Tom Colohue, WWE is holding an emergency meeting to deal with the situation involving the NXT UK talent. WWE has also released a statement to Wrestlingnews.co, saying:

“We take any allegation of this nature very seriously and are looking into the matter.”

I've just been told an emergency meeting has been called by #WWE officials to discuss the accusations coming in against some of their #NXTUK talent.

— Tom Colohue (@Colohue) June 18, 2020

I think we might need a little pallet cleanser. Check out some of wrestling’s nicer stuff:

Opinion: Egads man. This is the kind of thing that you only imagine coming out and it does not sound good in any way. With so many of these things out there, it is going to be an incredibly interesting few days in the near future. There is no reason to not believe these accounts and if they are found to be true, the industry is going to look very different in the near future. That isn’t a bad thing whatsoever, as cleaning things up and not having to make people deal with this is more important than seeing someone get in the ring.

What do you think of these allegations? What will come of them? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for “GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES” to sign up. Thank you for reading!