What should be a joyous occasion for Wrestling, the WWE Hall of Fame is again rocked with scandal before the ceremony started.
By Mark Mahler - 04.01.2023
I had this great column in mind this morning about how Konnan introducing Rey Misterio was one of the most exciting speeches the Hall of Fame has seen. Stacy Keibler is as humble as she is gorgeous. Tim White's brother is the spitting image of Timmy. The Kaufmans represented their brother, father, and grandfather proudly. The Great Muta finally stepping foot into a WWE ring.
Instead, it seems the Hall of Fame always gets marred with some kind of controversy. We've had Bret Hart getting attacked while accepting his second ring. We have stories leaking out about Ric Flair and his mile-high antics. We even have one former Hall of Famer stripped after being indicted for killing his girlfriend. Another just getting indicted.
But last night's show will have another asterisk mark placed next to it because we saw Rick and Scott Steiner in the crowd. What a lot of us didn't know is Rick went on a transgender tirade against Gisele Shaw at Wrestlecon. Gisele Shaw of Impact Wrestling took to social media to discuss what happened.
Here is Shaw's statement 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!
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 fuck 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 same 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 even 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!