Speaking Out ended the career of Marty Scurll, one of the UK’s most promising young wrestlers, in 2020.
The Villain of Bullet Club was one of the biggest and baddest up-and-coming stars in wrestling around the time The Elite were becoming the biggest thing in wrestling since the NWO.
The English star was one of the premier talents of the group. Ranked up there alongside WWE’s Cody Rhodes and former AEW Champion Adam Page, Marty Scurll seemed destined for greatness. Many people saw him as the biggest talent in the group, and alongside Zack Sabre Jr and Will Ospreay heralded a new era in British wrestling.
His rivalry with Will Ospreay was legendary, and spanned multiple promotions. Scurll constantly got the upper hand over his younger opponent, and the pair were on the way to having a generational feud that rivaled any and all in wrestling history.
The English wrestler is married to AEW star Serena Deeb, and was best friends with the Young Bucks. He was even a key part of The Elite, and seen as a bigger star than Adam Page during his time in NJPW.
However, it all came crashing down on one day in June, in 2020.
Marty Scurll Was Fired After “Speaking Out” Allegations
Marty Scurll was fired from his role of ROH booker and kicked out of The Elite after being accused of sexual assault during the Speaking Out movement in wrestling in 2020.
He was accused by a former pupil of his, a 16 year old aspiring wrestler who went by @mystickttn on Twitter.
The British woman wrote on her Twitter account on June 22nd, 2020 that she was fed drinks by IPW’s Dan Elder all night, getting her drunk despite being under the drinking age in public.
This took place at an IPW after party, the victim claims. She went on to write that she met Marty Scurll outside the party venue, where he tried to convince her to have sex with him back at her hotel. saying “”we should go back together, let’s go back to the hotel, let’s f**k.”.
She claimed she tried to politely exit the conversation by claiming her friend had the key to her hotel room.
However, she later went to retrieve the room key from said friend, despite being warned that going back with Scurll was a bad idea. She was refused the key and set off with Marty Scurll anyway “without the key”.
He walked her back to her hotel room, despite neither having access to the room. They made their way to the “independent, small hotel” and sat outside her room, unable to gain entry.
Here she claims Marty Scurll “sat on a chair and got his penis out and told me to suck it. So I did.”.
Given the fact that she was only 16 and Scurll was in his early thirties, and that she had been plied with drinks all night, makes this encounter as disturbing as it is shocking.
He then propositioned her to have unprotected sex and reportedly tried “to stick his unprotected penis inside me”, despite the victims repeated claims of “I’m so sorry, I’m still a virgin”.
However, Scurll seemed determined and would not take no for an answer, despite his 16 year old victim not wanting to and being in no frame of mind to consent to the awful act he was about to commit.
Luckily, her friend showed up soon after and told Marty Scurll to leave.
Luckily she avoided even more trauma, although in the same breathe she did reveal she had previously been raped by Dan Edler, the man who had been feeder her drinks all night before the encounter with Marty Scurll.
The Villain (the apt nickname Scurll chose for himself inside the Bullet Club) did issue a statement revealing his side of the events, but it was too little too late. He had become a pariah in wrestling.
The top promotions wouldn’t touch him for fear of backlash (and moral fortitude), and his once-promising career was now in tatters.
He lost his reported $700k a year job as the head booker for Ring of Honor, as well as any hope of signing for WWE or AEW in the future.
He was also not booked again by Ring of Honor, with his sole appearance on New Japan Strong never aired after the allegations became public.
Marty Scurll Responded Very, Very Poorly
After being accused by his alleged victim, Marty Scurll’s
The former ROH Booker responded to the accusations levied at him by the alleged victim.
Speaking on social media following him being accused of sexual assault, Marty Scurll said;
“I am aware that a young woman has bravely come forward with her account of sexual abuse by some members of the wrestling community in the UK 5 years ago, a community I was a part of.
Although I truly believe that our encounter that evening was consensual, and the fact that the encounter was legal; is almost not the point. I understand that she now views our encounter as part of a bigger problem within the wrestling community.
What concerns me at this moment is that from what I have been reading, she is a fan of wrestling and was made to feel unsafe within that community. This is not acceptable. I also understand that people have been attacking her on social media, and I implore you to please stop. She has a right to her voice and it is our responsibility to listen.”
If you want to read about more wrestlers who were impacted by the Speaking Out movement, click here!
