9 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (17 Nov)

Downs...

1. Jay Lethal: The Unresolved Allegations & Lack Of Transparency

When appropriate, this column will judge Jay Lethal's AEW output on its own merit as his run with the company progresses. Doing so this week would have been inappropriate given the wider issues surrounding his signing and presentation, particularly on a show that saw him welcomed into the fold by The Inner Circle, which felt ceremonial. Transparency, more than anything, is required here, but it doesn't seem to be forthcoming.

The rate at which Lethal has been fast-tracked to a position of prominence in AEW over the past five days is worrying.

Introduced as AEW's latest full-time signing at Full Gear 2021, Lethal was quickly booked to wrestle for Sammy Guevara's TNT Championship after challenging the Inner Circle man during the pay-per-view. An immediate upper-midcard spotlight befitting a decorated former ROH World Champion with a sizeable following built across 20 years in the sport.

If Lethal wasn't the subject of at least three open allegations of sexual misconduct, one of which is still legally pending.

Former ROH Women Of Honor World Champion Kelly Klein named Lethal in a lawsuit filed against ROH and parent company Sinclair Broadcasting on 24 February 2021. Lethal, amongst other things, is alleged to have harassed Kelly, "leering at her in a way that made Klein uncomfortable", leading to her informing management she wouldn't work with him following his appointment as the WOH division's agent less than a fortnight later. Lethal was allegedly informed of Klein's complaints against him despite Sinclair's self-admitted lack of investigation into the matter, which Kelly claims "created a hostile work environment" for her.

The suit also states that in July 2018, Kelly spoke with Sinclair's human resources department about complaints another female wrestler had regarding Lethal.

Taeler Hendrix, who worked with Lethal in ROH, alleged in 2018 that refusing to sleep with Jay in 2017 "sabotaged" her wrestling career. She came armed with text message screenshots. An anonymous second accuser came out in support of Hendrix's claims shortly afterwards,

Lethal has issued two notable denials. In July 2018, he referred to the allegations as "baseless", claiming he was confident that they would be proven unfounded pending an ROH investigation, which Klein claims never happened. Lethal then issued another statement when Klein stated during July 2020's #SpeakingOut movement that multiple women had made complaints (backed by evidence) of harassment or misconduct against him.

An allegation itself is not confirmation of guilt and Lethal may well be innocent. But that AEW is doing business with him while these issues remain transparently unresolved is disappointing. These accusations are still open. They have not been credibly refuted, AEW has provided no evidence of due diligence on his signing, and Lethal hasn't been proven innocent, which has become a popular claim from those who don't want to confront the awful things the 36-year-old is alleged to have done because they like his wrestling.

The match happened. It was well-received by many. Guevara won via GTH.