Allegations during wrestling’s 2020 Speaking Out reckoning show what happens when growth outpaces governance. Andy Evans argues misconduct is a systems problem, not just bad actors, and urges HR and L&D to build ethical capability: psychological safety, scenario-based training, independent reporting routes, fair investigations, and proportionate responses before trust collapses.
In 2020, the UK professional wrestling industry experienced a reckoning that almost destroyed it. Allegations raised during the Speaking Out movement led to careers ending overnight, promotions collapsing, and an industry being forced to confront long-standing issues around power, silence, and accountability. In some cases, the outcomes were necessary and proportionate. In others, the absence of due process created significant harm, professionally, financially, and psychologically.
Remove the spectacle of wrestling, and what remains is not a niche entertainment issue, but a familiar people-risk problem
While professional wrestling may appear far removed from mainstream organisational life, it offers a striking case study in what happens when talent, growth, and reputation outpace governance capability. Remove the spectacle of wrestling, and what remains is not a niche entertainment issue, but a familiar people-risk problem, one that exists across sectors.
Misconduct is rarely an individual failure
Organisations often treat ethical breaches as the actions of “bad individuals”. Research consistently suggests this framing is incomplete.
The Fraud Triangle (Cressey, 1953), later expanded into the Fraud Diamond (Wolfe and Hermanson, 2004), demonstrates that unethical behaviour emerges when opportunity, pressure, and rationalisation coexist. Crucially, these conditions are created or constrained by organisational systems rather than individual morality alone.
Within the UK wrestling scene, several structural factors were present for years: Governance was informal or inconsistent.
- Power imbalances were significant, particularly between established performers and newcomers
- Safeguarding capability was limited
- Cultural norms discouraged speaking out, prioritising loyalty and reputation over challenge
These conditions are not unique to wrestling, they are mirrored in high-growth organisations, creative industries, professional services, healthcare, and education. What differentiated wrestling was not the presence of risk but the absence of early detection and intervention.
Organisational failure behaves like cancer
The analogy may feel uncomfortable, but it is accurate. Misconduct in organisations behaves much like cancer. It begins with early warning signs such as inappropriate comments or low-level complaints. It progresses to informal management and quiet workarounds. Patterns become visible but tolerated due to performance, status, or fear of disruption. Eventually, the issue surfaces publicly, resulting in reputational collapse and indiscriminate damage.
Wrestling reached this final stage because it lacked screening, diagnosis, and treatment. The response, therefore, was extreme and chaotic. Many organisations believe they are healthy simply because nothing has surfaced. In reality, they may be pre-diagnosis.
What actually collapsed was trust
When allegations became public, the absence of a shared process meant that victims often felt compelled to use social media to be heard. Accused individuals had no clear investigative pathway. Organisations responded inconsistently or not at all.
This created secondary harm. Survivors were retraumatised through public scrutiny. Individuals were judged without investigation. Employees and freelancers lost livelihoods overnight. From an HR and L&D perspective, this represents system failure rather than justice.
Governance matters more than moral statements
Most organisations already have policies on dignity at work, safeguarding, and conduct. Wrestling did too, albeit inconsistently. What was missing was capability.
Research into ethical decision-making highlights that ethical behaviour depends on moral awareness, psychological safety, clear escalation routes, and confidence that concerns will be handled fairly (Rest, 1986; Treviño et al., 2006). Policies without capability create false reassurance. This is where HR and L&D play a critical role, not as compliance enforcers but as designers of ethical capability.
The responsibility of large institutions
Global promotions such as WWE, All Elite Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling are not passive participants in the ecosystem.
In organisational terms, they function as talent pipelines, cultural reference points, and market standard-setters. With that position comes duty of care, not only to employees but to the wider labour market they influence. The same applies to dominant employers in any sector. Neutrality is not neutral where power is asymmetrical.
What an effective system would look like
A functional governance model does not guarantee ethical perfection, but it does reduce risk. Early detection and prevention require scenario-based ethics training rather than compliance-led e-learning, leadership development focused on power and influence, bystander intervention capability, and psychologically safe environments where people can speak up (Edmondson, 2018).
Clear and independent processes are equally critical. These include multiple reporting routes, independent investigation protocols, interim safeguarding measures, and a clear separation between allegation, investigation, and outcome.
Finally, proportionate response matters. Graduated sanctions, rehabilitation pathways where appropriate, and permanent exclusion where necessary protect victims while reducing the likelihood of unjust outcomes.
Why this matters beyond wrestling
The same risk factors appear repeatedly across industries. High performers are protected because of results. Informal networks override formal process. Fear of reputational damage delays action.
The CIPD Profession Map identifies ethical practice, governance, and culture as core people capabilities rather than optional extras. ACAS guidance reinforces the importance of timely, fair, and transparent processes.
Where organisations fail to intervene early, accountability is outsourced to tribunals, regulators, or public opinion, none of which are designed to build trust.
Mind the cultural gap
Professional wrestling did not fail because it was uniquely immoral. It failed because it scaled faster than its governance capability. That lesson applies everywhere.
Culture collapses do not begin with villains. They begin with gaps in systems, skills, courage, and leadership. For HR and L&D professionals, the challenge is not to moralise but to design organisations where risk is detected early, addressed fairly, and prevented from becoming terminal.
Wrestling offers a cautionary tale. The wider business community would be wise to learn from it.
Andy Evans is a People Consultant specialising within L&D at Hendy Group
