PROGRESS Wrestling has cut ties with Paul Robinson.
PROGRESS addressed the status of Robinson, the promotion’s current Proteus Champion, after it was reported that he was part of their live event on February 20 despite being named in the Speaking Out movement.
Robinson was one of several names that stepped away from the company in June 2020 as a result of the Speaking Out movement. PROGRESS Wrestling issued a statement on June 22 promising leadership changes after Robinson, Matt Richards left the promotion and touted Vicky Haskins, Michael Oku, James Amner and Lucy Cave as the new staff.
The promotion issued a statement on Thursday afternoon (seen below) and said although “no disclosures were made to PROGRESS about his conduct” they have made the decision to official part ways. PROGRESS Wrestling also mentioned an initial statement from February 22 that disclosed Robinson’s involvement at the events and apologized for the way talent feedback was handled.
Update 25th February 2021
Our communication over the last number of days has not been good enough and we’re sorry.
In the statements of the 20th and 22nd of February, we shared the talent feedback about their experiences at the tapings, specifically regarding safeguarding measures put in place, COVID safety precautions, and the overall work environment.
The purpose of the statement on the 22nd of February was to address Paul Robinson. We were wrong to include the feedback of talent on the general work environment in this statement. It was not the correct time nor place, and we would like to take this opportunity to unreservedly apologise to the talent and crew for including them in the statement. PROGRESS are wholly responsible for their own staffing decisions.
Moving forward there will be a group made up of talent and crew, who will be able to review any non-promotional communications that mention talent or crew. This group will be independent of company management and administrative staff.
SAFEGUARDING
Our safeguarding procedures can be found here.
PAUL ROBINSON
We are aware of a number of posts on social media in regards to PROGRESS’ decision to have Paul Robinson at the tapings.
In regards to Paul Robinson, no disclosures were made to PROGRESS about his conduct following a post on the social media platform, Twitter, originally shared on 22 June 2020 at 11:30 am (UK Time). A review took place by the Lead Safeguarding Officer, and findings were given to members of PROGRESS management, who were also made aware of the information posted online.
In light of this, conversations were had with Paul Robinson and it was determined that he did not present a risk to talent and staff. As a result, a decision was made to move ahead with the measures in place and contact talent and personnel in readiness for production.
In our 22 February update, we confirmed Paul Robinson’s involvement in the production and requested that if anyone had any information, to contact us at [email protected]. To date, no disclosures have been made and no further information has been presented to us externally or internally.
As of 25 February, Paul Robinson has decided to part ways with PROGRESS.
COMMUNICATIONS GOING FORWARD
With this announcement, we would like to take the opportunity to say that it is not, has never been, and never will be our intention to stick our heads in the sand and ignore you, the fans and members of the public.
We must be responsible when making statements about matters that involve other people. We must make sure that due care is given to the needs, security, and rights of the human beings involved.
If anyone has any further information or wishes to make safeguarding disclosures, please submit these to the new dedicated inbox [email protected]. Any and all communication will be treated in the strictest confidence.
Our goal is to create the most entertaining pro wrestling product that we can. We will continue to strive to make our industry safer and more professional and to do right by fans and talent.
