Wrestlers Lash Out at Dave Meltzer Over Peyton Royce Comments

WWE
Indie / Misc
Aug 15, 2018

Several wrestlers lashed out at Dave Meltzer today over comments he made on Wrestling Observer Radio about Peyton Royce’s appearance.

Meltzer: The IIconics got boring’d out. They’re another one. I thought that they had a cool act in NXT, and on the main roster, I don’t get a thing out of them. I don’t think their promos are particularly good, their wrestling isn’t good. I think Peyton Royce’s transformation to look more attractive… I don’t know… I don’t wanna say… I don’t know.

Bryan Alvarez: She was more attractive in NXT?

Meltzer: I thought so, yes. To me, yes. But that’s neither here nor there.

Alvarez: No one’s saying she’s unattractive, by the way, everybody.

Meltzer: I know, no shit. I didn’t say it at all. But I think, like, she doesn’t stand out to me. When she was in NXT, she did. She was a lot lighter.

Peyton Royce responded on Twitter:

Meltzer then apologized on Twitter:

He also posted this on the Wrestling Observer forum:

I screwed up bad. Whether we want to admit it or not, there is a double standard when it comes to commenting on men and women’s bodies and in wrestling and my mentality of wanting to treat everyone the same didn’t take into account that women often starve themselves for looks which guys don’t, that what I said, and I think many do understand what I meant, was a subject I should have avoided and that I have learned from this mistake.
For those who defend me on this, thanks, and I know you understand I meant no harm, but it was still a mistake to learn from.

People on Reddit pointed out that he was most likely talking about her breast implants rather than her weight when he used the word “lighter,” since he has mentioned that in the past, but “I was actually talking about her breasts” isn’t really a good way to explain yourself out of the situation.

Lots of people in the wrestling world joined in on the Meltzer outrage and support of Peyton:

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