WWE legend Scotty 2 Hotty has deleted his Twitter following a huge backlash over his stance on intergender wrestling.
The star, real name Scott Garland, was a big part of the famous Attitude Era and shot to prominence with the 2 Cool faction alongside Rikishi and Grand Master Sexay Brian Christopher.
Since hanging up his wrestling boots, the grappler has worked as a trainer for WWE.
However, he found himself in social media headlines this week as he waded into the debate regarding intergender wrestling.
He still wrestles on the independent circuit himself, and he issued a plea online for promoters to stop attempting to book him in matches against women.
He tweeted: “Dear promoters. I DO NOT ‘fight’ women.
“I’m 49 & have a 20 year old daughter. ‘Hurting’ women isn’t appealing to me.
“I understand that there are men that do it these days. It’s just not my thing.
“If that makes me old or out of touch, I’ll take it. Please stop trying to book it.”
During the wrestling boom of the late 90s and early noughties, he did compete in matches against females such as WWE Hall of Famer Chyna.
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However, he did address those bouts by claiming it was a “different time, a different place” as he explained why his stance had now changed.
He added: “Also, before my matches from 20+ years ago with Linda Miles, Chyna, or any other women are brought up, I know what I did.
“It was a different time, a different place, & I wasn’t a father to a 20 yr old daughter.”
But a number of modern day female wrestlers and fans did not take kindly to his remarks.
And they were quick to accuse him of sexism – despite him outlining his own matches from the past.
One wrote: “So ‘hurting’ men in the premise of a wrestling match is totally okay, but ‘hurting’ a woman in the same situation is not because why?
“Because women are weak and fragile?
“It does make you out of touch!”
But a host all just to his defence after his account was deactivated.
Irish wrestler Session Moth Martina tweeted: “Scotty was asked to wrestle me earlier this year, and he couldn’t have been more polite and kind when explaining his reasons not to, which I completely accepted and understood.
“So we tagged vs two guys. It was great. Let’s leave him alone and let him have his morals.”
