Where's Ken Dixon?
I know I asked that question to myself the past couple of months and apparently so were fans at some wrestling companies in the region.
I last saw Dixon wrestle in person at MCW’s Bruiser Strong event on September 10 in Joppa, MD. He entered the Bruiser Strong Rumble last (11th) and was eliminated leaving Action Andretti and “The Mecca” Brian Johnson to win the match. It was near my daughter’s birthday so we posed for a picture with him and the sign my daughter made. I talked to him about an idea I had for a website and a podcast that eventually became DMV Wrestling, and he thought it was a good idea. After that weekend, I sent a copy of the picture to his Facebook page, and someone replied positively.
Then, I wrote a post promoting Virginia Championship Wrestling’s October 1 event in Norfolk, where Dixon was facing VCW Champion Logan Easton Laroux. I didn’t see a list of VCW results from that weekend, but an announcement that Laroux would defend his championship in December against Gino Medina made it obvious that Dixon lost.
I didn’t hear anything about Dixon after that and he hasn’t wrestled any shows at MCW or anywhere else since then. A message I sent to his Facebook page about this site launching didn’t go through, but I figured I had been blocked by whoever was running the page. Now I know the page was deactivated along with the rest of his social media footprint.
That weekend at the VCW event resulted in Ken Dixon being taken away by police and charged with assaulting a 12-year old boy who was the son of a VCW security guard. Reports indicated that the boy had been heckling Dixon throughout his match (which doesn’t excuse anything that happened). The heckling continued into the intermission and Dixon then allegedly went over and assaulted him after the match. Police were called and Dixon was escorted off the premises.
VCW promptly terminated their relationship with Dixon and put out a statement:
I’ll admit this is a tough post to write because I interacted with Dixon and found him to be a nice guy and good around children. He’s a military veteran and so am I. I was shocked to learn this week when I did some searching and found out what happened.
I think the criminal justice system needs to take its course, and that if Dixon is found guilty of what he is charged with, he should face appropriate penalties.
I think it’s safe to say he will never work for VCW again, however, depending on how his legal situation is resolved, I’m hearing that he could get a another chance at other companies.
To be fair, since I admit I am a bit biased, I have also heard that he has had legitimate locker room heat in at least one promotion he has worked with in the past due to him being aggressive. Still, everyone in the industry seems to have been shocked to hear the news and thought he had a lot of potential to go far in professional wrestling.
I think this brings up a parenting point for those of us with children who go to shows. At what point or age do we smarten them up to the fact that these wrestlers are playing a character or a role and could be different than what that person is actually like? This is the same question we need to ask when looking at athletes, actors, or any other celebrities that our children might love. Before I knew about the events in Norfolk, I asked my daughter who her top 5 favorite wrestlers were last week and Dixon was on the list. So, we will have to deal with this news with her in some way.
If Ken Dixon is reading this, I’d offer him the chance to give an unedited response or statement to anything written here or the events of October 1. However, I am sure his attorney would advise otherwise.