Joey Ryan receives dismissal warning from court over defamation lawsuits

Joey Ryan, real name Joseph R. Meehan, has filed several lawsuits over the past few months in order to deny any claims of sexual assault against him.

He alleges that the claims made by various women have defamed him while also hurting his ability to make money as a pro wrestler through his performances, merchandise, Patreon account, the loss of his Bar Wrestling independent wrestling promotion, his Twitch channel and Cameo.

In these lawsuits, he wants sizable monetary damages. The lawsuits have all been referred to Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald and Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick under the United States District Court, Central Division of California; Western Division, Los Angeles.

However, several of the lawsuits could go away as the judges have issued warnings to him.

Pwinsider.com reports that court documents show on December 7th that the court ordered him to show why the legal actions should be continued and not dismissed for “lack of prosecution.” In many of the cases excluding the lawsuit against ROH star Pelle Primeau, there has been no response from the defendants or even a court record that the defendants have been successfully served.

Now, his attorneys have until December 29th to file pleadings in an attempt to convince the court the lawsuits should continue. If the defendants respond to the court then Ryan would have to also provide the court with a reason to allow the lawsuits to continue.

Ryan can file for a default judgment and if the judgment is granted by the court then that could allow him to legally go for whatever damages the court rules in favor of. However, if none of that happens then his lawsuits could be dismissed.