Former WWE NXT referee Drake Wuertz issues public apology for his past comments
In 2021, former WWE NXT referee Drake Wuertz drew controversy over his public comments and social media activity. During a Seminole County Board of County Commissioners meeting, while wearing an NXT shirt, Wuertz spoke against mask mandates, stating that they “only puts vulnerable children at risk of being preyed upon by traffickers and predators.” Wuertz had also previously faced criticism over his social media activity and said that people attempting to “cancel” him had targeted his job, faith, wife and children, while threatening to “dox” him and his family.
After having a match at GCW Homecoming, Wuertz stated the following in a promo…
“I’m not gonna sugarcoat around it. I’m not gonna pretend like it doesn’t exist. I accept and appreciate, for lack of a better term, that there are a number of people possibly building, definitely out there, perhaps back there, that may not be too thrilled about my presence in GCW. And you know what? Listen, you are incredibly valid for feeling that way, but I ask I ask you to hear me out.
About 5, 6 years ago, Joey Janela hit me up. Brett Lauderdale hit me up. Just casual friends keeping in contact. Somehow, at some point, I lost my way. I had people like Joey, like Brett, reach out to me and say, ‘Hey, you’re not the guy that I know. That’s not the Drake that I know, that sh*t that you’re saying. That’s not the loving Drake that everybody was so happy about when he signed the contract. That’s not our guy.’ And I brushed it off. I didn’t listen.
I had tunnel vision, stuck in my own bubble, associating with topics and groups loosely or directly that I had no business or no interest affiliating with. And through that, I may have said some things, and I definitely did some things that I’m sure offended a large portion of our audience here in Game Changer Wrestling and in independent wrestling. And for that, listen, look me in my eye, I want to tell you genuinely, for that, I’m sorry, and I hope you’ll forgive me.”
[GCW Homecoming Part 2 Spoiler?] Wrestler Takes Accountability!
by
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