Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Communication Studies

Department

Communication Studies

First Reader/Committee Chair

Algan, Ece

Abstract

The 2020 #SpeakingOut movement marked a pivotal moment in professional wrestling, as survivors of sexual misconduct publicly challenged longstanding industry norms surrounding power, silence, and accountability. This study employs thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) to examine how survivor narratives and organizational responses constructed competing meanings during the height of the movement between June 1 and August 31, 2020. Drawing from publicly available posts on X (formerly Twitter) and official company statements, the analysis explores how discourse functioned as a site of both resistance and institutional preservation. Inductive analysis of survivor narratives produced three primary themes: Abuse of Power, The Culture of Silence, and Talent Solidarity. These themes reveal how coercion operated through hierarchical authority, economic precarity, and informal warning systems, while also demonstrating how collective affirmation disrupted isolation and normalized public accountability. Analysis of organizational responses identified three additional themes: Preservation, Erasure, and Complicity. These themes highlight rhetorical strategies that reframed systemic misconduct as individual failure, engaged in reputational sanitization, and prioritized brand protection over structural reform. Taken together, the findings illustrate how #SpeakingOut functioned not only as a disclosure movement but as a discursive struggle over institutional identity and cultural change within professional wrestling. By examining survivor testimony alongside corporate rhetoric, this study contributes to broader scholarship on gendered power structures, digital activism, and organizational accountability in precarious labor industries.

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