Independent wrestler Dave Hollenbeck may have ended his wrestling career to an end after his Facebook post mocking the death of George Floyd went viral on the platform. The now-deleted post saw an unnamed friend of Hollenbeck, who goes by the ring name of Havoc (among others) and last year appeared on World Wrestling Entertainment’s 205 Live program as Rob Rollenbeck; kneel on his upper back while he gave a ‘thumbs up.’
The message along with the picture read exactly as follows:
Not dead yet I’m doing for Are police officer the media is a race baiting machine and I’m tired of it I’m going to speak out every time if you don’t like that I’m sorry but I love All people.. Wake up America.
Hollenbeck would also include another image to further reiterate the point he was attempting to make.
The graphic video of George Floyd’s death showed an office hold Floyd in place with his knee on his neck for over five minutes, not his upper back like Hollenbeck’s staged picture suggest. The video displays Floyd saying that he cannot breathe; he would die in police custody. The city of Minneapolis has since seen protests and rioting as a result of the incident.
In contradiction to Hollenbeck’s message, several police officers have gone viral with their condemnation of the incident.
https://twitter.com/ChiefDavidRoddy/status/1265758198608400386?s=20
Professional wrestler and Mixed Martial Artist, Josh Barnett responded to a thread from the Catch Wrestling twitter account that discusses amateur wrestling, martial arts, and professional wrestling about the incident.
Yes, this is a position I use extensively in martial arts but it is INTENDED to cause pain for compliance, & people can tap out.
If it is used in regards to establishing control then after control was achieved keeping it applied is either incompetence or willful aggression. https://t.co/YPxYd7oqvy
— 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 (@JoshLBarnett) May 27, 2020
So at a bare minimum, what the officer did is manslaughter and at worst – 1st degree murder.
— 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 (@JoshLBarnett) May 27, 2020
After Hollenbeck’s Facebook post went viral, the Bethel School District in Washington state, where Hollenbeck recently wrapped up his first year as a wrestling coach, told local outlet K5 they were investigating his post.
We are investigating the post. Dave Hollenbeck is not a teacher. This was his first year as a wrestling coach at Bethel High School. As wrestling season is over, he is not working for us right now.
The words from Bethel School District’s Communication Director Doug Boyles may precede repercussions for Hollenbeck outside of professional wrestling.
It is yet to be seen whether or not Hollenbeck will receive bookings as a professional wrestler after the COVID-19 pandemic; however, many within the industry have spoken against his actions. Any company deciding to have Hollenbeck at their event immediately after quarantine would likely receive a high degree of pushback, even if he were to make a heartfelt apology and take steps to correct his behavior.
Numerous wrestling databases show Hollenbeck not being extremely active in professional wrestling over the past years, but they often don’t track small local independent promotions.
Thousands have flooded Hollenbeck with negative thoughts concerning his posts over the past day.
Hollenbeck has yet to make a public statement regarding his Facebook posts.
