In a recent interview with Piers Austin, Kimber Lee reflected on her time in Combat Zone Wrestling and accused owner DJ Hyde of inappropriate behavior.
CZW previously came up in 2020 during the “Speaking Out” movement, when LuFisto called the company out on the manner in which female wrestlers were treated.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On DJ Hyde saying he wouldn’t hire anyone that he wouldn’t want to have sex with: “It was something that was said to all of us and it’s terrible. At the time, I was a 19-year-old girl that didn’t know how to react to that and I was the only girl. There was no one to stand up for me, so I got very protective of some of the girls that came afterwards.”
On how male wrestlers helped her in CZW: “It was me and a bunch of dudes for two-and-a-half, three weeks in other countries. DJ would purposely book me in a room with him and I would never stay in that room. I would find somewhere else to go. Thankfully, different people who were on the tour that are like brothers to me, [like] Gulak … They would come in the room and stay in there too. They would stay in the bed with DJ and … I would be in the cot by myself. There were people there that were protecting me, but there were also people there that were trying not to. This is unfortunately a reality that a lot of females have had to go through in wrestling. It is changing, but it’s still got a long way to go.”
On how GCW is a better company than CZW: “Right when I started [in CZW] is when DJ Hyde took over the company, which was 2009. In 2010, you just see it decline from that point. It’s sad because CZW is the uncensored and the over-the-top [promotion]. It held that niche for so long. I was sad to see it go, but that’s not to say that there aren’t places that are holding up that standard now. GCW is the one that comes to mind now and they’re f**king fabulous, so let them take the reins and run with it.”
