Chrissy Rivera Speaks Out on DJ Hyde’s Poor Treatment of Women at CZW

Chrissy Rivera and Shelly Martinez speak out on the treatment of women on the indys.
On the latest episode of Shelly Live, Shelly Martinez talked to CZW/WSU star Chrissy Rivera about her run at CZW, how poorly DJ Hyde treats the performers, and how disrespectful DJ Hyde is to women. Here are some of the highlights:

On going to work for CZW: “CZW really became my home. I would do smaller indies and things around my area – the northeast circuit…CZW was always talked about; it was the place to be for the guys, and I wanted to work there. Basically I wanted to work there because I was told I could not work there. I was told, ‘no offense but John doesn’t put women on the show.’ I didn’t know why, I didn’t know whatever his reasons where, but I was told (that) women were not a priority in CZW; it was all about the blood and the guts and this and that. I was told by multiple people that women should not work there.”

On the CZW locker room: “(Nick Gage) was the most respectful, polite person in the entire locker room. He shook my hand, he introduced himself, he asked me my name, he asked what was I doing there… He introduced me to a bunch of the other guys. I didn’t have any bad interactions for a really long time in CZW. I was never disrespected by that locker room… It’s so disheartening to hear about how people are treated now, men and women, because back in 2010 I was treated very well. I was loyal to that: You treat me good, I treat you good. That became my home base.”

On CZW mistreating performers: “I haven’t been a part of it for (the past) 2 years…all of the things that I have been told by talent that has worked there have been negative. I don’t like the stories that I hear about how the women are treated. Obviously I haven’t witnessed with my own 2 eyes what’s been going on in the past year or so, but when I was there toward the end is when it started getting bad with the treatment of certain women, or the inappropriateness of DJ. I’m just going to say it: He was completely inappropriate with how he spoke to talent, men and women.”

On DJ Hyde’s treatment of workers: “(Conversations with women) would turn into a sexual topic… He would talk down to a lot of the guys there like he was better than them. I didn’t like a lot of that stuff that was going on.”

On working for WSU before DJ Hyde took over: “WSU was fantastic. It was fun by Blake Thomas… He said ‘I’m here to let you guys shine. I’m here to make you the best version of yourselves. I’m not here because I think you have a nice body or that I want to see you in a bikini or anything like that. You’re not going to hear the things that you have heard in the past from me. Working with him was the best experience for all of those women because he gave so many of them chances that I feel like they wouldn’t have gotten. In that time frame it was good, when he quit that was kinda when I left too. I just didn’t feel comfortable working under DJ and whoever he had working at the time.”

On DJ Hyde’s treatment of women: “The stuff that DJ Hyde has said to women, he has not said to me. He knows that he cannot say those things to me; whether it was he was afraid of who I was dating at the time, or maybe he had a little ounce of respect for me, or he knew I would punch him in the mouth if he said those things. Regardless of what it was, he knew he couldn’t pull things with me that he did with other girls… “

Shelly Martinez on repercussions for speaking out: Everyone deals with everything differently. Some people feel that they’re going to lose a booking, or lose their spot. Sometimes it’s not even like their being an ego maniac about it, it’s (that) they actually built that spot. They old school’d it up, they didn’t politic it… Where I have a hard time is with girls that know people that (do the things that DJ was doing) but they play the game; to me that’s the hardest pill to swallow. We all have to watch out for each other. We all have to speak up for each other.

On what she would like to see happen: “I am definitely warning people. I definitely want things to change. I’m not going to sit here and say that I hope CZW burns to the ground, or WSU burns to the ground. If people choose to work with DJ knowing this information, then that’s on them. But I hope that bringing some type of light to the situation makes them realize that they can’t do what they’ve been doing. They need to change the name of the WSU shows (that are online)… I don’t care if they take down the shows and even advertise them anymore, I really don’t care; if you’re going to be promoting it (as soft porn) I’d rather you should be promoting it at all.”

Link to the interview here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/vocnation/episodes/2020-06-02T20_47_56-07_00

Shelly LIVE airs every Tuesday at 6pm ET / 3pm PT on the VOC Nation Radio Network. Shelly shares stories of her past and present, and takes listeners calls and tweets.

VOC Nation provides daily, interactive talk radio, geared toward the professional wrestling community.

Other notable show hosts include former WWE/AWA announcer Ken Resnick (Wrestling with History – Wednesdays), former WCW performer The Maestro (WCW Retro – Thursdays), former TNA Impact talent Wes Brisco (Brisco and Big Ace), Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Brady Hicks, former Philadelphia Radio personality Bruce Wirt, and more!

Since 2010, VOC Nation has brought listeners into the minds of the biggest stars in pro wrestling and entertainment. Subscribe to the podcasts for free, and visit vocnation.com for live programming.