Felix Upton on July 3, 2020
Update: Travis Bradshaw has responded to the allegations against him. He has stepped down as President of Vanguard Championship Wrestling. You can read his full statement below:
Travis Bradshaw’s Official Statement
Friday, July 3, 2020CC: Denton and Denton, Attorneys At Law
Jeremiah A. Denton IVAs reported earlier this week, I have decided to step down as promoter and CEO of Vanguard Championship Wrestling. It has been incredibly hard for the duration of this smear campaign to keep quiet while certain individuals brandished my silence as guilt, and passed judgement without knowing all of the facts. My name and my company name have been repeatedly and maliciously defamed in an effort to discredit our years of success as the leading brand of sports entertainment in The Hampton Roads Market. I had no choice but to sit quietly while my legal counsel reviewed the circumstances.
I take great pride in my many accomplishments in the wrestling business. In my twenty-four years, I have worked in nearly every capacity, helped produce and promote talent, took great risks in the name of advancement, and made many friends. Above all, I have had the pleasure of witnessing many performers chase their dreams, and progress and grow in this business. I lived through them and it was my pleasure to give them the platform and the spotlight.
Stepping away from the company is in no way an admission of guilt. Few people knew that I was intending to leave the wrestling business after my twenty fifth year. As I have gotten older, I found myself scrambling for free time, and the global pandemic Covid-19 allowed me to enjoy an unplanned break. I would much rather walk away from my life’s work and allow it to flourish without me than the other way around. I truly have that much love for this business.
I would like to address a few things. As much as I would like to, I cannot individually comment to each person at this time. I know in my heart that my intentions have always been good. I, along with many others, have made some mistakes along the way. I never claimed to be perfect. Claims that I ever held anyone’s advanced position in my company as a condition of anything else are completely false, unfounded, and unfathomable. I categorically deny any and all outrageous smear allegations that explicitly or implicitly accuse me of quid pro quo harassment – or any other immoral or illegal conduct – that certain vindictive individuals have made, encouraged others to make, and fabricated. I am proud and humbled that so many of my colleagues – both those who know me best and/or have worked with me over the years – have come forth to categorically state that these accusations are entirely inconsistent with their experiences with me, both professional and personal. We have a long history of pushing talent to their limits and allowing them the consistent stage to learn and progress through their own hard work. This alone is my proudest achievement.
I have so many people to thank for joining me on this incredible journey. Unfortunately, this statement would be ten pages long if I did. Just know that I have been incredibly proud of so many of you. I have confidence that Jerry Stephanitsis, through an incredible work ethic and similar values, will be the driving force that maintains VCW as the hottest ticket in town. To every wrestler, referee, manager, ring announcer, broadcaster, and any support staff that ever came through our doors, thank you.
In closing, I would like to thank each and every fan that ever purchased a ticket. To know that I entertained you, to see families escape from their daily lives and/or troubles, and to create life-long memories that you can see on the faces of smiling children, was truly an honor. I will never forget that. I’ve always believed that if you feel like you made a difference and you leave things better than you found them, then you’ve done your job. I hope I did just that.
Sincerely,
Travis Bradshaw
Original: Another #SpeakingOut case has emerged telling the alleged story of someone in a position of power preying on younger males. Vanguard Championship Wrestling’s Travis Bradshaw has been hit with accusations that he grooms young high school aged males. There are also screenshots showing an alleged advance and multiple alleged witness testimonies.
Kevin R. Cross sent out a post to Facebook with several screenshots. The only caption he provided alleged that the screenshots he posted contained evidence of allegations against Vanguard Championship Wrestling president Travis Bradshaw.
Good morning, Travis Bradshaw of Vanguard Championship Wrestling is a sexual predator.
A screenshot showing an alleged Facebook messenger conversation between Travis Bradshaw and a male “half his age” illustrates an attempted initiation of this type of conversation.
This person was not into the situation and he allegedly suggested that Bradshaw seek out partnership by using a dating app. When called out for hitting on boys half his age, Travis allegedly fired back a defensive response saying:
“Wow. Ok man. First of all there’s nothing wrong with messaging people. I don’t recall asking to date you? I don’t need a dating app. And secondly, you may think it’s fun to hurl an insult but you’re probably older than most of my friends. I don’t need validation from random people on Facebook. I was truly just saying hello and making new internet friends. But no worries I can look elsewhere for that. It sounds like we would not have got along anyway.”
The young male didn’t believe Bradshaw’s story and promptly told him to “piss off.”
Chris Silvio also posted on Facebook with a lengthy statement to back up the claims made against Travis Bradshaw. He alleges to have first-hand experiences regarding actions that Travis Bradshaw is accused of participating in.
I can verify many of these claims*
Travis Bradshaw (VCW owner) has been doing this for 20 years (probably longer). I met Travis my junior year of high school. He was at least 10 years older than me at the time. I can verify some of these claims. I started training with a few guys at VCW In 2001, and would set up rings for Travis with a friend who broke in with me. We ran a non sanctioned show at VCU campus once and Travis rented me the ring. It’s only an hour and a half tops to get back to Norfolk where Travis lived from RVA but Travis asked me several times about staying the night prior to the show. I told him the guys usually hang out at one of the boys house after our shows. I told him I was crashing there and said he’s welcome to hang out with us if he wanted. I ended up going back to another friends house that night, another junior in high school and Travis tagged along with us until he was told if he wanted to stay he had to sleep on the floor. Defeated he finally left. At the time I didn’t realize exactly how Strange it was and what lengths he went to to “hang out with me”. It was just a weird situation.
He rented rings to some kind of tough man contest out of state. Separately, he invited me and my friend and said he had a hotel. I decided against it but my friend took the gig and wanted to see the tough man contest. When he came back he told me travis had propositioned him in the hotel room. I stopped “training” with VCW shortly after.
Seems like his m.o. is approaching high school age guys. No telling how many people he’s tried to groom over the years. Thankfully I was a strong and confident kid at the time. Otherwise it could have turned into a bad situation.
***EDIT
I dont wish any harm to Travis. I’m sure you’re reading this, get some help. then maybe you can begin making amends.
One more for ya Brandon Bailey)
Other alleged anonymous testimonies told of separate incidents involving Bradshaw. He would allegedly make advances to minors as well. This apparently harbored an environment where he could prey on younger males through their pro wrestling training.
You can find all of the alleged evidence that was posted below. No charges have been filed at this time. Travis Bradshaw has not made a public statement regarding the allegations.
July 3, 2020 12:43 pm
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