Taryn Terrell Knockouts referee and feud with Gail Kim (2012-2013) Why did she have a feud with Gail Kim? Terrell began a storyline with Gail Kim after making a bad call during a gauntlet match, thus costing Kim's chance to become the number one contender Was Gail a top wrestler during this time? The rivalry between Terrell and Kim culminated in a Last Knockout Standing match on June 2 at Slammiversary XI, which Terrell would win.
What types of fights did they get into?
What types of fights did  Taryn Terrell and Gail Kim get into?
On August 16, 2012, Terrell made her debut for TNA, being introduced by the Vice President of the Knockouts Division, Brooke Hogan, as the special guest referee for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship match between Madison Rayne and Miss Tessmacher. Terrell later became the official referee for the Knockouts division.  On January 13, 2013, at Genesis, Terrell began a storyline with Gail Kim after making a bad call during a gauntlet match, thus costing Kim's chance to become the number one contender to the Knockouts Championship. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell appeared backstage with Kim, who told Terrell not to make another mistake. Later that night, during Kim's match with Velvet Sky, Kim would argue with Terrell, costing herself the match in the process. On the February 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell helped Sky defeat Tara, Miss Tessmacher and Kim in a fatal four-way elimination match, with Sky lastly eliminating Kim to win the Knockouts Championship after Kim provoked Terrell into getting involved in the match. On March 10 at Lockdown, towards the end of the Knockouts Championship match, Terrell would attack Kim, again costing her the title. After the match, Terrell was attacked by Kim backstage during an interview. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Kim revealed that Brooke Hogan put Terrell on probation for attacking Kim. In a tag team match between Mickie James and Velvet Sky against Gail Kim and Tara, Terrell would again cost Kim the match by attacking her.  On the March 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell was terminated as Knockouts referee by Hogan, and was subsequently signed as a TNA Knockout. On the March 28 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell challenged Kim to a match, however the match never started when Kim and Tara attacked Terrell, only to be saved by the Knockouts Champion, Velvet Sky. On the April 4 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell and Sky were defeated by Kim and Tara after the special guest referee Joey Ryan made a fast count on Terrell. Terrell finally faced Kim in a match on the April 11 episode of Impact Wrestling, which Terrell won. On the May 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell and Mickie James defeated Kim and Tara. After the match, Kim attacked Terrell. The rivalry between Terrell and Kim culminated in a Last Knockout Standing match on June 2 at Slammiversary XI, which Terrell would win. On the July 11 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell was defeated by Kim in a ladder match to determine the number one contender to the Knockouts Championship. The following month, Terrell was granted time off from TNA due to her real life pregnancy. CANNOTANSWER
during Kim's match with Velvet Sky, Kim would argue with Terrell, costing herself the match in the process.
Taryn Nicole Dryden (née Terrell; born December 28, 1985) is an American model, actress, stuntwoman, ring announcer, and professional wrestler. Currently, she serves as a wrestler and commentator for NWA.

She is best known for her time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), under her real name, and for her time in WWE, where she performed under the ring name Tiffany. She is a former TNA Knockouts Champion, where her 279-day reign stood as the longest reign in the title's history until 2019. During her time in WWE, she trained at WWE's then-developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), and served as the final general manager of the now-defunct ECW brand. She's currently a commentator with NWA.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment

Florida Championship Wrestling (2007–2010)

Terrell tried out for the 2007 WWE Diva Search. She made it to the final eight, but was eliminated fourth. In February 2008, WWE signed her to a developmental contract.

Terrell debuted in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental territory, alongside Beverly Mullins, and they competed in various matches together, including lingerie matches. Soon afterwards, Terrell and Mullins drifted apart, leading to Terrell receiving a larger singles wrestling role as she competed against various other FCW Divas, including Mullins (now renamed to Wesley Holiday), Miss Angela, The Bella Twins, Alicia Fox, and Roucka. Terrell made her FCW television debut when she competed in a twist competition, which ended in a no contest. She and Angela were then used as ring announcers. On the March 11, 2008 episode of FCW TV, Terrell teamed up with Nic Nemeth and Brad Allen to defeat The Puerto Rican Nightmares (Eric Pérez, Eddie Colón and Angela Fong). On the August 2, 2008 episode of FCW TV, Terrell teamed up with The Bella Twins to defeat Alicia Fox, Roucka and Daisy and again on August 9, 2008.

Later on, Terrell, now renamed Tiffany, lost her first FCW televised match in a fatal four-way match including Roucka, Holiday, and Fox. She then teamed with Nikki Bella and Eve Torres on the December 14 episode of FCW TV to defeat Roucka, Holiday, and Fox. Tiffany participated in the tournament to determine the inaugural Queen of FCW, and defeated Holiday in the first round before losing to Fox in the semi-finals. She teamed up with Angela Fong on several occasions, and also competed against Serena Mancini, April Lee, and Fox in a four-pack challenge to determine the new number one contender to the Queen of FCW crown, but was unsuccessful.

On July 30, 2009 episode of FCW TV, Tiffany tamed up with Angela Fong and April Lee to defeat Alicia Fox, Roucka and Serena Deeb in a 6-Diva tag team match. On the August 6 episode of FCW TV, Tiffany and Yoshi Tatsu defeated Fox and Ricky Ortiz in a mixed tag team match. Tiffany unsuccessfully challenged the newly crowned Serena Mancini for the Queen of FCW crown and injured her humerus bone, on the September 24 taping of FCW TV. She returned on the February 19, 2010 episode of FCW TV, teaming with Aksana to defeat Courtney Taylor and Liviana in a tag team match.

Brand switches (2008–2010)
On the June 10, 2008 episode of ECW, Terrell made her main roster debut as Tiffany, the on-screen Assistant General Manager under Theodore Long. Tiffany participated in the Halloween costume contest on October 26 at the Cyber Sunday pay-per-view, and was dressed as a nun. Tiffany made her in-ring debut in a 16-Diva tag team match on the 800th episode of Raw teaming up with Mickie James, Candice Michelle, Michelle McCool, Brie Bella, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres and WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young against Beth Phoenix, Layla, Lena Yada, Jillian Hall, Natalya, Maryse, Victoria and Katie Lea Burchill, which her team lost, despite Tiffany never being tagged into the match.

On the March 30, 2009 episode of Raw, Tiffany competed in an 18-Diva tag team match, which she won for her team by pinning Katie Lea Burchill. On April 5, Tiffany made her WrestleMania debut as she competed in a 25 Diva battle royal at WrestleMania XXV to crown the first-ever "Miss WrestleMania", which was won by Santina Marella. On the April 7 episode of ECW, Tiffany was announced by Theodore Long as the new General Manager of ECW due to Long returning to SmackDown to again become its General Manager. As the new General Manager, her first order was to announce an elimination chase to determine who would face Jack Swagger for the ECW Championship at Backlash, with the participants being Mark Henry, Tommy Dreamer, Christian and Finlay, which Christian would ultimately win. In late June 2009, Tiffany was promoted to full-time General Manager of ECW. However, Tiffany was absent from television due to a storyline car accident with William Regal. In reality, Tiffany had injured her arm in an FCW match. She returned on the October 6 episode of ECW. On the final episode of ECW on February 16, 2010, Tiffany speared Rosa Mendes after she and Zack Ryder interfered in the ECW Championship match.

On the March 5, 2010 episode of SmackDown, Tiffany made her debut for the brand in a backstage segment, being welcomed by Rey Mysterio. On the March 12 episode of SmackDown, Tiffany made her in-ring debut, winning a match against Michelle McCool via disqualification after Vickie Guerrero interfered. Following the match, McCool, Guerrero, and Layla attacked Tiffany, until she was saved by Beth Phoenix. The following week, Tiffany and Phoenix defeated McCool and Layla (collectively known as LayCool) in a tag team match, and again in a rematch on the April 2 episode of SmackDown.

Tiffany then formed an alliance with Kelly Kelly, with the pair being dubbed "The Blondetourage", and they continued to feud with LayCool. On the June 12 of SmackDown!, Tiffany lost her first singles match to Layla after an interference from McCool. On May 21 episode of SmackDown!, Tiffany and Kelly lost to LayCool in a tag team match. On the July 2 episode of SmackDown!, Tiffany managed Kelly where she defeated McCool, and during the match Tiffany stopped Layla from interfering. On the July 10 episode of Superstars, Tiffany and Kelly again lost to LayCool. On the July 16 episode of SmackDown!, Tiffany managed Kelly and Chris Masters where they defeated Layla and Trent Barreta after interference from Rosa Mendes. She also managed Kelly in her WWE Women's Championship match against Layla at Money in the Bank. On July 23 episode of SmackDown!, Theodore Long announced that Tiffany would receive a match for the Women's Championship, which occurred on the July 30 episode of Smackdown, however she failed to capture the championship. She was originally scheduled to fight Layla, however, she instead fought McCool, as the two defended the title under the Freebird rule.

On August 13, 2010, it was reported that WWE had suspended Terrell because of an incident involving her real-life husband, Drew McIntyre. Before she could return to WWE programming, Terrell was released from her contract on November 19, 2010.

Independent circuit (2010–2013)
On December 4, 2010, it was announced that Terrell would make her independent circuit debut in a match against Alissa Flash at the Pro Wrestling Revolution's ChickFight event in San Francisco, California on February 5, 2011. On January 4, 2011, it was announced that Terrell had pulled out of the show, citing personal reasons. ChickFight later claimed that the promotion could not cater to Terrell's requests that she had made despite already having an agreement with the promotion.

On April 5, 2012, Terrell made her debut for Powerslam Brewsky Brawl, where she teamed up with Jack Jameson to defeat Barbi Hayden and Houston Carson. On April 8, Terrell made appearance at Coastal Wrestling Federation, where she teamed with Sho Funaki in a winning effort, again defeating Hayden and Carson. Earlier in that event, Terrell defeated Jen Alise in singles match. Terrell also appeared at Maryland Championship Wrestling's Bodyslam Autism event on April 27, 2013.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2012–2013)
On November 4, 2012, Terrell made her debut for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)'s then-developmental branch, at OVW's Saturday Night Special event, being introduced as the special guest referee for the OVW Women's Championship match between Josette Bynum, Taeler Hendrix, and Heidi Lovelace. During the match, Terrell ignited a feud with Hendrix after Terrell cost Hendrix the match, after she put her hands on Terrell. On the November 10 episode of OVW, Terrell was interrupted by Hendrix during an interview, who then provoked Terrell, only to get attacked in return. Later that event, Terrell refereed a tag team match between Lovelace, Jessie Belle against Hendrix and Epiphany.

Terrell made her in-ring debut on the November 17 episode of OVW, where she defeated Heidi Lovelace with Hendrix as special guest referee to win the OVW Women's Championship. On the November 24 episode of OVW, Terrell defeated Scarlett Bordeaux in a non-title match, but was attacked by Hendrix post-match. On the November 28 episode OVW, Terrell attacked Hendrix during a in-ring segment, but was stopped by Bostic. OVW announced that Terrell issued a challenged to Hendrix at OVW's Saturday Night Special with the OVW Women's Championship on the line, with the stipulation that the loser will swim in a pool of "animal feces". At the event on December 1, Terrell lost the Women's Championship to Hendrix. After the match, Hendrix tried to attack Terrell, but she gained a measure of revenge when she moved out the way and Hendrix fell in the pool.

Knockouts referee and feud with Gail Kim (2012–2013)
On August 16, 2012, Terrell made her debut for TNA, being introduced by the Vice President of the Knockouts Division, Brooke Hogan, as the special guest referee for the Impact Women's Knockout Championship match between Madison Rayne and Miss Tessmacher. Terrell later became the official referee for the Knockouts division.

On January 13, 2013, at Genesis, Terrell began a storyline with Gail Kim after making a bad call during a gauntlet match, thus costing Kim's chance to become the number one contender to the Knockouts Championship. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell appeared backstage with Kim, who told Terrell not to make another mistake. Later that night, during Kim's match with Velvet Sky, Kim would argue with Terrell, costing herself the match in the process. On the February 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell helped Sky defeat Tara, Miss Tessmacher and Kim in a fatal four–way elimination match, with Sky lastly eliminating Kim to win the Knockouts Championship after Kim provoked Terrell into getting involved in the match. On March 10 at Lockdown, towards the end of the Knockouts Championship match, Terrell would attack Kim, again costing her the title. After the match, Terrell was attacked by Kim backstage during an interview. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Kim revealed that Brooke Hogan put Terrell on probation for attacking Kim. In a tag team match between Mickie James and Velvet Sky against Gail Kim and Tara, Terrell would again cost Kim the match by attacking her.

On the March 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell was terminated as Knockouts referee by Hogan, and was subsequently signed as an impact Knockout. On the March 28 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell challenged Kim to a match, however the match never started when Kim and Tara attacked Terrell, only to be saved by the Knockouts Champion, Velvet Sky. On the April 4 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell and Sky were defeated by Kim and Tara after the special guest referee Joey Ryan made a fast count on Terrell. Terrell finally faced Kim in a match on the April 11 episode of Impact Wrestling, which Terrell won. On the May 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell and Mickie James defeated Kim and Tara. After the match, Kim attacked Terrell. The rivalry between Terrell and Kim culminated in a Last Knockout Standing match on June 2 at Slammiversary XI, which Terrell would win. On the July 11 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell was defeated by Kim in a ladder match to determine the number one contender to the Knockouts Championship. The following month, Terrell was granted time off from Impact Wrestling due to her real life pregnancy.

Knockouts Champion and departure (2014–2016)
Terrell made her televised return on the June 19, 2014 episode of Impact Wrestling, being welcomed by her former rival Gail Kim and later interrupted by The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky). This led to Terrell's in–ring return, the following week on Impact Wrestling, where Kim and Terrell defeated Love and Sky in a tag team match. Terrell went on to unsuccessfully challenge Kim for the TNA Knockouts Championship on July 24 and on August 14 in a fatal four–way match also involving Love and Sky. After defeating the evil Madison Rayne on August 27 to become the number one contender, Terrell received her title match on the September 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, where she was again unsuccessful. After the match, both Terrell and Kim were attacked by the debuting Havok.

On the November 19 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell defeated newly crowned champion Havok and Gail Kim in a three–way match to win the TNA Knockouts Championship for the first time. On January 7, 2015, during Impact Wrestlings debut on Destination America, Terrell successfully defended the championship in a battle royal against the other TNA Knockouts, lastly eliminating Havok. Terrell went on to successfully retain her championship in various matches: on January 30 against Kim and Madison Rayne in a three–way match and against Angelina Love on February 20. After that Terrell started a feud with the recently returned Awesome Kong, after Kong attacked her. This led to a match between the two, on March 6, which Taryn won via disqualification and Kong would continue her attack after the match, with Kim making the save. This led to a three–way match, where Terrell again prevailed. On April 18, Terrell became the new longest reigning TNA Knockouts Champion in history, surpassing Kim's previous record of 210 days.

On the special episode of Impact Wrestling, titled TKO: Night of Knockouts on April 24, Terrell retained her championship against Kong in a no disqualification match after The Dollhouse (Jade and Marti Bell) interfered and attacked Kong, ultimately assisting Terrell in putting Kong through a table as a "receipt" for an earlier attack in which Kong put Terrell through a table. After the match, Terrell transitioned into a villainess for the first time in her wrestling career and joined The Dollhouse as their leader. Terrell retained her championship on the Hardcore Justice episode of Impact Wrestling on May 1, against Brooke, with help from Jade and Marti. In their first match as a team, the following week, The Dollhouse were defeated by Kong and Kim in a three–on–two handicap match. On the May 29 episode of Impact Wrestling, in a steel cage match, Terrell again retained her championship against Kim. At Slammiversary XIII, The Dollhouse were defeated by Kong and Brooke in another three–on–two handicap match. After successfully retaining her championship against Brooke and Kong in a three–way match, Terrell lost the championship to Brooke, on the July 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, after interference from Gail Kim, ending her reign at 279 days. After her loss, Terrell went on a hiatus citing a hand injury, courtesy of Kim but continued to appear in segments on the jumbotron, orchestrating attacks on various Knockouts. During her absence, Rebel joined The Dollhouse. On January 4, 2016, Terrell announced that she had parted ways with the company, describing her departure as a personal decision.

On October 2, 2016, Terrell made an appearance at Bound for Glory alongside Awesome Kong, Christy Hemme, and Chairman Dixie Carter to induct Gail Kim into the TNA Hall of Fame.

Return to Impact Wrestling (2017)
On August 17, 2017, at Destination X, Terrell made her return to the newly rebranded Impact Wrestling, attacking Gail Kim during her GFW Knockouts Championship match against Sienna. On the September 7 episode of Impact!, in her first match back after her one and a half year hiatus, Terrell teamed with Sienna and defeated Kim and Allie in a tag team match. On October 20, 2017, it was announced that Terrell had departed Impact Wrestling.

National Wrestling Alliance (2021–present)
On March 21, 2021, Terrell made her NWA debut on commentary during the women's match between Thunder Rosa and Kamille. On the June 6, at When Our Shadows Fall, Terrell teamed with Kylie Rae and won their debut match against Thunder Rosa and Melina Perez.

Acting career
Terrell made a special appearance on The Showbiz Show with David Spade in 2007. Terrell was featured in a segment on Lopez Tonight on August 4, 2010. She received her start in acting after appearing alongside Will Ferrell in the 2012 comedy film The Campaign. She was later hired as a stunt double for Kayla Ewell in the film The Demented.

Filmography

Personal life

Terrell attended the University of New Orleans, majoring in marketing. Terrell is a co-leader for a volunteer mission group called Hope Children's Home that provides love and time to children that have been neglected, abused, and discarded. Terrell is a founder for a volunteer mission foundation called Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

In 2008, Terrell became a vegan due to animal rights. However, she revealed she was no longer a vegan in 2010.
She is also a convert to Christianity.

Terrell first appeared in Playboy in the special College Girls edition of January 2007. She next appeared in the February/March 2010 issue of the Playboy Lingerie Special Edition. The photos were an accumulation of previous photoshoots that she had done for the magazine prior to signing with WWE, and show her fully naked. She appeared again in Playboy in November 2010, in the special issue Big Boobs, Hot Buns, with the photos having been taken prior to her signing with WWE. Terrell has appeared in an issue of Maxim and on Sky Sports.com.

Terrell previously dated Alfonso Ribeiro in 2008. Terrell became engaged to Drew Galloway, who appears on-screen as wrestler Drew McIntyre, in July 2009. The couple married in Las Vegas in May 2010. On May 24, 2011, Terrell announced that she and Galloway were divorcing.

Terrell gave birth to a girl named Emerson on March 2, 2014. Terrell married professional motorcyclist and stunt man Joseph Dryden in 2015.

Championships and accomplishments
 Ohio Valley Wrestling OVW Women's Championship (1 time)
 Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' PWI ranked her 10 of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2015
 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling'''
 TNA Knockouts Championship (1 time)

References

External links

 
 Taryn Terrell Impact Wrestling Profile
 
 

1985 births
Female models from Florida
Actresses from Tampa, Florida
American female professional wrestlers
American film actresses
American stunt performers
American television actresses
Converts to Christianity
Female models from Louisiana
Glamour models
Living people
Sportspeople from New Orleans
Professional wrestlers from Louisiana
Professional wrestling authority figures
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Professional wrestling referees
University of New Orleans alumni
WWE Diva Search contestants
21st-century American women
The Right Fight is a 2010 book about business leadership. The authors argue that leader's time is not always best spent trying to help people in teams work in peaceable alignment. In contrast, Joni and Beyer show that leaders who foster productive dissent—what the authors call "right fights"—help their companies reach peak efficiency. The book ranked #6 on 800CEOread.com’s Books to Watch List in March 2010 and ranked #21 on its Bestseller list in October 2010.

Major sections and points

Part One: Alignment and Tension in Organizational Life
Leaders must introduce and manage right fights to create breakthrough performance, meaningful innovation, and lasting value
 Chapter One – Alignment is Not the Whole Answer
 Research demonstrates that tension is required for performance. Right fights can help leaders use tension for maximum benefits
 Chapter Two – Three kinds of Fights Not Worth Fighting
 There are all kinds of wrong fights. Decoding them is the first step to stopping or avoiding them.
 Chapter Three – “Jack Sparr” Takes on a Right Fight
 An example of a right fight fought right.

Part Two: Learn to Pick the Right Fights: The Right Fight Decision Principles
 Chapter Four – Right Fight Principle #1 – Make it Material
 Make it about something worthwhile, something that matters.
 Chapter Five – Right Fight Principle #2 – Focus on the Future, Not the Past
 Move beyond blame to possibilities.
 Chapter Six – Right Fight Principle #3 – Pursue a Noble Purpose
 People need to commit their integrity and passion to something bigger than the bottom line.

Part Three: Learn to Fight Right Fights Right: The Right Fight Discipline Principles
 Chapter Seven – Right Fight Principle #4 – Make it Sport, Not War
 Have rules and play by them.
 Chapter Eight – Right Fight Principle #5 – Structure Formally but Work Informally
 Set up the fight in your organizational structure, but work out the tensions through informal networks.
 Chapter Nine – Right Fight Principle #6 – Turn Pain into Gain
 People matter – everybody should grow in a right fight, even if they don’t win.
 Chapter Ten – Conclusion
 All successful organizations fight right fights. When you can manage the tensions consciously, and use the Right Fight Principles as your guide, you and your teams will reap extraordinary rewards.

Part Four: Tools: Tests for Identifying and Leading Right Fights
 Chapter Eleven – Is the Challenge Worth a Right Fight?
 Assessment Tool
 Acknowledgements
 Index

Principles
This book shows how leaders can foster healthy dissent in order to achieve high performance, foster innovation and groom the next generation of leaders. Done well, right fights bring out the best of human capacity. By contrast, wrong fights – or right fights that never happen – can transform high purpose into failure.

The first three right fight principles described in Part Two guide readers in recognizing right fights. These principles are:
 make the fight material, with big enough stakes to motivate everyone
 focus on the future, without apportioning blame for the past
 make the fight about a noble purpose – such as improving the lives of customers

The last three right fight principles, covered in Part Three, are:
  make the fight a sport with rules, rather than a war
 Structure right fights through the formal organization, but create informal networks and coalitions to help good ideas triumph in spite of the hierarchy
 Turn pain into gain by assuring that everyone, including the losers, benefits from the experience.

Companies
Joni and Beyer include several case-study examples of leaders engaged in “right fights” in the following companies:
 Campbell Soup Company
 General Electric
 Southwest Airlines
 Disney
 Burlington Northern
 The Reagan and Clinton Administrations
 Wal-Mart
 Katy Independent School District
 Unilever
 Coca-Cola
 P&G
 Bayer Healthcare
 Shell Oil
 Microsoft
 Johnson & Johnson
 Acumen Fund
 BMC Software
 McKinsey & Co.

Response

Publishers Weekly noted that “Joni and Beyer make a convincing and counterintuitive argument that instigating dissent, if done selectively, can produce big results.”

Booklist observed that the authors “present valuable, thought-provoking ideas and conclude with an assessment tool for determining if an issue is an appropriate candidate for a right fight.”

Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business, University of Southern California and author of On Becoming a Leader remarked that “Anybody in any organization who has any responsibility must read this book.”

Marshall Goldsmith, the NYT bestselling author of Succession: Are You Ready? and What Got You Here Won't Get You There noted that “Managing tension and conflicting ideas is but part of the equation. Using them to steer the organization toward success is the other part, which is often overlooked. In The Right Fight, Saj-Nicole Joni and Damon Beyer show us how to use conflict the right way!”

Doug Stone, coauthor of NYT bestseller Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss what Matters Most, observed that “The wisdom runs deep and the stories jump off the page. Joni and Beyer show us why alignment is not enough. Fighting the right fights right can be the difference between survival and extinction. This book should be at the top of any leaders reading list.”

References

Business books
HarperCollins books Free speech fights are struggles over free speech, and especially those struggles which involved the Industrial Workers of the World and their attempts to gain awareness for labor issues by organizing workers and urging them to use their collective voice. During the World War I period in the United States, the IWW members (referred to as Wobblies), engaged in free speech fights over labor issues which were closely connected to the developing industrial world as well as the Socialist Party. The Wobblies, along with other radical groups, were often met with opposition (violent and otherwise) from local governments and especially business leaders, in their free speech fights.

The IWW organized transient workers (especially in cities in the American West) who worked in highly seasonal jobs—they met on the streets, discussed contemporary issues, and listened to speakers; at the time, it was a very popular method of organization. The events often ended with the police arresting them for participating in street meetings. The most notorious of all of the free speech fights was the San Diego free speech fight, which won a significant amount of public awareness for the IWW as it involved tremendous violence against the labor groups organized by the IWW. which brought the IWW to the greater notice of the American public and was notable for the intensity of violence by anti-labor vigilantes directed at the IWW; this violence included the kidnapping and tarring and feathering of Ben Reitman, who was a physician, and was Emma Goldman's lover.

More generally, a free speech fight is any incident in which a group is involved in a conflict over its speech. For instance, the Free Speech Movement, which began with a conflict on the Berkeley Campus in California in the 1960s, was a "free speech fight".

"Free speech fights" and the IWW

The IWW engaged in free speech fights during the period from approximately 1907 to 1916. The Wobblies, as the IWW members were called, relied upon free speech, which in the United States is guaranteed by the First Amendment, to enable them to communicate the concept of One Big Union to other workers. In communities where the authorities saw their interests in avoiding the development of unions, the practice of soapboxing was frequently restricted by ordinance or by police harassment. The IWW employed a variety of creative tactics, including the tactic of flooding the area of a free speech fight with footloose rebels who would challenge the authorities by flouting the ordinance, intentionally getting arrested in great numbers. With the jails full and a seemingly endless stream of union activists arriving by boxcar and highway, the local communities frequently rescinded their prohibitions on free speech, or came to some other accommodation.

The Free Speech League, a progressive group which functioned at the same time as (and occasionally together with) the IWW, worked in conjunction with the IWW prior to World War I in many of their free speech fights, which generated a good deal of controversy. The free speech fights of the IWW were highly publicized, as they were designed to garner attention: they frequently started when local communities interjected to attempt to prevent the IWW from occupying street corners from which they would use provocative language to detail their radical beliefs.  The free speech fights began occurring in 1906 and drew to a close by 1917—over that period of time, at least 26 communities played host to the IWW's free speech fights, and the years of 1909 to 1913 were particularly active, with at least 21 free speech fights happening.

The IWW members who engaged in the free speech fights typically cited the First Amendment and the rights guaranteed therein as proof positive of the validity of their cause, thereby highlighting the legal importance of the issues they fought for. That being the case, their struggles did not go unanswered or ignored: local, state, and even the federal government were prompted to respond, while, perhaps more importantly, the American public, due to the national publicity garnered by the free speech fights, were invariably tasked with confronting free speech issues. Practically all realms of American life were impacted by the free speech fights, as members of the press, church officials, school teachers, politicians, anyone involved in the business and labor world, and members of any organization (especially those of the Socialist Party) had a stake in the fights and thus attempted to comment on the issues in contention.

An overview of the free speech fights
From its inception, the IWW was deeply committed to free speech issues, and especially those affiliated with labor groups. The IWW formed in 1905 in response to dissatisfaction with the trade unions promoted by the American Federation of Labor (the AFL).  Whereas the AFL promoted the ideals of capitalism by fighting for the rights of workers within the ideological framework of the free market system, the IWW functioned on anarchistic principles. Rather than urging workers to join unions based on craft and skill that were determined to form binding trade agreements with employers, the IWW advocated for the development of broad unions for low-skill workers that would be driven by the workers themselves (and their collective actions) rather than by top-down politics and binding capitalist decisions.

The primary vehicles of change for the free speech fights of the IWW were spontaneous workplace strikes as well as on-site labor slowdowns in addition to picketing, parades, and demonstrations. Importantly, the IWW engaged in street corner public displays and speaking to raise the public awareness regarding free speech fights. The desire for direct action by laborers was attributed to having grown disaffected with the beliefs of the AFL. They stressed their truly American origins and likened their actions to those of earlier American revolutionaries and activists.

The free speech fights of the IWW were often quite similar in nature: Wobblies (many of whom travelled across the country to spread their message) would visit a city's downtown and attempt to speak on soapboxes on street corners. Their message and their tactics were particularly provocative, and they were frequently arrested—though, if they were not arrested on one street corner, they would simply pack up and head to another one.  
Among the offences which they were arrested for were blocking traffic, vagrancy, unlawful assembly, or violating local ordinances such as ones against speaking on the streets.

Though the IWW was successful in many of their free speech fights, they did not always achieve their desired goals. In San Diego, for instance, they were unable to cause the repeal of a restrictive street ordinance while, in Paterson, they failed to gain protection for street picketing and meetings.

The IWW ideology of free speech
The ideology of the Wobblies who fought for free speech rights across America was deeply indebted to their core beliefs regarding the provenance of the First Amendment rights of the Constitution. In their estimation, they were fighting with the Constitution on their side while those who opposed them, such as city officials, were disregarding the fundamental laws of the country. The Wobblies frequently used phrases such as "Have you ever read the Constitution?" and "What is this, Czarist Russia, or Free America?"

The Wobblies held that the free speech rights granted by the First Amendment had been abridged over time, and they felt that it nowhere more evident than it was in the case of the laborers for whom they worked tirelessly—capitalism had conspired with the judicial system in the United States to deny agency and the Constitutionally-granted freedom of speech to American laborers. Not all Wobblies subscribed to such idealistic ideology, though, since some argued the more pessimistic belief that the Constitution had been written by the elites and that free speech was merely an illusion that worked to uphold the power of those same elites.
By adopting aggressive tactics which flaunted local ordinances against free speech, the Wobblies courted arrest, which they used as a demonstration of how far the abridgement of free speech had come. The official attempts to silence the IWW in the free speech fights, they argued, were totally opposed to the spirit of the First Amendment.

According to the Wobblies, the fact that they even had to fight for free speech rights was evidence of the corrupting effect of capitalism in America and of its legal system. They argued that the Constitution was not being applied to American laborers, just as it had not been applied to slaves in the century prior. Rather than take their fights to the courts, which they felt were substantially corrupted by capitalist influence, they took their fight to the streets and urged other Americans to do the same.

The publications of the IWW urged people to "Educate, Agitate, Organize!!!" which led their opponents to see the fights for free speech as precursors to more insidious desires such as those for unionization and, especially, for the abolition of capitalism.

Popular reactions
The free speech fights of the IWW were an inherently populist in nature. They were met with a variety of different public response and reactions: some supported their efforts and sought to collaborate with them while others engaged in vigilante violence against them (as was especially the case in San Diego). The free speech fights gained mass support from political groups such as labor unions, Socialists, and also the Free Speech League. Notably, few of the groups stood fast with the IWW when it came to their calls for revolution or for the overthrowing of capitalism more generally, and instead focused on the importance of the free speech rights for their own inherent worth to Americans. The AFL, though, opposed the IWW's efforts in the free speech realm from the get go. Other groups and members of the public, too, began to oppose the free speech fights over time because of the aggressive tactics and language among other things.

The Socialists were the most closely connected allies of the IWW in the free speech fights, as they had suffered through many years of free speech repression already and thus helped to fundraise for the cause and occasional even took part in the fights.

Labor unions also offered significant support to the free speech fight cause since they had a stake in the fights. Important support, still, came from the American public at large.

Official reactions and regulation of street speaking
The most notable proponent of the free speech fights in the official arena was New York City Police Commissioner Arthur Woods, who argued that all American groups should be granted the right of free speech and assembly. Rather than repress their constitutional rights, Woods felt that it was the duty of the police to protect the demonstrators. His personal philosophy dictated that free speech could be regulated only in ways that protected it through the creation of channels of expression which would not impede the rights of others.

The reasonable regulation of street speaking was an important issue that arose because of the free speech fights of the IWW. Their soapboxing on downtown street corners proved especially divisive. Whereas IWW supporters held that freedom of expression was especially important in the areas where that expression could actually reach the people (such as laborers) who would benefit the most from their message, opponents argued that their right to free speech did not belong in such public places where their incendiary tactics could be harmful to the public. Public streets were the best means of reaching the workers to whom their free speech fights were addressed, and the Wobblies did not always possess the necessary funds to rent out public assembly halls, for instance, from which they could exercise their right to free speech. 
The IWW conceded, nonetheless, that reasonable restrictions should be placed on public speaking.

The struggle over free speech on downtown street corners was regarded as absurd by many people, since there were myriad other areas in the public sphere that allowed outdoor speaking to take place—downtown street corners, though, were outlawed. The fight over the street corners, therefore, became a symbol of the divisive ideology of the IWW—their opponents scornfully argued that the street corners were important to the Wobblies only because they could not reach an audience elsewhere since nobody would willingly attend any of their speeches.

Many of the opponents of free speech fights, thus, were in favor of the establishment of centrally located areas that permitted oration but did not interfere with the city. Others, though, were totally opposed to the right to speak in public.

The IWW occasionally saw its fight over the regulation of street speaking extend to the judicial realm. More often than not, judges upheld the street ordinances that prevented public speaking. Notably, a judge in San Diego upheld the city's ordinance, and used the language of a similar decision in Los Angeles to explain that "This ordinance does not attempt to suppress freedom of speech, or seek to interfere with the citizen in the right to express his views upon any subject, political, religious, or otherwise, as is suggested by the petitioner. It simply specifies a certain district within the city wherein no one may do the things prohibited."

Analysis of free speech themes
One of the key themes of the free speech fights came from the regulation of speaking on the streets and involved discussions over the importance of access to public property and how reasonable limitations could be applied to it. People who debated the free speech fights frequently focused on the distinction between legal speech and illegal action while also detailing the various types of unprotected speech. They also debated what types of criticisms of the government should be protected by free speech.

One of the primary issues with the debates surrounding the free speech fights was that commentators understood that certain types of speech should be regarded as illegal and were not covered as free speech—sedition, libel, inciting speech, and obscenity fell into this category of speech, yet what some regarded as obscenity or libel, others regarded simply as government criticism that should be protected by the Constitution.

Major IWW's free speech fights

Spokane free speech fight

In A History of American Labor, Joseph G. Rayback has written,

[The Industrial Workers of the World] made its first impression upon the nation through its involvement in the "free speech" fight begun in Spokane, Washington, employment center for the casual labor elements of the Pacific Northwest. The fight developed late in 1908 when the I.W.W. launched an extensive speaking campaign with the slogan "Don't Buy Jobs" in the streets around the Spokane employment agencies which had become skilled in the art of swindling men who applied for jobs.

The "job sharks" were so closely tied to the crew boss on many job sites that there would be "one gang coming, one gang working and one gang going." The faster the turnover, the greater the fees that could be generated. From time to time the men would ignore the IWW and seek revenge after an employment shark took someone's last dollar for a job that didn't exist. The Spokesman-Review of February 17, 1909 reported,

Hurling rocks and chunks of ice through the windows of the Red Cross Employment Agency, 224 Stevens St., several members of a noisy mob of between 2,000 and 3,000 idle men were about to attempt to wreck the place about 6 o'clock last evening, when James H. Walsh, organizer of the IWW, mounted a chair and pacified the multitude. In the opinion of the police had it not been for the intervention of Walsh, a riot would surely have followed, as the rabble was worked up to such a pitch that its members would have readily attempted violence. Walsh discouraged violence and summoned all members of the IWW to their hall at the rear of 312 Front Ave. The police dispersed the rest... At the hall Walsh warned the crowd against an outbreak. "There were a lot of hired Pinkertons in that crowd," he said. "All they wanted you fellows to do was to start something and then they would have an excuse for shooting you down or smashing your heads in... You can gain nothing by resorting to mob rule."

For the rest of the summer, IWW street meetings brought more and more working stiffs into the IWW.

The agencies promptly countered by pressuring the city council to pass an ordinance forbidding street speaking. The I.W.W. obeyed the regulation for nearly a year, until Spokane religious groups, which habitually used the streets, secured a new regulation exempting them from the street-speaking ordinance. Angered by the discrimination on behalf of "the Christers," the Spokane I.W.W. renewed its campaign.

The newspaper of the IWW, the Industrial Worker, published the following on October 28: "Wanted—Men to Fill the Jails of Spokane." Then the IWW sent out a notice to all locations, "Nov. 2, FREE SPEECH DAY—IWW locals will be notified by wire how many men to send if any... Meetings will be orderly and no irregularities of any kind will be tolerated."

In one day 150 men were arrested and crowded into jails that could hardly accommodate them. Reinforcements promptly arrived from the surrounding territory.

The Spokane City Council arranged for rock-pile work for the prisoners.

At the end of twenty days four hundred men had been jailed.

Overflowing prisoners were lodged in the Franklin School [then located along Front Street (now Trent)], and the War Department made Fort Wright available for more. Eight editors in succession got out a copy of the Industrial Worker, and then took their turn soapboxing, and went to jail. The IWW's "rebel girl," Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, who was fresh out of high school, delayed her arrest by chaining herself to a lamppost. She later charged that the police were using the women's section of the jail as a brothel, with police soliciting customers. When that story was printed in the Industrial Worker on December 10, the police attempted to destroy all copies. Public sympathy began to favor the strikers. When the prison guards would march the overflowing prisoners through the streets to bathing facilities, crowds would shower the men with apples, oranges, and Cigarettes. Around 10:30 AM on December 20th, 1909, the I.W.W. Hall of Spokane was raided by police, driving 200 men out onto the street.

The effort brought results: the W.F.M. declared a boycott of all goods coming from Spokane, and taxpayers began to protest against the cost of feeding, housing, and policing the prisoners. When Vincent St. John publicly appealed to all Wobblies to come to Spokane to renew the struggle, city officials capitulated.

The victory for the free speech fight came on March 4, when the city of Spokane agreed to allow the I.W.W. to speak on the street. Subsequently that day, all arrested I.W.W. members were released. The licenses of 19 of the employment agencies were revoked.

The I.W.W. was granted freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and the right to distribute its literature.

In Labor's Untold Story, Boyer and Morais observed,

The courts became so clogged they could handle little else but free speech cases. The fight for free speech became largely a question of endurance between the lungs and heads of the Wobblies and the stamina of the police. In Missoula and Spokane as in most of the other towns where free speech fights were waged, any citizen could address any assemblage on any street on any subject at any time by the end of 1912.

Missoula free speech fight

The IWW members won a free speech fight in Missoula when, on October 8, 1909, the city council decided to let the union members speak anywhere in the community, so long as they did not impede traffic.

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was "a striking auburn-haired 19-year-old" when she arrived in Missoula with her husband, Jack Jones in September 1909. At Higgins Avenue and West Front Street, the Wobblies set up a soapbox. On September 22, Frank Little arrived to assist. Little and Jones were arrested on September 29. A young logger and a civil engineer then spoke, and were likewise arrested. Flynn put out the word, declaring, "we need volunteers to go to jail." Wobblies poured in from the surrounding territory, flooding the jail. They sang IWW songs, and shouted Wobbly slogans.

According to Flynn, who also was arrested October 3rd, 1909, the jail was "a filthy, dirty hole under the firehouse stable, where all the filthy excrement of the place pours down upon the prisoners." Yet enough Wobblies submitted themselves to arrest—frequently just before dinner time—that the city was feeling the impact of the Wobbly tactic. After a night in jail, Wobblies were often offered their freedom before breakfast, but many refused to be released, instead demanding a jury trial.

The Western Montana Apple Show was set to open, and Missoula officials decided to "wave a white flag." The IWW had won the Missoula free speech fight, and all charges were dropped.

On February 7, 2011, the National Park Service officially recognized Free Speech Corner at Higgens Avenue and West Front Street, adding it to the National Register of Historic Places to commemorate the Missoula free speech fight.

San Diego free speech fight

The free speech fight in San Diego from 1912 to 1913 was among the most prominent free speech fights of the IWW. An ordinance had been passed by the San Diego Common Council which made it much more difficult for the Wobblies to engage in their soapbox orations without being swiftly arrested. The San Diego jails were soon teeming with Wobblies and others who used civil disobedience in the fight for free speech, and, even more alarmingly, contingents of vigilantes arose to fight against those in favor of free speech. The Free Speech League worked in concert with the IWW in San Diego, but, when the fight became judicial, the ordinance was upheld.

Sioux City, Iowa

Sioux City was considered a very strategic town for workers to stage free speech fights in because it was "a gateway for laborers entering and leaving summer employment in agriculture and construction in the Dakotas."  Since those employment opportunities for the workers were seasonal, many of them returned to spend the winter in Sioux City, where the Wobblies attempted to provide them incentives to join their Free Speech Fight such as by educating them and helping feed them over the tough winter. 

Over a thousand men were unemployed in Sioux City at the time during the winter of 1915. There had been a real push to get workers to come to Sioux City by business leaders there, but workers who arrived found that there were barely enough jobs for the local laborers. 
On the 15th of January, after facing even harsher conditions and struggling with unemployment, roughly 150 of the IWW-associated unemployed stormed the Commercial Club where many business leaders listened to them demand work and watched them take food. 

In response to the direct action of the IWW, Sioux City increased enforcement of vagrancy laws and began arresting more of the IWW members engaged in the Free Speech Fights. Their goal in doing so was to attempt to drive the IWW out of town, but, unsurprisingly, they achieved the opposite. The IWW demanded free speech rights to be granted in the city. They Wobblies were filling the city's jails and forced the hand of the city officials to attempt to strike a deal with them. Ultimately, they won the fight and free speech rights were granted to workers in Sioux City.

Other free speech fights of the IWW

The IWW followed with other free speech fights in Kansas City, Missouri; in Aberdeen and Wenatchee, Washington; and in Fresno, California.  Tar and feathers, beatings, clubbings, and forcible deportations were used in addition to incarceration. The San Diego free speech fight was unique in that the IWW did not have a specific organizing campaign at stake. The IWW won all of these free speech fights.

In early 1913, IWW members in Denver, Colorado fought a lengthy free speech fight. Denver authorities had refused to allow the Wobblies to speak on street corners, so union members filled the jails for months. The union won the right to speak to workers, and within a year had formed two Denver branches.

Other locations of free speech fights by the IWW included Duluth, Minnesota; Portland, Oregon; New Castle, Pennsylvania, and New Bedford, Massachusetts.

The IWW's provocative free speech message

The IWW message was particularly unpopular with the business community. IWW members believed that the capitalist system was corrupt, could not be reformed, and could only be resisted until a better society could be built for all working people. James Walsh's streetcorner speeches were therefore frequently disrupted, particularly by the local Volunteers of America and Salvation Army Bands.

Walsh recruited volunteers to put together a small band, equipped with "a big booming bass drum," in order to get the IWW's message to listeners. The group practiced patriotic and religious tunes of the period, but the Wobblies wrote new words to the songs.

"To grab the crowd's attention," the IWW band often "hid in a doorway while one member dressed in a bowler hat and carrying a briefcase and umbrella, yelled to the crowd, 'Help! I've been robbed!' The crowd rushed over only to hear, 'I've been robbed by the capitalist system! Fellow workers ...' He then launched into a short speech, and the makeshift band stepped out of the doorway and played their songs."

The soapbox tradition
Prior to television, radio, and film becoming parts of American mass culture, public speaking was a primary medium for entertainment and information. Politicians, religious zealots, and newsboys all pitched their trade on the soapbox. Though not all street speakers were political, soapbox oration was fundamentally a political act. 

With the march of time of the 20th century, police forces and city ordinances began to take away the rights of soapbox orators. As television and radio became more prominent, the very act of street speaking began to seem antiquated and, at the very least, irrelevant. Street speaking represented a threat to upper- and middle-class white Americans who feared that "inter-ethnoracial, working-class political coalitions" would achieve influence through the soap box. 

This was especially true in Los Angeles, where class politics was reaching a fever pitch in the early 20th century. A multitude of political groups, such as the IWW, the Socialists, the Communist Party, and the Partido Liberal Mexicano all spoke out for Angelinos to fight for the rights of the underprivileged.

Socialist free speech fights: 1900–1911
In the early 20th century, it was the Socialist Party that led the charge in soapbox oration. They were the first group to make effective use of the tactics of public speaking. Over the first ten years of the city, they grew enough to gain significant political clout. In Los Angeles, the party drew in skilled and semi-skilled white workers who worried about their job security. Additionally, they attempted to recruit central Angelinos from more diverse ethnic backgrounds. In this way, Free Speech Fights in Los Angeles served as the battleground between central Los Angeles workers and the rest of the city.

The World War I crackdown
In the 1910s and 1920s, street speaking in Los Angeles suffered from increasing escalation of tactics by the LAPD and city ordinances. The Wobblies became the more dominant social group after the Socialists lost power, but the IWW was unable to draw nearly as many people to their soapbox speeches.

The IWW had a major conflict with the police over public speaking in San Pedro, a harbor community. They organized with striking dockworkers, but were met with extreme repression by the police who even used violent tactics to prevent their protests from being successful.  Because of the failures in San Pedro, the IWW lost power in Southern California.

See also

 Anti-union violence

Footnotes

References
 Peter Blecha, "Fanning the Flames: Northwest Labor Song Traditions", February 5, 2006, Retrieved May 14, 2007.
 Richard O. Boyer and Herbert M. Morais, Labor's Untold Story (1974).
 Paul F. Brisseden, The I.W.W.: A Study of American Syndicalism (New York, 1919)
 David Brundage, The Making of Western Labor Radicalism: Denver's Organized Workers, 1878-1905 (1994).
 Melvyn Dubofsky, We Shall Be All: A History of the Industrial Workers of the World (1969)
 Joseph G. Rayback, A History of American Labor (1966).
 Fred W. Thompson and Patrick Murfin, The I.W.W.: Its First Seventy Years, 1905-1975 (1976).
 Woodrow C. Whitten, Criminal Syndicalism and the Law in California, 1919-1927 (Philadelphia, 1969).

Further reading
 John Duda (editor), "Wanted! Men to Fill the Jails of Spokane: Fighting for Free Speech with the Hobo Agitators of the I.W.W. "  (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr, 2009) 
 Philip S. Foner (editor), "Fellow Workers and Friends: I.W.W. Free-Speech Fights as Told by Participants" (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1981)
Matthew S. May, "Soapbox Rebellion: The Hobo Orator Union and the Free Speech Fights of the Industrial Workers of the World" (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2013)

Freedom of expression
History of the Industrial Workers of the World
Political repression in the United States
Freedom of speech