Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Tony Khan responded to Big Swole feeling there's a lack of diversity in AEW by saying her contract wasn't renewed because her wrestling wasn't good enough. :laughy:

Big Swole answered sincerely and truthfully honestly and I get where she's coming from as a Day one signing with the company, AEW put more emphasis on the people being brought in and introduced over the people they already had on the roster. Tony Khan got nasty with any kind of criticism though by taking a shot at her in the ring.

EDIT: Britt Baker retweeted what Khan said. Sucks but most of the women going to side with Tony on this one. 

EDIT 2: Lio Rush venting on twitter, he's probably gonna vent out on Khan for that tweet dismissing Swole. 

Class act TK, bravo.

I thought AEW ended racism with the Rhodes offspring?

I love that street fight tie-in promoting 4 blonde white women on the topic of diversity. Class act.

I probably should have put that in that Brandi Rhodes thread back but Lio Rush ain't backing down.

Even if that were true, and it might very well be true, you don't dump it on Twitter like that. Nothing good can come out of it.

Jan 1, 2022 1:29:19 GMT Emperor said:

Even if that were true, and it might very well be true, you don't dump it on Twitter like that. Nothing good can come out of it.

He's done this before when it came to Ex Jaguars pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue when he wanted a trade because he wasn't getting a contract extension, I am not surprised at all.

He's an absolute manchild whenever someone presses him on something or doesn't like what he's doing. 

Ricky Starks deactivated his twitter over this too, he's one of their best talents easily. Probably deserves it's own thread at this point, this one needs to be nipped in the bud tonight by Tony. Instead of having people like Britt Baker or Tay Conti or Amanda Huber like or retweet or agree with Khan because he's the boss man. Khan has to own up to the tweet and move on, this is so dumb on his part. 

Isnt Khan saying he released Swole due to wrestling talent the end of it? Isnt that him nipping it in the bud?

Jan 1, 2022 2:57:08 GMT nazzer said:

Isnt Khan saying he released Swole due to wrestling talent the end of it? Isnt that him nipping it in the bud?

That's ignited everything actually, dismissing someone who respectfully criticized backstage and how the structure is in a company because they can't wrestle on social media is unprofessional and terrible. If Khan didn't say that in the tweet, he would not look bad in the least but the fact he had to diss Swole like that is lame.

I think im really missing the tone or something. General vibe on reddit is khan fucked up hard. Me, im thinking swole is just sour grapes she couldnt hack it. She talked shit about her former job and now cant handle the feedback.

Jan 1, 2022 2:57:08 GMT nazzer said:

Isnt Khan saying he released Swole due to wrestling talent the end of it? Isnt that him nipping it in the bud?

No because many want to paint Khan as a racist white guy despite him being Pakistani.  Also gives the AEW haters something to attack him for because that is what we do these days if we do not like something, accuse the people involved with it of being awful, evil people.

That said, he may actually lose Leo over this.  Rush does not need AEW or really wrestling at all.  And losing him because Tony had to start a fight on twitter would be incredibly bush league shit.  Shit like this could also cost him Athena and he REALLY needs Athena.  With her polish from WWE and her connections to fandoms, he really needs to try to get her onboard as it is a great way to try to get new fans.

Jan 1, 2022 3:14:31 GMT nazzer said:

I think im really missing the tone or something. General vibe on reddit is khan fucked up hard. Me, im thinking swole is just sour grapes she couldnt hack it. She talked shit about her former job and now cant handle the feedback.

So it is sour grapes on her part.  But the problem is not with her.  As the boss, commenting on twitter is something you expect from a fed that only draws 50 people, not a national fed.  Like this is more Zandig style shit. 

I mean can you even imagine Vince replying to anyone who complains about their treatment in WWE?

Yeaahhhh…Big Swole sucked. Tony isn’t wrong. She had all the time in the world to improve and she didn’t. And now she’s criticizing the company for not being diverse enough? How can she say that with the roster they have?

Sounds like Swole was difficult and didn’t like the fact she got shit canned. And now because Tony spouted some truth she’s gonna play the race card. Fuck that shit.

AEW won’t miss Lio Rush. I like him but it he leaves then nobody is going to care. Dante Martin dumped him and everyone immediately forgot he existed.

Ricky Starks is another story. Tons of potential in him. If he walks that would be a painful blow, but at the same time, Tony didn’t say anything that wasn’t true so whatever. If you want to take your ball and go home because your boss said something you didn’t like then I guess that’s your choice.

Jan 1, 2022 3:14:31 GMT nazzer said:

I think im really missing the tone or something. General vibe on reddit is khan fucked up hard. Me, im thinking swole is just sour grapes she couldnt hack it. She talked shit about her former job and now cant handle the feedback.

She just said she wanted more black talent to get prioritized on television more often and that she butted heads with the women's division booker, Kenny Omega, who had Tony's ear and could have went to bat for the women more often instead of seeing them at best get one match a week on Dynamite. She also said the company was beginning to push the new people in the company and leaving the Day One people who signed on to the dust, which I get the frustration on her end.

I think most people know she isn't great in the ring but just because you aren't good in the ring doesn't make your points of criticism any less important. She didn't throw any one under the bus in that transcript honestly, she wants AEW(And WWE that she if anything was a bit more harsh on given her husband/Cedric Alexander's Hurt Business randomly got dropped) to do better and to flourish and doesn't hold ill will. She just doesn't want to collect a paycheck not doing anything or not feeling like her voice or creative freedom was being heard. 

Khan saying her contract wasn't renewed because she didn't meet the standards he wanted yet he has Dr. Luther who can barely walk in the ring, Marko Stunt employed is pretty lame. Likewise, he was complimentary of Swole's in ring talents a few months prior to her leaving AEW so he comes off as a liar.

On a side note, man Allie/Bunny bled like crazy in this Bunny & Ford/TayJay street fight. Almost Britt Baker like. Hate seeing beautiful women bleeding like that Ugh :cry: Heard the tag team match was pretty good altogether, a lot of bumps that got taken by all four ladies. Sucks it gets lost in the sand in the midst of what's going on but important to point it out nevertheless.

Jan 1, 2022 3:36:18 GMT c said:

Jan 1, 2022 3:14:31 GMT nazzer said:

I think im really missing the tone or something. General vibe on reddit is khan fucked up hard. Me, im thinking swole is just sour grapes she couldnt hack it. She talked shit about her former job and now cant handle the feedback.

So it is sour grapes on her part.  But the problem is not with her.  As the boss, commenting on twitter is something you expect from a fed that only draws 50 people, not a national fed.  Like this is more Zandig style shit. 

I mean can you even imagine Vince replying to anyone who complains about their treatment in WWE?

What is the appropriate response when a former employee makes unfounder claims against you in public?

Jan 1, 2022 3:40:18 GMT RT said:

Yeaahhhh…Big Swole sucked. Tony isn’t wrong. She had all the time in the world to improve and she didn’t. And now she’s criticizing the company for not being diverse enough? How can she say that with the roster they have?

Sounds like Swole was difficult and didn’t like the fact she got shit canned. And now because Tony spouted some truth she’s gonna play the race card. Fuck that shit.

She probably was one of the few people in the company not on the AEW kool-aid backstage and wasn't afraid to ask Kenny Omega what is going on, why there's a heavy featuring of Japanese women from other promotions taking air time and why there hasn't been a African American title winner excluding Scorpio Sky in the initial AEW Tag title win, especially when the "Competition" that Tony Khan likes to take jabs on has a current African American Universal champion, multi time tag team winners in New Day and Bianca Belair winning the women's title at Wrestlemania in the past year against another POC in Banks. 

She isn't a great talent in ring but they're pushing Jade Cargill to the moon and she's raw as shit despite the high upside.

I mean Tony Khan said this not too long ago:



So 9 months later, she now isn't good in the ring because she chose to not renew her contract/mutually part ways? :laughy: 

Jan 1, 2022 4:05:20 GMT Blindy said:

Jan 1, 2022 3:40:18 GMT RT said:

Yeaahhhh…Big Swole sucked. Tony isn’t wrong. She had all the time in the world to improve and she didn’t. And now she’s criticizing the company for not being diverse enough? How can she say that with the roster they have?

Sounds like Swole was difficult and didn’t like the fact she got shit canned. And now because Tony spouted some truth she’s gonna play the race card. Fuck that shit.

She probably was one of the few people in the company not on the AEW kool-aid backstage and wasn't afraid to ask Kenny Omega what is going on, why there's a heavy featuring of Japanese women from other promotions taking air time and why there hasn't been a African American title winner excluding Scorpio Sky in the initial AEW Tag title win, especially when the "Competition" that Tony Khan likes to take jabs on has a current African American Universal champion, multi time tag team winners in New Day and Bianca Belair winning the women's title at Wrestlemania in the past year against another POC in Banks. 

She isn't a great talent in ring but they're pushing Jade Cargill to the moon and she's raw as shit despite the high upside.

I mean Tony Khan said this not too long ago:



So 9 months later, she now isn't good in the ring because she chose to not renew her contract/mutually part ways? :laughy: 

Nyla Rose is black. Pretty sure she was women’s champ. And the first women’s champ was Japanese. They don’t count as POC? They have to be black to count?

Their current tag champs are Mexican.

The company has been around for only a couple years and they’ve already had 4 different POC champions. How long did it take the other companies to do that?

Tony should have said nothing, but he also didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.

Jan 1, 2022 4:10:32 GMT RT said:

Jan 1, 2022 4:05:20 GMT Blindy said:

She probably was one of the few people in the company not on the AEW kool-aid backstage and wasn't afraid to ask Kenny Omega what is going on, why there's a heavy featuring of Japanese women from other promotions taking air time and why there hasn't been a African American title winner excluding Scorpio Sky in the initial AEW Tag title win, especially when the "Competition" that Tony Khan likes to take jabs on has a current African American Universal champion, multi time tag team winners in New Day and Bianca Belair winning the women's title at Wrestlemania in the past year against another POC in Banks. 

She isn't a great talent in ring but they're pushing Jade Cargill to the moon and she's raw as shit despite the high upside.

I mean Tony Khan said this not too long ago:



So 9 months later, she now isn't good in the ring because she chose to not renew her contract/mutually part ways? :laughy: 

Nyla Rose is black. Pretty sure she was women’s champ. And the first women’s champ was Japanese. They don’t count as POC? They have to be black to count?

Their current tag champs are Mexican.

The company has been around for only a couple years and they’ve already had 3 different POC champions. How long did it take the other companies to do that?

Tony should have said nothing, but he also didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.

She's referring to black talent and Nyla is The Native Beast. He is listing wins talent like The Acclaimed have had on AEW Dark like it's something to be proud of :lol: 

I agree Tony shouldn't have clapped back but he's gotten love from the same audience now mad at him over this so he thought he could do this and get universal love & admiration but nope. :lol:

I'm just waiting for Mark Henry to scold Lio Rush for publicly calling out AEW and Tony Khan and we get Henry vs Rush II to kick off 2022. Thinking Henry saves this for his podcast. That's when Rush's one foot out the door now becomes two.

Jan 1, 2022 4:15:44 GMT Blindy said:

Jan 1, 2022 4:10:32 GMT RT said:

Nyla Rose is black. Pretty sure she was women’s champ. And the first women’s champ was Japanese. They don’t count as POC? They have to be black to count?

Their current tag champs are Mexican.

The company has been around for only a couple years and they’ve already had 3 different POC champions. How long did it take the other companies to do that?

Tony should have said nothing, but he also didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.

She's referring to black talent and Nyla is The Native Beast. He is listing wins talent like The Acclaimed have had on AEW Dark like it's something to be proud of :lol: 

I agree Tony shouldn't have clapped back but he's gotten love from the same audience now mad at him over this so he thought he could do this and get universal love & admiration but nope. :lol:

So diversity really does just refer to black people and other people of colour dont count. Gotcha

Jan 1, 2022 4:23:47 GMT nazzer said:

Jan 1, 2022 4:15:44 GMT Blindy said:

She's referring to black talent and Nyla is The Native Beast. He is listing wins talent like The Acclaimed have had on AEW Dark like it's something to be proud of  

I agree Tony shouldn't have clapped back but he's gotten love from the same audience now mad at him over this so he thought he could do this and get universal love & admiration but nope.

So diversity really does just refer to black people and other people of colour dont count. Gotcha

I guess from what Swole and others are saying is they want to find people to identify with skin color wise and want to see the same black talent pushed & handled better from a booking perspective. 

Jan 1, 2022 4:26:48 GMT Blindy said:

Jan 1, 2022 4:23:47 GMT nazzer said:

So diversity really does just refer to black people and other people of colour dont count. Gotcha

I guess from what Swole and others are saying is they want to find people to identify with skin color wise and want to see the same black talent pushed & handled better from a booking perspective. 

Sure great, but call a spade a spade then. Diversity mean a variety of things, not focusing on one thing. If she wants to be upset black people arent champs thats fine, but it simply isn't true that aew has lacked diversity.

Jan 1, 2022 4:29:29 GMT nazzer said:

Jan 1, 2022 4:26:48 GMT Blindy said:

I guess from what Swole and others are saying is they want to find people to identify with skin color wise and want to see the same black talent pushed & handled better from a booking perspective. 

Sure great, but call a spade a spade then. Diversity mean a variety of things, not focusing on one thing. If she wants to be upset black people arent champs thats fine, but it simply isn't true that aew has lacked diversity.

She wanted more for the women of the show from a promotional standpoint, not just about the black talent getting booked better. She mentioned consistently never seeing eye to eye with Omega on the booking portion until the very last thing he said to her which made her leave feeling like she did the best that she could have getting his compliments. She mentioned people who didn't offer up anything creatively or know how to speak up for themselves backstage end up doing nothing or waste away because there's no script/writers.

I was going into the transcript of what I read from Swole being pessimistic too and I don't agree with her entirely but she deserved a better response than "She just wasn't good enough wrestling wise which is why I let her go" from Tony Khan. I think that one line is where the outrage is coming from and why a lot of people, from AEW talent to fans are upset. 

I didn't think this would erupt so quickly. I found it odd that they parted so amicably given how outspoken Swole is and how her run materialised.

For those who missed it, this is what Swole said.

Swole began by noting that the most emotional moment she had in AEW was when Kenny Omega thanked her for what she did in the Diamante feud and how it made other women in the company more comfortable to pitch ideas.

Swole tied that moment into her final talk with Tony Khan.

"I explained to TK that I didn't want to re-sign because my peace was being disrupted. If anybody knows me or knows myself, if anything is disrupting your peace, it's time to let it go. It might be scared or be hard, but it's time to let it go. When Kenny said that, it was the circle coming to an end because Kenny and I would bump heads sometimes throughout my time in AEW. To end it on that note felt good. It felt wonderful to end it at a place where, we didn't see eye-to-eye, but we were there," she said.

Swole then detailed why she left the company and what she told them in her exit interview.

"My heart just stopped being in it as the reason why I left AEW. I felt like there were a lot of things, and I told them in my exit interview, there are a lot of things that need to change. I know fans of the company don't take criticism well sometimes, certain ones. Know this, this is somebody from the inside, the structure is a little off. It's fine to be loose, but I like to have a little bit more structure. I felt like the women shouldn't have gone through everything they went through just to get on TV or get time. You're signed to this big company, you should get time. All these men are getting time, but the women weren't getting anything or you're not putting people on TV because more people are coming in. Okay, there are more people coming in, but you don't have enough product for all of these people. Now you have all these people sitting around having two or three minute matches on Dark doesn't keep me happy. Shoveling more money doesn't keep a person happy. We've seen time and time again, especially in a place where there's not enough space. There's no writers in a sense. Not everyone is comfortable writing their own things. Closed mouths don't get fed. That's exactly what that environment is. If you are shy and don't know how to write or are not creative, it's not going to work unless they want it to work for you. That's one of their biggest issues," she said.

Along with the lack of structure, Swole saw a bigger issue in AEW and that was a lack of diversity.

"Outside of [lack of structure] their BIGGEST issue, which is diversity. I do not beat around the bush when it comes to diversity and my people. There is no representation, truly, and when there is, it does not come across in the black community as genuine. At all. I don't know why everybody is so afraid to accept it or say it, but it's not a good look. What happens is, you have this wonderful company that treats people like family, but there is nobody that looks like me that is represented at the top and in the room with them. They are not helping to necessarily influence decisions, but to explain why certain slang and certain word shouldn't be said. There is no one else who can explain our culture and experience except for us," she said.

Swole continued, explaining how her daughter helped her recognize even more that there was a lack of representation in AEW.

"I knew something was up when my daughter, who loves watching wrestling, she would watch AEW all the time and seldomly watch WWE. She's not a big fan unless dad [Cedric Alexander] was on TV, which stopped happening after they botched the Hurt Business. She would say, 'Mommy, there is nobody that looks like me on AEW. There's nobody that looks like daddy.' Then she started watching WWE because she saw Bianca and Big E. She saw herself represented. If that wasn't a 'click.' 'You are absolutely right. I don't have an explanation.' It's 2021. Why are people saying, 'it'll take three years for AEW to have a black champ'? This is a scripted sport. It should not take that long if you have been watching WWE for 50+ years and you know what not to do," she said.

Swole said she is "exhausted" with the pandering when it comes to diversity and how it feels like "use this person for a little, they've done what you need, now what's next?"

"I believe that the company is making better strides than before, but a couple of things need to be fixed. You have to be able to call people out because not everything is perfect. I hope they listen to this with an open heart and not just, 'Ah, she's just saying this because of XYZ.' I genuinely want them to succeed. I love this art form. I love wrestling and I want it to succeed and I want the people in it to succeed if they are genuine people. I want WWE to succeed. I want wrestling to flourish and I don't want it to be a long-forgotten, Tartarian sport where 'in the old days, we used to wrestle,' and it's folklore. I want nothing but the best, but I also want the change and application to happen. With promises you made to be diverse, I want to see that. Not just with black people. I would love to see a Latino or Hispanic or more Asians. I feel like Asians and Indians do not get the love. They just don't. It's such a big gap. I hate the fact that I turn on the TV and it's the same stuff over and over again. Hopefully, they get the message. Me leaving, honestly, was not bad. There is no bad blood between TK and I. I just don't like my peace being disrupted. I didn't like certain things and other things that I will take to my grave. The diversity. That's what matters," she said.

A lot of what she said has a lot of validity and we've all made similar complaints in the past. It isn't necessarily all about a racial divide either, it's the lack of opportunity and how talent that's made to work Dark is treated. It's really no better than the 'catering crew' that fans rightfully criticise the WWE about.

We've had discussions in the past, but 100% AEW could do a better job of presenting their diverse cast and crew.

AEW should bring in those Lucha Bros!!!

And do nothing with them for over a year because they don't work tag matches the 'right way'.

Then let's stick them on Rampage where a fraction of the audience watches.

But at least they're carrying the straps.

Half of the signed girls are not white. Latinos on TV weekly for the men. Sure they may not be booked good, but the issue she is claiming is they lack minorities which is not entirely true.

Jan 1, 2022 6:06:38 GMT c said:

Half of the signed girls are not white. Latinos on TV weekly for the men. Sure they may not be booked good, but the issue she is claiming is they lack minorities which is not entirely true.

Lack of minorities at the top of the card, which is why she brought up Big E and Bianca Belair.

Oh man, someone pointed out on wreddit that Tony completely fucked the TBS tournament with his comments. No matter what outcome was booked, it’s a no-win scenario now.

Jade wins: course correction by having a black woman win a title

Ruby wins: Tony is a racist and AEW has a diversity problem

God damn it, Tony.