Nyla Rose On What Tony Khan's Measuring Stick Is For AEW Roster

Nyla Rose believes she and other LGBTQ members of the AEW roster are making a difference each time they appear on television, no matter the outcome of the match.

In 2019, Rose became the first openly transgender wrestler to sign to a major American professional wrestling company when she joined AEW and again made history as the first transgender wrestler to win a major title when she captured the AEW Women's World Championship the next year.

Rose spoke about her groundbreaking time with the company during a recent appearance on The Team 980AM in Washington, D.C. "People like myself, Sonny Kiss, Anthony Bowens, a few others, are changing those perceptions and are making the world a better place one wrestling match at a time," Rose said.

Bowens, currently one half of the AEW Tag Team Champions, is openly gay, and Kiss, a six-time champion on the independent circuit, identifies as transfeminine.

Rose said her title run "was very surreal and I still have a hard time believing that it ever happened." "I never thought I'd make it to the top," Rose said. "I thought for me, just being able to do pro wrestling was as good as it was going to get."

But the former champion believes her career is "a beacon" for others, saying that "it just shows everybody that hearts are opening and times are changing for the better." Rose went on to credit AEW owner Tony Khan for focusing on wrestlers' talents and potential.

"It's Tony Khan's product at the end of the day," she said. "It's his wrestling company, so if he didn't want it on his TV then he wouldn't put it there. But he believes in us, he trusts us. He doesn't see those sorts of things. Those are just kind of superfluous details about the people that work for him. He looks for the skill, the talent, and that's his measuring stick above and before anything else."