AEW's Nyla Rose Calls Oklahoma State Athletic Commission 'Hateful Bigots'

Nyla Rose is an AEW Original and is a former Women's World Champion. While she hasn't been featured on AEW programming since 2024, "The Native Beast" has been active on the indies, competing for promotions like Eve, Marvelous, Marigold, and MPX Wrestling. She currently holds the AAAW Tag Team Championship with Nightshade.

Following an AEW show in December 2023, the Oklahoma Athletic Commission (OSAC) issued a warning to the promotion because they claimed Rose violated the state's 2021 law against transgender athletes competing against cisgender athletes. The OSAC repeatedly misgendered Rose in a meeting discussing the alleged violation. On a media call a few days later, Tony Khan supported Rose and transgender people while admitting he was shocked by the warning. 

He stated, " I don't think there should be discrimination against transgender wrestlers or transgender people at all. They have rights, and to that end, I absolutely stand by Nyla Rose. AEW stands behind Nyla Rose and all transgender people who want to play sports."

During an interview with Denise Salcedo, Rose reflected on the OSAC's warning. "To be perfectly blunt, hateful bigots with no basis for anything – the Athletic Commission is a scam. They're just a bunch of greedy people who have found an avenue to work people out of money and they're using new laws and loopholes to do what they want to do basically. "

Rose admitted to being shocked by Khan supporting her. "I was very shocked. I was very surprised and incredibly grateful that he would with zero hesitation, like there was no thought there. He knew the right side of history to be on and that's where he stood 10 toes down. And for someone of his caliber, in his position to do that, he absolutely did not have to, but he did. That speaks a lot about who he is as a person and who he is as a man and I am so grateful to him for that."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Denise Salcedo and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.