Nyla Rose On Being Transgender In Pro Wrestling, Which WWE NXT Star Is Her Dream Opponent
When AEW first formed, one of the key things that separated themselves was the open dialogue of diversity. People from all backgrounds were welcomed without question. People took notice, including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. That opened the door Nyla Rose, one of the first openly transgender wrestlers for any major promotion.
One of the top athletes on AEW TV, Rose has seen a lack of diversity in the wrestling industry. Now, things are starting to change. Speaking on the Women's Wrestling Weekly podcast, Nyla discussed how she (among others) has helped lead the way for change.
"It's kind of a two-way street, right? Maybe, my presence will kind of encourage or spark interest, spark that comfortability in some people," Nyla stated. "To say, 'hey, you know, here she is. She's on this platform. She made it.' It is going to be up to the performer to go to a wrestling school and get their traction out there. But yeah, times are changing, gears are shifting, we're starting to see a lot more diversity in every aspect of that word."
When she first started her path, Nyla struggled to be exactly who she wanted to be. Some offered her suggestions that was too much the norm when it came to booking her as a Native American. She did everything in her power to change the narrative.
"The wrestling industry has a history of being kind of, how do I put this delicately, a very stereotypical business," Nyla stated. "But like I said times are changing. More and more, day by day, we are stepping away from those things, those stereotypes, those tropes. Starting out in the indies, people would say they would have all of these suggestions for what you should do because you were Native. Well, I didn't want that to necessarily be the primary focus of my character. I'm definitely proud of my heritage, but I'm also black, there's a lot of intersectionality going on here. For me, it was trying to find a way to have subtle nods at my heritage, little tokens that I could be proud of to put Natives Americans on that forefront."
After working on redefining the Native American role in wrestling, Nyla went on another path. One of the most repetitive questions she gets is about being transgender. In today's society, many accept it, but others still don't know how to respond. Nyla wants to try and educate those who don't fully understand.
"I'm definitely tired of it, but I get it," Nyla went on to say. "It's new for a lot of people, it's a very new thing, it's a new world, it's a new experience, especially for a lot of cisgendered hetero-normative people who don't have to think about these sorts of things. So, I definitely get it, but I guess if there's anything I could say, it might go over some people's heads. First and foremost, being transgender is not a sexual orientation, it is a gender identity, and sexuality and gender are two totally different things. I think where a lot of people get hung up on it is because they are so quick to lump transgender performers in with lesbians, gay, bisexual performers. The LGBTQ community is one community, but these are two different things. That being said, I'm no different than you guys. At the end of the day, I just want to go out there and perform. Hate me for the right reasons."
While she has a whole women's roster to dismantle in AEW, Nyla can still dream about matches with other talented wrestlers. Someone she wants to face is someone who is also worked hard to defeat stereotypes.
"I don't know if I get in trouble for saying this, but I'm going to say Mia Yim," Rose continued. "There's a little bit of history with us. We started in the same pro wrestling school, so that's just on a personal level. Having come up with her, watching her get started, supporting each other, watching us both come up in the ranks, I would love that just for a personal chapter closure."
AEW will air live next week from inside the Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, WV. As of this moment, Nyla is not scheduled for a match on the program.