Nyla Rose says the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission had no legitimate reason to warn AEW over a 2023 match she took part in, calling the body hateful bigots in a new interview.
Rose, who is transgender, wrestled Alejandra Lion at a ROH taping in Oklahoma City on December 20, 2023. Commission administrator Jim Miller said afterwards that her participation violated the body’s rules on transgender women competing against cisgender women, and the commission voted unanimously to warn AEW that there would be punitive action if it happened again. According to Cagematch, Rose has not wrestled in the state since.
Speaking with Denise Salcedo in an interview, Rose was asked if she was comfortable discussing the commission. She was direct in her answer.
“Yeah, sure, we can well touch on that a little bit. So, basically, to be perfectly blunt, hateful bigots with no basis for anything,” Rose said.
She continued: “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.”
The commission has not responded to those comments. When Wrestlenomics approached it in May 2024 about whether the rule might change, Miller had resigned that March, and his successor Diana Fletcher declined to comment through an assistant attorney general on both the December 2023 event and the rules on intergender matches. The restrictions stayed in place.
Salcedo asked how it felt to have Tony Khan come to her defence. Rose said she was caught off guard by how quickly he did it.
“I was a little shocked. I was very surprised, but incredibly grateful that he would, with zero hesitation, like there was no thought there,” Rose said. “He knew the right side of history to be on, and that’s where he stood, ten toes down. For someone of his caliber, in his position, to do that, he absolutely did not have to, and he did. That speaks a lot about who he is as a person and as a man. I’m so grateful to him for that.”
Khan addressed it on the AEW Dynasty media call in April 2024, saying he was disappointed by the commission’s position and did not think AEW had done anything wrong. He said he did not believe there should be discrimination against transgender people, that he absolutely stood by Rose, and that if the AEW locker room could embrace her he hoped the commission could do the same.
Rose did not appear when AEW ran Tulsa in February 2024, two months after the taping.
Asked how she moves past situations like the one with the commission, Rose pointed to community response and public education.
“It’s one of those things. That’s where the strength of our community comes into play with protests and educating the public, educating people. Education can put out a lot of those fires, because a lot of people are reacting out of fear,” she said.
Salcedo also asked what Rose would say to people who still are not accepting of her. Rose said she does not think there is much she can tell people directly, since she sees the shift as something that has to happen on its own.
“The sad reality, the sad truth is I don’t know that there’s anything I can say, right? Like that change has to come from within, and a lot of people are so coldhearted. They’re just shut out,” Rose said.
“Just getting to know somebody can do it,” she added. “I have had so many people come to me privately, in DMs, at shows, and apologize, saying, ‘Hey, I was ignorant before. I didn’t like you because of this reason.’ But as they’ve gotten to know me over the years on television and social media, they realize that I’m just a person and realize I’m just an entertainer. I just want to do my job and go home and play video games and open Pokemon cards. The same thing they want to do, I want to do as well, I just walk a slightly different path.
“Once that change comes from within, and they realize we’re the same footing, some of those people’s hearts do open.”
Rose has been with AEW since the company’s first show in 2019 and is a former AEW Women’s World Champion, the first transgender wrestler to hold a world championship in a top American promotion. She works primarily for ROH now.
