Highlights
- The Oklahoma Athletic Commission has issued a warning to AEW for using Nyla Rose in a women’s match.
- Rose is a transgender woman and it is against the commission’s rules for her to compete against cisgender women.
- AEW has not reacted to the warning but Rose has and has thankfully seen the funny side and poked fun at it.
Nyla Rose has been breaking ground in professional wrestling for the past decade, but particularly since signing with AEW shortly after the company formed in 2019. Rose is the first openly transgender pro wrestler to sign with a major US promotion having been born a man and transitioning into a woman later in life. Unfortunately, that inevitably means having to deal with cruel comments from certain narrow-minded fans, and apparently it also means dealing with somewhat nonsensical warnings from people in an official capacity too.
Warned By The Oklahoma Athletic Commission
Minutes from an Oklahoma Athletic Commission meeting that took place in January were shared on social media this week. In the minutes, it’s revealed that the commission had been informed of Rose competing for AEW the month prior and that it had decided to issue a warning to AEW for doing so. The match in question was a bout between Rose and Alejandra Lion that was taped on December 20, 2023, for ROH TV that took place during AEW’s first visit to Oklahoma.
AEW Removes Fan Holding Transphobic Sign During Nyla Rose Match
Fans and Rose’s wife alerted security about the sign and its owner was quickly ejected.
According to F4W Online, a transgender woman competing against cisgender women in professional wrestling is a violation of the Oklahoma Athletic Commission’s rules, hence the decision to contact AEW and issue the promotion with a warning. The commission added that if AEW ignores the warning and breaks its rules again, punitive action will be taken. The commission’s chairman noted that clarification a competitor has undergone gender reassignment surgery isn’t required for pro wrestling, but recommends that be updated.
Nyla Rose Reacts
While AEW hasn’t responded to the warning, at least not publicly, Rose has, and thankfully, she has seen the funny side of things and decided to have a little fun with it. The former AEW Women’s Champion has quote tweeted the original post sharing the minutes from the commission’s meeting, vowing to get the to bottom of this.
Don’t worry Oklahoma I’ll find the dastardly Transgender that *checks notes* entertained fans!!! HOW DARE THEY MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY?!!!
The debate over whether trans athletes should be able to compete with and against competitors that are the same gender they identify with will rage on, but to apply that debate to professional wrestling is an additional layer of ridiculous. Not only is wrestling staged and its results pre-determined, but the business has a rich history of men competing against women. There’s absolutely no reason why Rose shouldn’t be allowed to compete against female wrestlers, and I hope AEW either appeals the commission’s warning or simply doesn’t return to Oklahoma in the future.
