As we reported on Friday night, former AEW star Big Swole appeared on a recent podcast and lit a fire under the wrestling community and AEW President Tony Khan.
During the podcast, she claimed that AEW has an issue when it comes to diversity, as she said this was a factor in her decision to not renew her contract with AEW. However, according to Khan, he said the reason he chose not to renew Swole’s contract had nothing to do with race or diversity, but everything to do with her wrestling ability. This led to many fans and wrestlers choosing sides between Big Swole and Tony Khan, with AEW star Lio Rush posting that he was “pissed off” at the entire situation.
The top 2 @AEW execs are brown (me & Megha)!! Jade, Bowens, Caster, Dante, Nyla, Isiah & Marq Quen all won on tv this month. The TBS Title Tournament has been very diverse. I let Swole’s contract expire as I felt her wrestling wasn’t good enough. #AEWRampage Street Fight TONIGHT! https://t.co/NprF6I7D6G
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) January 1, 2022
Im not cool with any of this shit to be honest.
— Lio Rush (@IamLioRush) January 1, 2022
If nobody says something, then I will. Because this is fucked up and now I’m pissed.
— Lio Rush (@IamLioRush) January 1, 2022
— Lio Rush (@IamLioRush) January 1, 2022
To follow up on our above story, Lio Rush has posted once more to Twitter noting that he has spoken to directly to Tony Khan and they’ve both agreed to work out any issues they may have in an effort to improve AEW in the long term.
Rush posted the following statement on his Twitter account earlier this afternoon:
“I want this to be clear. I do not consider this to be a diversity issue, and I at no point have thought or said that AEW or Tony is racist. We can all clearly see that wrestling as a whole and the AEW roster is perpetually diverse. The issue at hand was a racial insensitivity issue. Having spoken to Tony and Megah, we have discussed the endeavors to further understand the struggles of the black community. I am grateful to be able to understand more about Tony and Megah’s own ethnic backgrounds and glad that they are actively seeking input from an African American perspective. I am proud to work for a boss and company that try to make these strides in social equality. I look forward to working with Tony to keep making steps towards positive change. I pray that 2022 is a year of positive change in all aspects.”
POSITIVE CHANGE FOR 2022. 🎊@TonyKhan @AEW pic.twitter.com/6k6AmMhTtI
— Lio Rush (@IamLioRush) January 1, 2022
