Tony Khan 'Really Shocked' & 'Disappointed' By Oklahoma Athletic Commission Warning

The Oklahoma Athletic Commission recently warned All Elite Wrestling over allowing a transgender wrestler to defeat a female-born wrestler in the state.

The warning was aimed at former AEW Women’s World Champion Nyla Rose, with Rose defeating Alejandra Lyon during an ROH TV on HonorClub taping in Oklahoma City in December 2023. Fans and professionals alike have rallied behind Rose, and during the pre-AEW Dynasty media call, AEW President Tony Khan was asked for comments about the Commission’s findings:

"I would like to talk about that story with the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission and the warning they issued against AEW when we featured Nyla Rose on the show last December. I was really surprised by this. It’s not something I was expecting, and, of course, I was disappointed by the commission’s position and by that warning. I don’t think we did anything wrong. I’m really shocked by it.

“I don’t think there should be discrimination against transgender wrestlers or transgender people at all. They have rights. To that end, I absolutely stand by Nyla Rose. AEW stands by Nyla Rose and all transgender people who want to play sports. This is wrestling. There was nothing wrong with it. Nyla Rose is a great wrestler and has been a great world champion. I love Nyla and working with Nyla. She has been a great part of our history. She was the first transgender world champion ever and is a great part of the AEW Together program. She does a ton for the community. She is a great person with a great heart. She is very supportive of the other wrestlers, one of the funniest people on social media. I personally have nominated Nyla to TBS for the best social media presence on more than one occasion over the years. She is an AEW original has been part of the team since 2019, going back to the first shows.

“Looking at everything Nyla has accomplished, to put that label on her, it’s not right. She is much more than that. She is a great athlete. I hope everybody can look at Nyla and see she is a great wrestler, a great person, and deserves the same chances as everybody else. If the AEW locker room, which consists of people from all over the world and all different backgrounds and beliefs, if everybody in the locker room can embrace Nyla, I would hope the Oklahoma commission can do the same thing,” said Khan.

Khan was later asked on the same call whether AEW would run shows in Oklahoma going forward:

"All I can say is we have a great plan for our shows in 2024 and 2025. We have a great new team and take all of this into consideration. I treat it as a developing story. I’m kind of surprised by this but we definitely want to do our best to support the fans across America and all over the world and bring AEW wrestling everywhere we have great fans. We have great fans in Oklahoma, they are important to us. We’ll do anything we can to support those fans. It’s something we’re going to have to think about."

Nyla has previously called out transphobic fans for their conduct at wrestling shows.

H/T: Fightful