Tony Khan Addresses Big Swole’s Comments About AEW Departure

On the most recent episode of Big Swole’s Swole World show, Swole talked about her discussions with Tony Khan and why she ultimately decided not to re-sign with AEW. She said she left on amicable terms and talked about her big issues in the Exit Interview, but went into detail on her two main issues with AEW during her show, those being the structure internally and diversity. Khan addressed Swole’s comments on Twitter, calling out what she said about diversity on TV and then adding why he let her contract expire, and you can read those below. 

Khan wrote “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!”

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The comments have caused a lot of conversation online, with some calling them out for taking a shot at Swole’s wrestling and others supporting the comments. You can find an excerpt from Swole’s initial comments below.

“Outside of [lack of structure] their BIGGEST issue, which is diversity. I do not beat around the bush when it comes to diversity and my people. There is no representation, truly, and when there is, it does not come across in the black community as genuine. At all. I don’t know why everybody is so afraid to accept it or say it, but it’s not a good look. What happens is, you have this wonderful company that treats people like family, but there is nobody that looks like me that is represented at the top and in the room with them. They are not helping to necessarily influence decisions, but to explain why certain slang and certain word shouldn’t be said. There is no one else who can explain our culture and experience except for us,” Swole said.

“I knew something was up when my daughter, who loves watching wrestling, she would watch AEW all the time and seldomly watch WWE. She’s not a big fan unless dad [Cedric Alexander] was on TV, which stopped happening after they botched the Hurt Business. She would say, ‘Mommy, there is nobody that looks like me on AEW. There’s nobody that looks like daddy.’ Then she started watching WWE because she saw Bianca and Big E. She saw herself represented. If that wasn’t a ‘click.’ ‘You are absolutely right. I don’t have an explanation.’ It’s 2021. Why are people saying, ‘it’ll take three years for AEW to have a black champ’? This is a scripted sport. It should not take that long if you have been watching WWE for 50+ years and you know what not to do,” Swole said.