Swole talks about representation issues with AEW
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As sincere as they may be, you know this ain't enough Lio. They're already calling you Darrelle Revis on Twitter breh.
EzekelRAGE
Superstar
Swole: Khan is a good generous man. AEW is good and I loved my time there but they can do better on the diversity front, women's wrestling front and the structure.+10 Rep for footnotes
Khan: I've given blacks 3 tv wins this past month and you sucked at wrestling, that's why I didnt resign you. Tune in to Rampage tonight.
Big Swole did an interview where she called out the issues she had with AEW: lack of diversity when it comes to who gets showcased on the roster; the women's division being shortchanged and the company not having much structure overall. She said those issues contributed to her deciding not to re-sign with AEW.+10 Rep for footnotes
The diehard AEW neckbeards attacked her online of course.
Tony Khan then tweeted that a couple black people won matches in December and said that the reason she isn't still with the company is because he didn't think she was good enough to re-sign.
Some of the black AEW wrestlers came out to defend Khan.
Lio Rush tweeted that he wasn't cool with what Khan said and that Khan needed to apologize.
Since then Lio and Tony Khan have talked and seemed to have smoothed things over.
wrong
He went full reddit.
Flex Luger
Job Is Finished
reserved_one
#Ambivertgang
Before any of this controversy began, I had a thought about giving up AEW completely because the more I watch it, the more 
vibes I get it.
I have a theory that AEW are aiming to please thefanbase that no longer watch the WWE because they been featuring more black talent the last few years while making Big E & Kofi world champions.
You got a superstar in the making with Hobbs that’s homegrown and he don’t get pushed.
I think Red Velvet is real gem in the women’s division but I barely see her.
Jay Lethal is one of the GOATs of this indie shyt and he’s already forgotten smh.
I never seen Private Party win a match.
They fukked up the Lio Rush/Dante Angle.
Im by no any means defending WWE because they don’t treat they’re black talent great either but the one thing that separates WWE from AEW is they’re PR team which is excellent. Steph & HHH and Vince would never put they’re foots in they mouths publicly like this.
They may feelbehind closed doors but they would never publicly shyt on they’re talent on Twitter for being vocal about concerns within the company and then promote Rampage in the same tweet.
Tony Kahn is a fukkboy plain and simple. He needs to get his emotions in check and be a boss…handle shyt professionally and instead of throwing personal insults on Twitter like a baboon.
Britt Baker is the most overrated wrestler today. bytch would be stuck in catering crying on napkins if she was in the WWE.
Tony shavione can take his I’m just happy to be here ass somewhere too along with her.
vibes I get it.I have a theory that AEW are aiming to please the
fanbase that no longer watch the WWE because they been featuring more black talent the last few years while making Big E & Kofi world champions.You got a superstar in the making with Hobbs that’s homegrown and he don’t get pushed.
I think Red Velvet is real gem in the women’s division but I barely see her.
Jay Lethal is one of the GOATs of this indie shyt and he’s already forgotten smh.
I never seen Private Party win a match.
They fukked up the Lio Rush/Dante Angle.
Im by no any means defending WWE because they don’t treat they’re black talent great either but the one thing that separates WWE from AEW is they’re PR team which is excellent. Steph & HHH and Vince would never put they’re foots in they mouths publicly like this.
They may feel
behind closed doors but they would never publicly shyt on they’re talent on Twitter for being vocal about concerns within the company and then promote Rampage in the same tweet. Tony Kahn is a fukkboy plain and simple. He needs to get his emotions in check and be a boss…handle shyt professionally and instead of throwing personal insults on Twitter like a baboon.
Britt Baker is the most overrated wrestler today. bytch would be stuck in catering crying on napkins if she was in the WWE.
Tony shavione can take his I’m just happy to be here ass somewhere too along with her.
TrueEpic08
Dum Shiny
Bet Lio got asked whether he liked working there or not and this was his response. Note that Tony did not acquiesce to his demand for an apology (at least publically) and the other person Lio references is AEW's contract person. He should be lucky he wasn't fired or seriously disciplined, given that he had the temerity to DEMAND something publically from his boss on Twitter, regardless of why he did it.
As for the question of black main eventers and diversity, let's put it like this:
-If, for some reason, Big E were to jump to AEW, he would immediately become the best candidate for a black world champion, and it wouldn't be particularly close. And there would still be a handful of guys that should probably get it before him.
-If, for some reason, Sasha Banks or Bianca Belair made the jump, that person would be the unquestioned best wrestler to hold the women's belt and there would be a pacific ocean sized gap between Banks/Belair and the next best black women's wrestler on the roster.
Again, the talent is not there, and you have to deal with the realities of what is available to you. They had a bunch of black talent that either weren't ever going to be at the main event level for a national promotion or need development to get there (I'm thinking specifically of a guy like Hobbs here for the latter. Credible, solid in the ring, loads of potential but still in need of refinement and TV reps). Thus, you don't see a lot of guys like that at the top of the card (and it's not for a lack of trying either...but Scorpio Sky is most definitely not the guy to hitch your wagon to). Maybe a Keith Lee or a Shane Strickland mitigates this a bit and buys them time for a Starks or Hobbs to get to that next level, we'll just have to see. Jay Lethal could be of help in the midcard, but who knows what's going on with him right now.
And it's funny to me that Lio's statement says that this isn't a diversity issue but a racial insensitivity issue, when Swole specifically mentioned diversity as a concern and TK (sloppily, stupidly) responded factually on that level while saying nothing about her being a black woman. I guess the diversity argument falters a bit when you realize that 7 or their 21 champions since the inception of the company are non-white, including 3 of the 4 women's champions (with a 4th hopefully coming down the pipeline to end the division's Britt Baker focus) and 3 of the 8 tag champions (and the Lucha Bros have been designated show closers for them the past month or so. Given how long their TV tapings are, that's a lot of faith TK's showing in them. The other person in that slot over the same length of time, by the way? Adam Cole. That says something). If you want your company to at least reflect the demographics of the US, that's a pretty damn good track record. They're still trying to position Scorp for SOMETHING despite his lack of fitness for that top line spot. Dante and Top Flight are in line for a push. Lee Moriarty is a huge prospect for the future that needs to figure out a character for himself. Starks has an hour to get himself over on commentary on Rampage and is about to be pushed with Hobbs. Jade is the most over pushed person relative to talent level in the world and Red Velvet has some untapped potential that I THINK the company sees. Tons of minority indie talent get looks on Dark and the booker of said talent is Shawn Dean. They certainly aren't perfect, but they're trying, and all I ask is that you try and not throw these men and women aout there to die before they're ready (Brandi, funny because she's basically doing it to herself).
I dunno. Maybe I just don't expect this company to be booked for specifically for the preferences of black people or, everything forbid, myself, so I just don't get up in arms about it like others do. As long as minorities get a solid platform to get themselves over, prove their worth, and possibly show that they deserve to be on that main event level without being treated like jokes, I'm satisfied. And I think AEW has at least TRIED to do that.
With all that said, TK has GOT to do something about his Twitter fingers and eternally thin skin.
Art Barr
INVADING SOHH CHAMPION
Hitman's Shades
Pro
Again, the talent is not there, and you have to deal with the realities of what is available to you. They had a bunch of black talent that either weren't ever going to be at the main event level for a national promotion or need development to get there (I'm thinking specifically of a guy like Hobbs here for the latter. Credible, solid in the ring, loads of potential but still in need of refinement and TV reps). Thus, you don't see a lot of guys like that at the top of the card (and it's not for a lack of trying either...but Scorpio Sky is most definitely not the guy to hitch your wagon to). Maybe a Keith Lee or a Shane Strickland mitigates this a bit and buys them time for a Starks or Hobbs to get to that next level, we'll just have to see. Jay Lethal could be of help in the midcard, but who knows what's going on with him right now.
And it's funny to me that Lio's statement says that this isn't a diversity issue but a racial insensitivity issue, when Swole specifically mentioned diversity as a concern and TK (sloppily, stupidly) responded factually on that level while saying nothing about her being a black woman. I guess the diversity argument falters a bit when you realize that 7 or their 21 champions since the inception of the company are non-white, including 3 of the 4 women's champions (with a 4th hopefully coming down the pipeline to end the division's Britt Baker focus) and 3 of the 8 tag champions (and the Lucha Bros have been designated show closers for them the past month or so. Given how long their TV tapings are, that's a lot of faith TK's showing in them. The other person in that slot over the same length of time, by the way? Adam Cole. That says something). If you want your company to at least reflect the demographics of the US, that's a pretty damn good track record. They're still trying to position Scorp for SOMETHING despite his lack of fitness for that top line spot. Dante and Top Flight are in line for a push. Lee Moriarty is a huge prospect for the future that needs to figure out a character for himself. Starks has an hour to get himself over on commentary on Rampage and is about to be pushed with Hobbs. Jade is the most over pushed person relative to talent level in the world and Red Velvet has some untapped potential that I THINK the company sees. Tons of minority indie talent get looks on Dark and the booker of said talent is Shawn Dean. They certainly aren't perfect, but they're trying, and all I ask is that you try and not throw these men and women aout there to die before they're ready (Brandi, funny because she's basically doing it to herself).
I dunno. Maybe I just don't expect this company to be booked for specifically for the preferences of black people or, everything forbid, myself, so I just don't get up in arms about it like others do. As long as minorities get a solid platform to get themselves over, prove their worth, and possibly show that they deserve to be on that main event level without being treated like jokes, I'm satisfied. And I think AEW has at least TRIED to do that.
With all that said, TK has GOT to do something about his Twitter fingers and eternally thin skin.
Lio specifically was talking about how when black people speak on micro-aggressions or diversity issues, they are often told "they are not good enough", which historically black people have been told forever/put in place forever when daring to speak up in workplace environments, when we know that to not be true when the playing field is even. So yes, that is a racial insensitivity issue because apparently TK responded on her wrestling ability without taking any of that into context. Swole is not the best technician but she has a lot of charisma. She was not the worse wrestler there, especially in their women's division. She had a perfectly fine feud with Britt Baker that helped get her over, so she has ability.
Swole used the term "diversity" but really the argument is AEW having male black talent at its' upper level (which you speak about in your response as lacking in AEW.) Swole made a point that wrestling is scripted behavior, so to many other black fans (many here as well) that have made the same argument, this does not hold water. TK said from day 1, he knew he was going to make Hangman Page AEW World Champion. Page has ALWAYS been treated like a high card guy since the beginning. Goldberg, Drew McIntire, Ron Simmons, Jinder Mahal, JBL, Ultimate Warrior, etc. were all people that have were either new to a company and come in on top or were given an immediate push to get them over quickly. Again, compare Darby Allin or MJF to Ricky Starks. If Ricky had time to get over like the other two, he could be as over as MJF. Compare Hobbs to Wardlow. Wardlow is not putting over guys a lot smaller than him at the rate Hobbs has. Compare Sammy Guevara (whom I think is sloppy still... see the match with Lethal) to Dante Martin. 2.0 and Daniel Garcia are on my TV every day, sometimes picking up wins but I see rarely Private Party or Lio Rush, Shawn Dean, etc. Compare O'Reilly and Fish entering AEW and being in a top angle to Lio Rush, who was in WWE and can wrestle as good as either of them. None of those black wrestlers have been protected the way their non-black contemporaries have in AEW. Hell compare Adam Cole's starting off in AEW to Jay Lethal's. Both had great reactions at PPV's when they were announced. Cole gets to be on national TV every week, Lethal is on Dark. (Yes I know about Lethal's allegations, but Darby has the same allegations and they use him all the time.) These are facts. Again, it goes into what Swole was saying about lack of TV time with such a bloated roster gives TV time on the main shows a premium, and too routinely that time has not been given to the women or the black wrestlers, and the black wrestlers are not protected or given time to get over to become upper card guys at the same rate as their white counterparts.
AEW has tried with their talent to get black male wrestlers over, but they can do better. Again, why do black people have to be the "perfect negro" to be pushed while their white counterparts don't?
One last point: AEW has a lot of top factions. How many black wrestlers are in any of these factions? The Elite (none), Pinnacle (none), Inner Circle (Santana and Ortiz are PR, and deserve a title run which they have not got while putting on great matches consistently), Best Friends (none), Team Tazz (Starks and Hobbs... they lost steam jobbing out to Sting and Darby), Dark Order doesn't even have any brothers or sisters! Black talent isn't good enough to be Alan 5 Angels or 10? Come on now.
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Lio Rush couldn't even get Swole an apology before folding and taking the soup.
didn't Tony Khan already use Lio Rush as a pawn not too long ago on some diversity shyt ?? when people were talking about how many black people held belts in WWE at the time and he went on twitter like "I just spoke to Lio Rush on the phone"
all the others jumping to defend him just in case they get even less screen time than they already get.
their signings indicate there will be no black champions for years at least on he male side but Jade def getting that goofy ass second womens belt now.
its clear AEW don't care about having a black fanbase and the majority of their 35-40 year old cult like fanbase don't have an interest in black wrestlers like that. they want the indie darlings they loved years ago all in the same company doing corny shyt with the Young Bucks and having the same matches just a bit more washed this time around.
nobody called that little fakkit racist but thats what he and the AEW fanbase took it as and thats what people should know what they're dealing with.
I'm not familiar with Swole's work but I found Tony Khan shytting on her ability funny because 90% of the women on that roster wouldn't get near WWE television unless they were getting squashed and their champion and star of their women's division is bad. theres no PC for them to get better either.
shout out your man Darius Lockhart (he'd be a star in NXT 2.0)
didn't Tony Khan already use Lio Rush as a pawn not too long ago on some diversity shyt ?? when people were talking about how many black people held belts in WWE at the time and he went on twitter like "I just spoke to Lio Rush on the phone"
all the others jumping to defend him just in case they get even less screen time than they already get.
their signings indicate there will be no black champions for years at least on he male side but Jade def getting that goofy ass second womens belt now.
its clear AEW don't care about having a black fanbase and the majority of their 35-40 year old cult like fanbase don't have an interest in black wrestlers like that. they want the indie darlings they loved years ago all in the same company doing corny shyt with the Young Bucks and having the same matches just a bit more washed this time around.
nobody called that little fakkit racist but thats what he and the AEW fanbase took it as and thats what people should know what they're dealing with.
I'm not familiar with Swole's work but I found Tony Khan shytting on her ability funny because 90% of the women on that roster wouldn't get near WWE television unless they were getting squashed and their champion and star of their women's division is bad. theres no PC for them to get better either.
shout out your man Darius Lockhart (he'd be a star in NXT 2.0)
so only short skinny pale cacs are draws now???