Nyla Rose believes the Oklahoma controversy may not have been the first time her gender identity cost her a wrestling opportunity — it may have simply been the first time somebody made it obvious enough for her to know what was happening.
During her interview with Denise Salcedo, the former AEW Women’s World Champion had already unloaded on the Oklahoma Athletic Commission over the December 2023 situation involving her wrestling in the state. That led Salcedo to ask whether Rose had ever experienced anything similar during her years on the independent wrestling scene. Nyla’s answer was pretty chilling because she believes it probably happened — she just wasn’t always told why.
“I’m I’m sure I have. I’m sure I have, but I probably did not know because it wasn’t so uh bold and blatant, right?”
Rose then pointed to past situations where promoters suddenly stopped communicating with her or gave her explanations that simply didn’t add up. According to Rose, the difference now is that she believes some people feel much more comfortable openly expressing what they previously may have tried to hide.
“Um there there definitely have been times I’ve been left on red or given like answers and reasons that didn’t quite add up and I think that was just people kind of like tiptoeing around the delicate nature of things.”
“Uh but with certain regime in charge, people feel very emboldened now to just kind of speak their hateful heart. And I think that’s that’s a big part of what happened in Oklahoma.”
Rose didn’t put every person involved in Oklahoma into the same box, however. She acknowledged that some people may have simply been following regulations because they didn’t want to get themselves into trouble.
“Um, and and to Oklahoma’s credit, maybe not all the way, right? Because a lot of them do have to follow what the I guess legal guidelines are. So, they’re kind of just doing what they have to do so they don’t get in trouble.”
That left Rose viewing the entire Oklahoma mess as a combination of people protecting themselves and others who she believes genuinely had a problem with her.
“I think I think that’s one of those situations where it’s like a 50/50 split because at a certain point the government is involved in things when you have like the athletic commission because then that trickles down yada yada yada. Uh so I think it’s a very 50-50 mix between people uh trying to cover their ass and then just some people just being hateful and ignorant.”
That’s the brutal part of Rose’s story — she can point directly at what happened in Oklahoma because everything eventually came into the open, but she’ll probably never know how many other opportunities disappeared behind a vague excuse, an unanswered message or a promoter who simply decided it was easier not to tell her the real reason.
Do you think Nyla Rose’s experiences suggest wrestlers are sometimes quietly denied opportunities without ever being told the real reason? Let us know your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
