The All Elite Wrestling (AEW) women’s champion and transgender trailblazer Nyla Rose and her wife tag-teamed a transphobic man in the crowd and a commentator who defended him.
Towards the end of the AEW Dynamite: Holiday Bash broadcast on Wednesday night, a man in the front row flashed a homemade sign that read:
“Nyla Rose is this guy’s dad.”
It also had an arrow pointing to the right of him.
Another fan caught a video of the moment Rose came into the ring to begin her TBS Championship tournament semifinal match against Ruby Soho.
The fan tweeted out the video and tagged the AEW, TNT Drama and Warner Brothers.
"Hey @AEW have you ejected this transphobe yet?"
"Has he been banned from all future events for bringing a transphobic sign and holding it up in front a trans woman during a live televised event?"
"Is @tntdrama aware? Has @warnerbros been notified?"
Hey @AEW have you ejected this transphobe yet? Has he been banned from all future events for bringing a transphobic sign and holding it up in front a trans woman during a live televised event? Is @tntdrama aware? Has @warnerbros been notified? #AEWDynamitepic.twitter.com/pcHVMqUzTA— \ud835\ude7f\ud835\ude8a\ud835\ude9d\ud835\ude8c\ud835\ude91\ud835\ude8e\ud835\ude9c \ud835\ude72\ud835\ude91\ud835\ude8a\ud835\ude97\ud835\ude8c\ud835\ude8e (@\ud835\ude7f\ud835\ude8a\ud835\ude9d\ud835\ude8c\ud835\ude91\ud835\ude8e\ud835\ude9c \ud835\ude72\ud835\ude91\ud835\ude8a\ud835\ude97\ud835\ude8c\ud835\ude8e) 1640225349
Rose took a second to read the sign and casually flipped the middle finger at the man before hopping into the ring.
Kel, Rose's wife, tweeted a picture of the middle finger moment with the caption:
"My wife is the strongest person I know.”
My wife is the strongest person I knowpic.twitter.com/vCyqxFMej4— \ud83e\uddf5\ud83e\udea1Keleficent: Seamstress of all Evil\ud83e\udea1\ud83e\uddf5 (@\ud83e\uddf5\ud83e\udea1Keleficent: Seamstress of all Evil\ud83e\udea1\ud83e\uddf5) 1640227032
According to Outsports, Kel alerted security guards about the sign and the man was removed from the event. The man even tried to "disguise" himself by removing his hoody to avoid the consequences of his choices.
The AEW, among many other independent wrestling arenas, have adopted a fan code of conduct displayed at the top of the event. It says things like “treat all fans and staff with respect and courtesy” and no “foul, harassing or abusive language towards other fans or staff.”
Violations of the code means a fan will suffer “ejection without refund and potential loss of the ability to attend future events.”
Fixed this asshole's transphobic sign to be accurate\nImagine picking a fight with THE Nyla Rose?????? \n\n#AEWpic.twitter.com/cK60MERiG1— RevaShark The Herald Angels Sing (@RevaShark The Herald Angels Sing) 1640225698
But the bigotry didn't stop in the ring.
While fans of Rose were cheering her on, commentator Jim Cornette tweeted a not so hot take on the removal of the transphobic man and his sign.
Boy, times have changed. When wrestling drew big crowds, fans got tossed out if they committed physical assault or pulled out a knife. If you'd tossed them for saying horrible things & hurting the wrestlers' feelings, the buildings would have been empty--like they are now.https://twitter.com/Inside_TheRopes/status/1474007523078270976\u00a0\u2026— Jim Cornette (@Jim Cornette) 1640270008
While Cornette was spewing hate, Kel came back for round two.
Irrelevant boomer has another nostalgic moment about not being about to use the n-word anymore. There I fixed it for you.pic.twitter.com/88ApcTJXd5— \ud83e\uddf5\ud83e\udea1Keleficent: Seamstress of all Evil\ud83e\udea1\ud83e\uddf5 (@\ud83e\uddf5\ud83e\udea1Keleficent: Seamstress of all Evil\ud83e\udea1\ud83e\uddf5) 1640356903
Many other fans came to support Rose as well.
Was hoping you\u2019d Condem that fan sign. We live in a different time and have to accept everyone.— TorontoBwana (@TorontoBwana) 1640270082
Bruh I\u2019m a huge fan but this is a shit take— louie (@louie) 1640270130
pic.twitter.com/NAw00Mms8U— TrueTanker sitting in the cupola (@TrueTanker sitting in the cupola) 1640270195
I mean....that's a good thing. U saying u preferred it when wrestling crowds were full of homophobes, sexists, racists, etc?— Drinkmorewater (@Drinkmorewater) 1640270325
Also, it's totally that and not there's still an active pandemic going on and all according to him— LOMDR, Craft Dragon (@LOMDR, Craft Dragon) 1640358618
Smh this dude I tell you. It 2021 and he still think he lives in the 80's he needs to grow up.— Antoine Parrish (@Antoine Parrish) 1640359733
Back then, heels would be queer coded and made into stereotypes to get heat. The crowd would chant anti-gay slurs and the baby faces would get reactions by essentially committing a hate crime. Times have changed, and thank Gd they have.— Bionic Sean (@Bionic Sean) 1640361503
Nyla Rose flips off the rude transphobe, wrestles a fantastic match and goes back home to her loving wife, sick Twitch stream and wrestling fame... that's the energy we need in this worldhttps://twitter.com/kelthecelt/status/1473845111754797058\u00a0\u2026— Meikyu Dynamic! \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@Meikyu Dynamic! \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1640228035
There is no amount of bigotry you can spew that will undo the positive impact she has had on the wrestling business just by being on television.— Trans Graps (@Trans Graps) 1640271186
Kel followed up on the whole situation in a Twitter thread:
"The security team at AEW is absolutely amazing."
"The guy was escorted out."
"Just because it wasn’t fast enough for some of you, doesn’t mean they didn’t do their job."
"Their first priority it to protect the talent that is actively performing."
"They removed the a**hole with the sign as soon as they could."
"Neither myself nor Nyla would want them to not protect the other workers just because of one douche canoe holding a sign."
"He was dealt with; end of story. This is and always will be a Security Sam Stan account."
"Transphobes are gonna always be like this."
"After almost 10 year together, this is sadly something I’m used to seeing."
"It’s definitely become less over the years."
"All we have to do is keep holding them accountable and call them out."
"They fight back because they are p*ssed."
"That they are finally being called out on their bullsh*t."
"There is nothing they could say to me or Nyla that we haven’t heard 1000 times already."
Kel also thanked everyone for showing such incredible support for Rose.
She's happy people brought so much attention to the bigotry.
She continued:
"In life. I’m winning."
"She’s an internationally known wrestling star and my work is showcased every time she steps into a ring."
"We have a wonderful family and amazing friends. It honestly doesn’t get much better."
The love for Rose and Kel continues to pour out online.
