Nyla Rose in All Elite Wrestling: First trans wrestler to be signed by major league
Trans wrestler Nyla Rose has joined All Elite Wrestling.
All Elite Wrestling, the new professional wrestling company funded by billionaire Shahid Khan, has made history as the first major league to sign a transgender wrestler.
All Elite Wrestling, known by its acronym AEW, made the announcement that it has enlisted wrestler Nyla Rose on Thursday (February 7) at an event held at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Rose, based out of Washington, DC, appeared at the event on Thursday, getting into a heated exchange with fellow wrestler Kylie Rae.
Watch the exchange below:
Kylie Ray vs. Nyla Rose#DoubleOrNothing pic.twitter.com/9IB5vCIit4
— GIF Skull – #DoubleOrNothing Las Vegas (@GIFSkull) 8 February 2019
Nyla Rose joins All Elite Wrestling
AEW was formally announced in January with professional wrestlers Cody Rhodes, Nick and Matt Jackson and Kenny Omega partnering with Khan, and his son Tony Khan, to launch their own professional wrestling league to rival WWE.
Khan is the billionaire owner of the NFL team the Jacksonville Jaguars and English football team Fulham FC.
Rose confirmed she has joined AEW on Twitter on Thursday. She posted an image of the AEW logo and wrote: “Oh it’s true alright.”
Oh it’s true alright pic.twitter.com/6DL0nfsfX2
— Nyla Rose (@NylaRoseBeast) 8 February 2019
Fans on Twitter have been speculating that Rose’s confrontation with Rae could lead to a match at AEW’s second ever event, Double or Nothing, which will air live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 25.
AEW is rumoured to have a major television deal impending in the US, too.
Nyla Rose brings trans representation to wrestling
LGBT+ representation in professional wrestling has been sparse over the years, but there has been more inclusion in recent history.
WWE currently features an openly lesbian wrestler, Sonya Deville (real name Daria Berenato), on its SmackDown Live show.
Deville said she feels a responsibility to be a role model for young viewers who may be afraid of their own sexuality.
“My goal in talking about my sexuality publicly is just so that a scared little girl or little boy can see me do it and think, ‘Wow, if she did it, then maybe it’s OK that I do it,'” Deville told Sky Sports in November.
“It’s to encourage people to be themselves. Equality for all is what we should all want, between race, religion, gender, sexuality… it doesn’t matter.
“We’re all equal and we should treat each other as such.”
