After a 2016 podcast clip of Sammy Guevara saying he wanted to “rape” Sasha Banks went around yesterday (June 22), Guevara tweeted an apology and spoke with Banks about the situation. They both issued statements about their conversation, and AEW suspended Guevara. They plan to revisit his employment status after he undergoes sensitivity training.
Today, Sammy released a YouTube video entitled “I’m sorry.” in place of his weekly vlog.
Okay, I just wanted to get on her real quick and say there’s gonna be no vlog today, and there’s gonna be no vlog for a while. I’m gonna take a hiatus from social media in general.
I just want to apologize to anybody I let down, to Sasha, to anybody I hurt with my words.
It just sucks because 2016 me is not me today. 2020 me would never say those kind of hurtful things that I did in 2016. I used to think it was funny to do some kind of shock humor to pop the room I’m in... I thought it would be funny, man, to do that kind of humor, this shock humor, and it’s not. I learned a lot - a lot has happened in four years of my life. I know a lot of people think four years isn’t that much time, but if you look at how much has happened to me in my life, from wrestling in the middle of nowhere in Texas to wrestling all around the world, to wrestling in different countries, to wrestling on TV for AEW - so much has happened in four years. And one of the things that’s happened is me growing, man, as a person.
I understand now that the words I say can impact people more than I’ll ever understand. They can hurt people more than I’ll ever realize. And that’s why you will not catch me saying those kinds of hurtful things now in 2020. 2016 me was a different me. And that’s not an excuse, I still said those things and I’ll still pay for those things. But that’s not me. And I think along these four years more than anything I feel like what I’ve done is I’ve grown as a person and have become better. And just know that whenever I do come back, I will be better. I’m gonna to do sensitivity training and I’m gonna be a better version of myself.
So again, sorry for anybody I let down, and to Sasha, and to anybody I hurt. I will be back. Until then, take it easy.
Short of inventing a time machine to go kick 2016 Sammy’s ass, I’m not sure what else he could have done. Guevara owns his actions, sincerely apologizes, and vows to improve as a person so he won’t make similarly hurtful mistakes going forward. Barring new instances of bad behavior, I’d imagine this earns him another shot with most people. We’ll certainly find out.
Here’s hoping the better Sammy who comes out the other side of this is a positive force in creating a more welcoming, supportive wrestling business for everyone.