The AEW roster reacts to Tony Khan’s bad tweet about Big Swole & her diversity critique

On New Year’s Eve, when everyone’s focus would normally be elsewhere — and if everything had gone according to plan, AEW fans would have been focused on the violent delights of Rampage’s Street Fight between Anna Jay & Tay Conti and Penelope Ford & The Bunny — much of the wrestling world was talking about Tony Khan’s Twitter response to Big Swole’s criticism of his company’s diversity.

It was a topic of discussion among some on the AEW roster, too. Lio Rush, who spoke out about related issues during his time at WWE, was the most obviously angered by Khan’s tweet. He doesn’t specify whether it was TK’s choice to only respond to part of Swole’s longer comment in a 256 character post that ended with a plug for a wrestling show, his decision as an employer to disparage a former employee’s skills after previously praising them — giving the appearance he was now retaliating for her critique, or some other aspect of the AEW head honcho’s tweet.

But it’s clear what he thinks TK should do at this point...

Ricky Starks didn’t post anything to indicate if it was related to Khan’s tweet, but his Twitter is now deactivated. Nyla Rose admitted to being unsure of how to respond, and opted to try to ensure excitement was high for Dec. 31’s Street Fight and the women who made it happen:

Conti took a similar approach, but first did speak up for the company & her boss:

Without directly addressing the controversy around his tweet, Shawn Dean spoke up about his experience with AEW’s diversity efforts:

Something that Powerhouse Hobbs also did, before closing with a thought that could be directed at Swole, Khan, or both...

We’ll see if Khan choses to speak directly to the many responses to his tweet, or give a more thoughtful answer to the questions raised by Swole’s account of her experiences with AEW.