Big Swole's "Line Is Still Open" For AEW & Tony Khan
Despite her late-2021 criticisms, Big Swole's phone isn't completely off the hook for AEW.
Despite the circumstances of her 2021 departure from All Elite Wrestling, Big Swole has said that her line for the promotion (and its president and founder, Tony Khan) remains open.
Swole broke the news of her imminent AEW farewell in November 2021. Stating that the two parties had come to the mutual agreement that her contract wouldn't be renewed, with its expiration date impending, Swole later cited AEW's perceived issues with diversity and representation when it comes to Black talent amongst her reasons for leaving.
Khan later responded to this by claiming he had let Swole go as he "felt her wrestling wasn't good enough", drawing understandable flak.
Now, in a new interview for The Sessions, Swole has told host Renee Paquette that she wasn't looking to burn bridges on her way out of AEW, but to tell the truth (h/t WrestlingNews.co):-
“I still have love for the people there at AEW. I still have friends and everything like that. I’m supportive. I still watch their matches and everything. Everything that went down kind of just went as a surprise for me. I didn’t necessarily know he (Tony Khan) was going to react like that, but I mean, that’s just his God given right. But my line is still open for T.K., for AEW, because I don’t like to burn any bridges. I just like to tell the truth.”
Continuing, Swole said she felt that her words were exaggerated, with people working to invalidate rather than understand them:-
“These are my opinions, these are my experiences, and I feel like they shouldn’t have been blown out of proportion as much as they have. I feel like people were doing more invalidating than actually actively listening and comprehending what I was saying. So in a sense of where my relationship is with certain fans, it’s kind of like, no, but as far as AEW, I just really wish them the best because I don’t want anybody getting out of a job.”
Swole has worked two independent shows since wrestling her last AEW match in September 2021, most notably facing Tasha Steelz for the Impact Knockouts Championship at GCW For The Culture over WrestleMania 38 weekend.