10 Wrestlers Who Were Critical Of AEW

5. Big Swole

Big Swole
AEW

Big Swole's All Elite Wrestling exit was all relatively harmonious, until it wasn't.

Leaving the company in late 2021 following what was confirmed by both Swole and Tony Khan to be a mutual decision not to renew her contract, her departure suggested a more cordial future for exiting talent than wrestlers had been used to from other North American promotions.

All of that went to sh*t when she offered some thoughts on diversity within AEW. In excellent long form detail, she provided a series of constructive comments that p*ssed Tony Khan off enough to bat the remarks back on Twitter in horribly misadvised fashion that only made the situation much worse.

She followed up expressing her disappointment, but Khan's comments brought far more attention onto the conversation that he'd likely ever imagined would be the case. Not least because he thoughtlessly chose to bring her skill level into things while a far more important issue was atop the agenda.

It speaks to both sides that things have gone quiet since the turn-of-the-year scuffle, but how AEW addresses some valid complaints in the future will determine just what it was all worth.

 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett