By Jeremiah Ancheta
The last few years has seen a rise of trans representation in the media. For instance, Mj Rodriguez is a trans woman who is known for her role as Blanca Evangelista on Pose, and became the first transgender person to win a Golden Globe Award for that role. Laverne Cox is also another notable transgender actress, playing Sophia Burset in Orange is the New Black and being “the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy Award in any acting category.” The rise of trans representation in the media has also been found in the world of professional wrestling.
In his book HOOKER, Lou Thesz states that the art of professional wrestling can be traced back to the mid 1800s. However, professional wrestling first became a mainstream success with the rise of cable television, according to an article by Bleacher Report. With a boom in the popularity of professional wrestling on television, larger than life icons were introduced to the world, from Golden Era characters such as Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan, to the likes of modern day celebrities such as Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and John Cena.
In recent years, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has become the largest professional wrestling promotion in the world, getting an average viewership of over 1.5 million on a weekly basis on its flagship show Monday Night Raw. Other notable pro-wrestling promotions include Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Despite not being as mainstream as WWE, these promotions still have a large fanbase and have their content aired on television as well to hundreds of thousands of people.
Despite the long history of professional wrestling, not a single transgender wrestler was to be found in any of these large wrestling promotions. However, this lack of trans representation in professional wrestling took a turn with the establishment of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2019, which has quickly become the second largest American professional wrestling promotion behind WWE. Soon after its creation, AEW signed trans professional wrestler Nyla Rose, “becoming the first major wrestling promotion to sign a transgender competitor” according to Sports Illustrated.
On May 25, 2019, Nyla went on to be featured in AEW’s first women’s match at the inaugural pay-per-view event Double or Nothing. Since then, she went on to play a major role for AEW’s women’s division.
On August, 31, 2019, AEW held the pay-per-view event All Out. During the event, the AEW Women’s World Championship belt was revealed and it was announced that the champion would be crowned on the first episode of AEW’s weekly television show Dynamite that would later take place on October 2, 2019. The competitors for the first AEW Women’s World Championship were determined at the All Out event – one of them being Nyla Rose who earned the chance by winning a Battle Royale that involved 20 other women. The other competitor for the Women’s World Championship was Riho, who earned her chance by defeating Hikaru Shida.
On October 2, 2019, AEW broadcast its first Dynamite episode, which featured Nyla Rose competing against Riho to crown the first AEW Woman’s World Championship. The match went on for 13 minutes, with Riho ultimately winning the belt. Despite Nyla’s loss, she continued to be a prominently featured star on Dynamite, picking up wins over other notable talent such as Leva Bates, Penelope Ford, and Britt Baker.
However, on the February 12, 2020 edition of Dynamite, Nyla went on to face Riho again for the championship, this time defeating her to become AEW’s second Woman’s World Champion, and more importantly, the first trans professional wrestler to be a world champion in any major promotion. Nyla went on to have a reign of 101 days, successfully defending the belt against Kris Statlander at the 2020 Revolution event, and losing the belt to Hikaru Shida at the 2020 Double or Nothing.
Despite being away from the championship scene, Nyla continues to find success in AEW. As of writing this post, Nyla has a fantastic match record of 60 wins and 23 losses in her AEW career. Recently, current AEW Woman’s World Champion Britt Baker successfully defended her title against Thunder Rosa at AEW’s 2022 Revolution event and has a current reign of over 280 days. Perhaps Nyla Rose could make a return to the championship scene and reclaim the belt. Maybe Nyla could go after the AEW TBS Championship held by Jade Cargill, who is undefeated in her AEW Career with 28 wins, and end Jade’s winning streak to become the new TBS Champion.
Nyla Rose has played a major role in trans representation in professional wrestling. From being the first trans wrestler signed to a major promotion, being featured in AEW’s first women’s match, competing in a match to crown the first AEW Women’s World Championship, and eventually claiming the title for herself and becoming the first trans professional wrestler to be a world champion in any promotion. We look forward to seeing Nyla Rose and her continued success in 2022.