All Elite Wrestling crowned their second ever Women’s Champion on the February 12th episode of Dynamite. Nyla Rose defeated Riho to capture the Championship and cement her place in the AEW history books. Not only is Nyla Rose the second ever Women’s Champion in the company but she is the first ever Transgender Women’s Champion for a major promotion in North America.
Men’s AEW Champion Chris Jericho brought Nyla Rose onto his Talk Is Jericho podcast this week. ‘Le Champion’ discussed with Rose about being trans and how she felt about training in pro wrestling. This whilst presenting as a male.
“All Of The Above” – Nyla Rose
Jericho asked Rose if she started training as a man, women or transgender. “All of the above, all of the above” Nyla Rose replied. “I was there male presenting, I was there in boy mode. I was playing a part. The biggest part I’ve ever played in my life; I was playing that part, I was trying to get over and can convince everybody of something that wasn’t true.”
Rose would then discussed the difficulty of presenting as male to her fellow trainees but then ‘becoming’ Nyla Rose in her own time. “But in my own time outside of training for wrestling, I was Nyla Rose. Just in my bedroom and my own life. The first time I went out fully dressed was to take the trash out. And you would have thought I run like a marathon or like went to the Grammys or something that is such an accomplishment to have, you know. Just walk, you know, eight feet.”
Training
Jericho asked Rose how her colleagues perceived her at the time. “They [the other performers] were just very confused about me” Rose replied. “They thought I was just very flamboyant you know? I come in singing show tunes. Very feminine qualities, but looking like this macho playboy type big woman.”
Embraced
Rose would conclude by saying how embraced she was by the pro wrestling community when she opted to transition. “I have to do this, I have to make the change. I wasn’t sure if there was a place for me in pro wrestling. But pro wrestling was like one of the first places that absolutely embraced me and took me in, it’s like, ‘hey guys like I need to tell you something,’ I just very sheepishly approached it .So I can’t work your show because I wear a bra now because I’m starting to develop breasts.’ They thought I was ribbing them at first, but when they [were] kind of like, ‘is this real? Like is this a rib?’ and I was like no this is legit I’m trans and I’m going to be living as a woman from here on out and they were just like ‘alright.’
You can check out Talk Is Jericho via the Westwood One Podcast Network here.
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