Welcome to the Squared Circle Podcast! I am your host Marie Shadows! I'm kicking season 3 off with a bang! I finally give my thoughts about The TK Incident that happened on NEW YEARS EVE OF 2021!
The Devil You Know Is Better Than The Devil You Don't Know.
Big Swole shared her experience throughout her AEW employment. She shared good times and a big picture of frustrations with the women's division, and she was selfless to do everything asked of her, yet her experience got dismissed with Tony Khan, president of All Elite Wrestling, switching up the narrative. He listed the POC wrestlers - using them as shields - bashed her wrestling and promoted AEW Rampage. What kind of "Leader" "Boss" "Booker" does that? Even in the corporate world, professionalism knows where to draw the line. Tony Khan felt the need to negate everything, change the narrative, and send his faithful after Swole to create this divide.
It's a long episode; I have a lot to say. If you heard me on Tama's Island I was heated. This is a continuation but a calmer version. I would like this episode to be a learning experience and I question everything about TK and give perspectives. I'm unapologetic.
I talked about this for 1 hour because I'm giving different perspectives such as:
Why didn't the AEW women come to Big Swole's aid on the grounds of: how dare you talk this about a woman, a female athlete who's taken bumps for the business all while dealing Crohn's disease, a selfless soul who was nicknamed Mama Swole, and just in general of not dismissing her comments?
Everyone in AEW does multiple jobs. That's against labor laws; they are overworked and have many, many accidents and mistakes during their matches. A wrestler shouldn't be a coordinator for a rosters problem. It's okay to hire a team for this; you can get able workers from agencies.
If TK really wanted to work in wrestling, why did it take him so long to do? Why didn't he go around the local indies in Florida (there's more there than NYC) and talk to a promoter to ask how to get started. I started from the ground up and I've built this brand myself without giving up on wrestling live. If TK did that route, you know pay his dues, then he would know that rule number 1 is not to burry talent no matter if they are working for your or not.
Then I discuss my experience of feeling that same dismissal during my career. Asshole men.