Records obtained by Wrestlenomics show that the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission told AEW in January that the governing body was considering a rule change that would allow transgender wrestlers to participate in matches in the state.
The commission warned AEW earlier this year for allowing Nyla Rose, who is a transgender woman, to participate in a match against Alejandra Lion at the Dec. 20, 2023, AEW taping in Oklahoma City.
Records obtained through a public records request show that Commission Administrator Joe Miller notified AEW SVP Chris Harrington on Jan. 4 that OSAC viewed AEW to violate its rules which state that the commission doesn’t allow matches “between males and females,” and that it defines a male participant as a person “of the heterogametic sex born with XY chromosomes” and a female participate as “a person of the homogametic sex with XX chromosomes.”
Miller noted at the end of his email to Harrington, however:
“For your information the Commission is currently in discussion to possibly change this rule. However if it is determined by the Commission that the rule should be changed it will have to go thru [sic] the legislative process for rule-making and would not be in effect until July 2024.”
Record of email messages obtained through a public records request made by Wrestlenomics to the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission
OSAC’s official website lists a commission meeting scheduled for Jul. 10 at the Oklahoma Commons Building.
An automated email response indicated that Miller retired from his position in March. Records indicate Diana Fletcher is now the Commission Administrator.
We contacted Fletcher for comment on this story to clarify what rule change is being considered and whether the rule change being discussed, if enacted, would allow transgender wrestlers to participate in matches against wrestlers of the same gender identity.
OSAC responded on Wednesday afternoon, through Oklahoma Assistant Attorney General Mackenzie Hill, who gave us the following statement:
“Ms. Fletcher does not wish to comment at this time on the ongoing matters related to the December 2023 AEW event or the specific rules pertaining to intergender exhibitions or matches. Any actions taken to rules under the jurisdiction of the Commission must be done consistently with timeline and actions prescribed by the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act and the Oklahoma Office of Administrative Rules Regulations on Rulemaking. An agenda for the July 10, 2024 public meeting will be made available to the public consistent with the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, which will prescribe the items of business to be discussed/considered by the Commission during that meeting.”
Miller’s Jan. 4 email to Harrington also said: “Your reply to this email constitutes whether or not you intend to make this correction or if you prefer to state your case in a Commission hearing.”
Harrington replied later that day, adding members of AEW’s legal team to the email and saying they would reply by Jan. 8.
AEW’s Associate General Counsel, Alissa Harrington wrote a short email back to the commission on Jan. 8: “AEW agrees to the correction. If you have any further questions or concerns, please let Mr. Harrington and me know.”
In the interest of full disclosure, Chris Harrington originally coined our outlet’s “Wrestlenomics” name in 2013. He was the original host of the Wrestlenomics Radio podcast, which he and I co-hosted throughout 2017 and 2018. Wrestlenomics contacted him for comment on this story and he referred us to AEW’s public relations team.
The day before Miller’s email to Chris Harrington, the commission held a meeting, at which the members agreed to warn AEW “not to do this again or there will be punitive action made against them if they do.” The minutes memorializing the meeting record that “a transgender wrestler (born male) had a match with a female wrestler.”
Beyond the warning, it doesn’t appear that AEW was fined or otherwise further penalized for allowing Rose to wrestle in the state.
AEW ran another event in Oklahoma a few months later, in Tulsa on Feb. 21. Rose didn’t appear on that event, though she did participate in other matches taped for ROH HonorClub in the surrounding weeks. Based on Cagematch.net records, matches for ROH weren’t taped at the Tulsa event.
The commission was alerted to the issue by at least two people. Unified Wrestling Oklahoma was warned for having a transgender person wrestle at an event in March 2023. Records we obtained show Brandan Bulmer wrote to OSAC the day after the AEW event in Oklahoma City.
“Hey there! I just have a question, and by no means am I trying to start anything. But I just want to ask,” Bulmer wrote to commission representatives. “Nyla Rose performed on AEW last night at the paycom center. If you’re not familiar with her. She’s a trans woman who was born male and she wrestled in the first match of the night against a woman, Alejandra Lion.”
“Why was this allowed?” Bulmer asked. “As you know I was told I would be (as well as several others) suspended if it happened again under my watch.”
OSAC included, in response to our records request, a letter the commission sent in March 2023, warning Unified Wrestling Oklahoma for violating the rule concerning gender at an event in Oklahoma City on Mar. 11, 2023.
We sent an email to an address listed on the Facebook page for Bulmer’s Unified Wrestling Oklahoma, seeking comment. Our message wasn’t responded to.
The commission was also alerted to the issue of Rose’s participation in Oklahoma City from an email from Caleb White, a former wrestler and promoter in Oklahoma.
White wrote a lengthy email to the commission, also on the day after the AEW event, Dec. 21.
“The rule appears to have been violated. While I appreciate large promotions boosting the state’s revenue and providing fans with top-tier talent, the commission must ensure uniformity in enforcing regulations, regardless of the promotion’s size or revenue,” White wrote. “Given the violation appropriate penalties are mandated.”
White urged the commission to enforce its rules consistently, noting that other promotions had been penalized for violating the rule regarding gender.
“It’s worth noting that in 2022, a female-to-male transgender competitor was denied a license as a male due to this statute,” White wrote in December. “If we overlook this violation due to the significant revenue AEW brings, it could be perceived as a government agency bribe, contravening Oklahoma law §21-97.”
When asked, White didn’t know the name of the person who he says was denied a license.
Konner Vaughn is a transgender man who became a licensed wrestler in Oklahoma in 2022, however, he wasn’t able to have matches against men because of the commission’s rules.
“At first, I thought my process to obtain my license would be straightforward and easy like everyone else’s,” Vaughn told us. “I did my bloodwork through my doctor and did not know that when they sent it over to OSAC, that it [showed] that I am a transgender male underneath the ‘Gender’ labeling.
Vaughn says he soon received an email from OSAC’s then-Administrator Joe Miller, saying Vaughn needed to be made aware of rules in place for transgender wrestlers.
Miller told Vaughn about the OSAC rule related to gender which states:
The Commission will not approve sanctioning permits between human participants and non-humans or between males and females. A male participant is a person of the heterogametic sex born with XY chromosomes. A female participant is a person born of the homogametic sex with XX chromosomes.
According to Vaughn, Miller told him, “The Commission is responsible for all promoters as well as [ensuring] participants are in compliance with our rules. Please make sure you are in compliance with this rule. Ultimately it is the responsibility of the promoter as well as the participant to ensure compliance of this rule.”
Vaughn says he asked OSAC to politely reconsider, and they have not answered any of his emails.
Because of the commission’s policy concerning transgender wrestlers, Vaughn isn’t currently involved in wrestling.
“OSAC’s current standings on the rules are why I stepped away fully,” Vaughn said. “It was soul-crushing for sure.”
We followed up with White, who wrote back to us in an email and said he believes the commission has a place in overseeing wrestling in Oklahoma, which he realizes is an unpopular opinion. He says a show in 2017 led by untrained wrestlers resulted in a young man’s death, referring to Will Ogletree who died of injuries suffered at a wrestling event in Oklahoma City that year.
White says transgender wrestlers should be allowed to perform in Oklahoma, though.
“Transgender wrestling is such a red tape subject for better or worse — but I think in today’s day you can’t deny it, because it’s simulated combat, so realistically most risk should be removed,” White said, “But not everyone in the [OSAC] board has any idea what pro wrestling actually is so they lump it with boxing and MMA. That’s idiotic.”
“My issue was that I heard by third party a transgender athlete (female-to-male) was denied a license as a male because of the gender they were assigned at birth,” White added. “But because they were honest and upforth about that, they were denied. Nyla Rose likely had no idea about the draconian statute so they turned their license in as normal, identifying as a woman because that’s what their choosing.”
After the publication of this article, White asked that we add this comment from him: “I just want to emphasize, I’m not coming down on trans [people in] wrestling. More so, rules should be enforced with uniformity, or they should be cast out entirely — or wrestling should be given its own rulebook.”
Logan Knight is an independent wrestler based in Oklahoma who’s been outspoken about his issues with the commission. He and other wrestlers had their wrestling licenses suspended after they wrestled on an unlicensed show held on a Native American Reservation. Knight and others pushed back and had their suspensions lifted.
“Back when the Nyla rose story dropped I was able to rally a lot of attention on X and Facebook,” Knight told us, “from not only local talents but AEW [talents] and bigger indie talents who helped me mass email and text and write letters, not of threats but expressing disgust with the transgender and intergender wrestling rules put into place.”
OSAC’s rules state that any interested person can petition the commission to change its rules with a written letter.
92:1-7-2. Petitions for rule making
(a) Form. Any interested person may request the Commission to adopt, amendment, or repeal a rule. A request shall be in the form of a letter.
(b) Contents. The letter shall state the nature of the request, the reasons for the request, and be signed by the person, firm, or corporation making the request, or his attorney.
(c) Form and content. All such requests shall be in writing, and be filed with the Administrator at the principal office. The requests shall state, clearly and concisely, all matters pertaining to the requested action and the reasons for the request.
(d) Consideration of requests. Requests concerning rules will be considered by the Commission at its next regularly scheduled meeting or at a special meeting. The Commission may, in its discretion, postpone the discussion and ruling on the request until the next regular or special meeting and shall notify all parties of such postponement. Upon hearing the requests, the Commission will notify the requester whether the Commission will consider rule-making action.
92:1-7-2. Petitions for rule making
(a) Form. Any interested person may request the Commission to adopt, amendment, or repeal a rule. A request shall be in the form of a letter.
(b) Contents. The letter shall state the nature of the request, the reasons for the request, and be signed by the person, firm, or corporation making the request, or his attorney.
(c) Form and content. All such requests shall be in writing, and be filed with the Administrator at the principal office. The requests shall state, clearly and concisely, all matters pertaining to the requested action and the reasons for the request.
(d) Consideration of requests. Requests concerning rules will be considered by the Commission at its next regularly scheduled meeting or at a special meeting. The Commission may, in its discretion, postpone the discussion and ruling on the request until the next regular or special meeting and shall notify all parties of such postponement. Upon hearing the requests, the Commission will notify the requester whether the Commission will consider rule-making action.
As for making or changing rules, the OSAC rules say that power is with the commission, presumably meaning the rules could be changed when members meet on July 10.
92:1-7-1. Rulemaking
The Commission may adopt, amend, or repeal a rule of its own initiative, at the request of the Administrator, or upon a petition filed under the APA.
We asked AEW public relations representatives in an email if there is anything the company can do or has already done to provide input to OSAC on a possible rule change that would allow Nyla Rose and other transgender wrestlers to participate in wrestling events in Oklahoma in the future. AEW hasn’t replied yet to our request for comment.
AEW CEO Tony Khan in a media call on Apr. 10 expressed support for Rose and his disappointment with the commission.
“I was disappointed by the Commission’s position and by that warning,” Khan said on the call last month. “I don’t think we did anything wrong. I’m really, really shocked by it. I don’t think there should be discrimination against transgender wrestlers or transgender people at all. They have rights, and to that end, I absolutely stand by Nyla Rose. AEW stands behind Nyla Rose and all transgender people who want to play sports.”
Khan was asked in a follow-up if AEW would be returning to Oklahoma in light of the issue with transgender wrestlers. He was noncommittal. As noted earlier, AEW went ahead with its planned event in Tulsa in February, which was after the company had been warned. To date, no future AEW events in Oklahoma have been announced.
At the independent level, Vaughn is hoping to return to wrestling in Oklahoma if the rules are changed.
“As of right now, I am not active with any promotions, but I am hoping to one day return in any way, shape, and form,” Vaughn said.
“If they were welcoming to people like me in Oklahoma,” he added, “I would be training regularly and at any event I could. It would be hard to keep me away!”
Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.