Former WWE Superstar Val Venis recently made headlines for criticising All Elite Wrestling for "portraying a biological MAN winning the Womens championship." That's obviously a reference to Nyla Rose, the first openly transgender wrestler in a major promotion who won the title during last week's
Dynamite.
Now, AEW EVP Cody Rhodes has responded to those comments and made it clear that there's no way the company would ever consider working with the once very popular WWE Superstar in future.
"It's just disappointing," he said during a recent conference call. "If you're somebody that grew up liking Val Venis – he's kinda like the Disco Inferno of WWE as I don't think anyone really knows who Val Venis is anymore – but it's disappointing. I don't think he actually means the terrible things he put in writing; I think he's just trying to get a booking."
"We're not booking Val Venis and you're not gonna be booked anywhere near us," he continued. "I'm not giving Val Venis any oxygen when it comes to Nyla Rose. Nyla won the championship because she was the best woman at AEW and that's just it. I think we should all just stop hitting the ball back to those people. It's 2020 and everybody should love everybody."
This seems like the best possible response, and while Venis is entitled to his opinion, it's not one he should have shared in such a public forum and one that's unlikely to see him get any positive press (at least not from anyone decent).
Oh, and that Disco Inferno reference might just be the best insult Cody could have used!