AEW President Tony Khan spoke with Sports Illustrated about the return of Sammy Guevara from suspension on last night’s Dynamite on TNT. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
Says Sammy completed four weeks of sensitivity training and was not paid for an entire month:
Sammy completed four weeks of extensive sensitivity training, and his curriculum included subject matters of tolerance, gender, race relations, and why people’s words matter. During his suspension, he was very contrite. I asked him to use that time to try and become a better person, and I think he did. Sammy was off television for a month and suspended without pay for 30 days, and I think it was the right time for Sammy to come back because he’s shown that he’s very sorry and that he can change. He’s spent every day over the past month trying to prove that.
Reiterates that Sammy’s pay was donated to the Women’s Center of Jacksonville:
The Women’s Center of Jacksonville put out a very nice statement about how this terrible situation has turned into a positive. Sammy completed the entire curriculum we put out in front of him. He was clearly committed to change.
Believes Sammy made the necessary strides to keep his job and make an amends:
I meant what I said about re-evaluating his status with the company based on his conduct. Sammy needed to make a lot of strides to keep his job and make amends for stuff he shouldn’t have said. None of us knew he said those things, and it’s stuff that was years old, but that doesn’t make it right. I think Sammy was very happy to have an opportunity to apologize, publicly and privately, and do something to turn a terrible comment he made into something positive.