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AEW's Tony Khan discusses decision to end Sammy Guevara's suspension

Posted: Jul 24th 2020 By: Josh Nason

In an interview released Thursday, AEW president and creative lead Tony Khan talked with Sports Illustrated about his decision to bring Sammy Guevera back on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite, ending his 30-day suspension.

Khan confirmed that the suspension was unpaid with his salary being donated to the Women’s Center of Jacksonville. Khan said Guevara had to "earn" his reinstatement by taking sensitivity training.

“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," he said.

The 26-year-old was suspended indefinitely on June 22nd after an inappropriate comment he made on a 2016 podcast regarding Sasha Banks was revived on social media during the #SpeakingOut movement.

Khan said Guevara completed four weeks of "extensive sensitivity training" where he delved into "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."

Guevara returned to TV Wednesday as a surprise to close the show, rejoining his Inner Circle teammates in a beatdown of Jurassic Express. Khan said it was the right time to bring him 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. 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.”