Aaron Rourke is not going to let faceless internet trolls ruin his moment, as he decided to put them all in their place.
The WWE Evolve Champion took to Twitter after a wave of Pride-related discourse around his name and made it clear he is not letting faceless accounts or people chasing attention get under his skin. Rourke said the insults do not bother him because he is living the dream he has had since he was a kid.
“Truly humored that these ‘people’ think their hollow words and insults can hurt me. I’m living my dream. Doing everything I wanted to do since I was 5 and what are you doing? Writing hate comments behind a faceless avatar or using my name to get you some views. Pathetic. 💅✨”
The tweet came one day after Val Venis criticized WWE’s Pride representation on Twitter and included a photo of Rourke in the tweet. Venis claimed WWE could lose revenue if it caters to LGBTQ fans and Pride-related visibility.
“𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗧: This PRIDE CRAP will cost WWE a lot in revenue if they decide to start catering to that crowd. PRIDE fatigue is very real. Rational folks are tired of this propaganda.”
Rourke’s tweet did not mention Venis by name, so it is not fair to say he was directly responding to him. Still, the timing lines up with Venis’ post and the broader online criticism surrounding Rourke, who is openly part of the LGBTQ community and currently holding the WWE Evolve Championship.
Rourke has been having a strong run as champion and most recently retained his title against Tristan Angels on NXT. While the online discourse around Pride representation keeps getting loud, Rourke’s message was pretty simple: he is focused on his career, not anonymous hate or people using his name for attention.
At the end of the day, Aaron Rourke is still champion, still representing himself proudly, and still doing what he dreamed of doing since childhood. Whether the post was aimed at one person, several critics, or the wider noise online, Rourke made it clear the hate is not stopping him.
What do you think about Aaron Rourke’s message after the Pride-related backlash? Should wrestlers call out online hate, or ignore it completely? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.