Posted in: AEW, Sports, TV | Tagged: aew, Hikaru Shida, willie urbina, wrestling

AEW Fires Announcer Willie Urbina for Mocking Hikaru Shida's Accent

AEW Spanish commentary team member Willie Urbina has been released by AEW after being caught mocking the accent of AEW Women's Champion Hikaru Shida on a hot mic during a commercial break on AEW Dynamite last night, according to a report from PW Insider. Though the incident occurred during a commercial break, AEW is broadcast without commercials on Fite TV outside the United States for subscribers of AEW Plus, so international viewers watching with Spanish commentary heard the whole thing, as captured in this tweet:

According to a translation by Cageside Seats, which first reported on the incident. Urbina announces that he will translate Shida's promo, only to launch into racist, stereotypical mimicry of an Asian language. Thunder Rosa, also on the Spanish commentary team along with Alex Abrahantes and Dasha Kuret, is heard laughing, though many on Twitter have attributed it to "uncomfortable laughter." Both Kuret and Rosa are heard telling Urbina to stop.

The clip went viral on Twitter and was reported throughout the wrestling media. While no official statement has come from AEW yet, PW Insider reports it has "confirmed" the news, which in journalism parlance likely means an official AEW source has confirmed it off the record. Dave Meltzer also reported that Urbina was let go.

Following the incident, in the planned segment, Shida cut a promo displaying her impressive English as second language skills and was presented with a new AEW Women's Championship belt, which she will defend against Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. at AEW Double or Nothing on Sunday.

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