Road Dogg leveled a serious accusation at AEW on Wednesday, claiming the promotion passed on him because of his political beliefs. The allegation has not been independently confirmed.
The exchange unfolded on social media after Road Dogg criticized how AEW has used Austin and Colten Gunn. Dave Meltzer responded, and when a fan joked that the back-and-forth could hurt his chances of landing a job with the company, the WWE Hall of Famer fired back:
“Actually, I was turned away because of my political/ core beliefs. That happened IN AMERICA 🇺🇸”
Road Dogg added that he never donated to or voted for Donald Trump, questioning why he would have been turned away while pointing to Shad Khan, Tony Khan’s father. Shad Khan donated $1 million to the inaugural committee for Trump’s 2017 presidential inauguration, though he later criticized some of the then-president’s stances.
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6:03 PM · Aug 19, 2026In a separate post, Road Dogg identified himself as a conservative and accused journalist David Bixenspan of using a screenshot of a political post to get his opportunity killed. Bixenspan said he had no idea what Road Dogg was talking about, prompting Road Dogg to acknowledge he may have confused the journalist with someone else.
Road Dogg’s interest in AEW goes back years. In 2022, following a previous exit from WWE, he publicly said he had been reaching out to Tony Khan for a spot. Around the same time, Billy Gunn revealed that people within AEW had been pushing to bring his former New Age Outlaws partner into the company.
Road Dogg returned to WWE later in 2022 and remained with the company until May 3, 2026, when he left the creative team on his own terms. Among other roles, he had served as co-head writer of Friday Night SmackDown.