Sarah Stock coached at the WWE Performance Center from 2015 until she was let go in one a 2020 round of pandemic cuts. That followed the now-46 year old Canadian’s in-ring career, where she was best known
as AAA and CMLL’s Dark Angel and TNA’s Sarita.
That made her seem like a great hire for AEW in 2023 as Tony Khan’s promotion was looking to take its women’s division to the next level. We didn’t hear much about Stock’s tenure at AEW, until a report in April of this year said she was gone. That report from Fightful mentioned that Stock had “issues with the company’s mental health program” and changes in the department that managed that program, but didn’t know if those were the reason for exit.
It’s still hard to say what role they played in the end of Stock’s time at AEW, but we have confirmation of the issues. That’s because they’re among several grievances from Stock’s time at AEW she’s been posting to social media lately.
Executives mentioned in Stock’s posts include AEW Chief Operating Officer Kosha Irby, Director of Performance Psychology Chris Manzione, Executive Vice-President of Global Production Mike Mansury, and Amanda Huber, who doesn’t have an official title at AEW that’s been shared publicly, but has worked in public relations/community outreach and is rumored to have a production role. Huber, the widow of former AEW star Brodie Lee, also got into a Twitter/X argument with Stock in October over Jon Moxley and Darby Allin’s hardcore match at WrestleDream.
The latest round of posts began with her issues with the handling of mental health at AEW:
Has Manzione explained yet how the decision was made to replace an extremely qualified, diverse, and beloved team of mental health professionals with a 3rd-party booking app? Karen From Not-HR places the blame on talent, saying they asked for “more accessibility”. That’s the biggest joke of this entire fiasco. Please talk us through it, @the_real_manzo
Stock continued, broadening her scope to include the treatment of wrestlers:
Corruption and negligence are running UNCHECKED at @aew
There is so much more than this. Receipts are coming. Anyone who doesn’t want to listen, stop listening. I don’t care.
In the meantime, TALENT AND COMPANY SAFETY CONTINUES TO BE PUT AT RISK, to line the pockets of Kosha and Manzione. Of all the departments to eliminate…
Along with tagging AEW’s main account, and President and head of creative Tony Khan with reposts, Stock specifically began criticizing AEW’s treatment of Latin American talent:
Here’s how @koshairby and @aew took care of Mexican talent: to save [money] on flights home btwn Dynamite and Collision, they’d fly in Mexican Talent on Tues and keep them in the country until Sunday, no per diem, no food allowance, and ONLY ONE DAY/WEEK AT HOME WITH THEIR FAMILY. I was furious when I found out. I addressed the insanity and immorality of that with Kosha, but, “Then I’d have to do it for everyone.”
I hope my Mexican fans and friends understand the inhumane treatment toward Mexican wrestlers in @aew that I witnessed during my 2 years working there. I don’t know if things have changed, but this lack of respect has to be called out, especially when Mexico has welcomed them with open arms.
Imagine this: You’re a young female wrestler arriving at an enormous airport in a foreign country. You reach out for direction. You’re told you don’t get any. There’s nobody coming to pick you up, figure it out. Navigate the foreign country, language, transportation, and find your way into the backstage area of a major event. Wonder if @aew women are told to “figure it out” when they land in Mexico.
Edge gets picked up from the airport every time. Orange Cassidy gets picked up from the airport every time. As do innumerable other talent. Able-bodied males. Not Vaquer, though. Not Zeuxis. Not Catalina. Not any of the other foreign females coming to @aew for the first time.
How about the 1st time Rush returns after injury. No direction all day. They throw him out there with about 20 min notice before Dynamite, tell him to just “cut a promo in English”. Every promo gets a writer. Every match gets a producer. Every person whose first language isn’t English deserves a chance to rehearse. No writer/coach this time. As the finish is going down, I get a text: “Hey, could you Produce that Rush match?”
Holding them in the US also took away from work opportunities in Mexico on those days. American @aew talent gets the chance to work Thursdays or Fridays. Meanwhile, the Mexican talent was PAYING to hang around with no reimbursement.
Stock also pointed out that WWE Women’s World champion Stephanie Vaquer liked her story about the young foreign female talent left to navigate a U.S. city on her own, which would indicate Vaquer was either the talent in the story, or was aware of similar things happening to others.
She’s also amplified others who brought up Fenix referring to “inhuman treatment” while trying to negotiate his exit from AEW at this time last year. And Stock is still posting as we publish this, with her latest tagging ringside physician Dr. Michael J Sampsom, and teasing tales about “the 2 TRUE creative ‘geniuses’ of @aew … Q Tip Marshall or Sonjay Butt?“
No response from anyone tagged yet, but AEW National champion Ricochet responded to another site’s write-up of Stock’s “corruption and negligence” allegations…
No we just didnt like you. Lol
