AEW Rumor Roundup - Top female star spotted backstage at Double or Nothing, Personality fired over racist incident, Lio Rush update (31st May 2021)

#4. AEW fires Willie Urbina following racist mockery of Hikaru Shida's accent

As reported by PWInsider, Spanish language announcer Willie Urbina was released by AEW after he mocked Hikaru Shida's accent.

Willie Urbina was heard mocking Shida's accent during a conversation between the Spanish announcers over who would handle the Japanese star's translation during the AEW Dynamite episode.

Urbina was unaware that his microphone was active, and the audio clip became a topic of massive controversy on social media. AEW fired Urbina within hours of the clip surfacing on the internet.

All Elite Wrestling released Spanish language announcer Willie Urbina today, PWInsider.com has confirmed. The release came hours after audio of Urbina, apparently not aware his mic was broadcasting, mocked Hikaru Shida's accent during a conversation with other announcers as they were discussing who would handle the Spanish translation of Shida's promo for the last night's Spanish language broadcast of Dynamite, was shared by fans on social media.

Tony Khan also revealed that he personally apologized to Hikaru Shida after the incident. The AEW CEO was not happy with Urniba's behavior, and he felt that releasing the announcer was the ideal decision in the situation.

“I didn’t think there was any excuse. I was not happy. Afterwards, I heard what was said and having our commentators involved with what was said about her, who I also apologized to, I thought it was best for the company to make this decision,” said Tony Khan. H/T Fightful

Urbina previously worked for IMPACT Wrestling for eight years in addition to taking up announcing duties for NJPW.