37-year-old star finally reacts to controversy over AEW entrance theme change by Tony Khan: "It was mistake"

A top star's theme song was suddenly changed by Tony Khan, which stirred controversy. The performer has now reacted to the change.

Mina Shirakawa became an official member of the AEW roster earlier this year. She even competed in her first match as an official AEW star on the 14th May episode of Dynamite in a Women's World Title Eliminator against Toni Storm, AZM, and Skye Blue. When the Japanese star made her entrance, she had a new theme song, but after she won the match, her old theme song played instead. This caused a lot of controversy, and Tony Khan addressed it by saying he changed it back after listening to the online reaction.

Speaking on a recent episode of Close-Up w/ Renee Paquette, Mina Shirakawa addressed the theme song change, stating that she wanted to use a theme song that her friend had created, but then Tony changed the music, and she thought it was a mistake.

"So, for returning to AEW, AEW debut, I want to change something… My friend made me a song, a new song and so, I love that track. I love the song. But, maybe, my fans loving my old one. Yeah, because very iconic. Tony (Khan), during match, changed my music… Yeah, I win (Shirakawa started singing the tune of her original theme). So maybe I feel, oh, it was mistake. So after match, I asked Tony, ‘Oh, so my music, what happened?...’ He loved the old one. But I love both of music. But, maybe (the old song) is very Mina-style, very iconic…” [H/T - Fightful]

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Vince Russo wants Tony Khan to release underutilized wrestlers

AEW has a stacked roster, and as a result, many of the talent go unused for weeks or even months at a time. This is what happened to stars like Ricky Saints and Rusev. Currently, an AEW star who is being underused is Scorpio Sky. This has fans and critics expressing that they want Tony Khan to let such talent leave the company.

Speaking on his The Brand podcast, Vince Russo made the case that the company should not keep talent under contract who they are not using, as it occupies financial resources.

"If you have got somebody under contract, you use them. If you are not going to use them, they should not be under contract. You got the guy under you, you’re paying the guy until the time is right? I mean, Al, am I right or wrong? This is dollars and cents," he said. (H/T EW Wrestling)

It will be interesting to see if Tony Khan does end up releasing more underutilized wrestlers in the future.