Nyla Rose Taking a Sledgehammer to a Jaguar S-Type Is Smashing the Status Quo

Director X is one of the most prolific music video directors of recent years, having done over 100 of them, for some of the biggest stars out there, from Jay-Z and Rihanna, to Demi Lovato, Busta Rhymes, R. Kelly, Ciara and Rihanna, to name just a few. He can do flashy, and he can do subdued and meaningful alike, so he felt like the natural choice for the trailer for AEW, which paints the American promotion as the ultimate underdog.

You can see the trailer, titled History of a Revolution, below. The opener is Nyla Rose taking a sledgehammer to a Jaguar S-Type and it was no coincidence, Director X tells TMZ Sports in an interview. You can check out that section of the chat in the second video below.

While it’s not unusual for stars to smash cars (new or old, it doesn’t really matter) for the shock factor in ads, this wasn’t the case here. And it was no coincidence that the vehicle of choice was an older model: Director X says the Jag stands for the old establishment, so the visual of Rose destroying it is her smashing the status quo.

If you’re not a wrestling fan, this will make more sense once you learn that Nyla Rose is the first openly transgender wrestler to sign with a major promotion, when she joined AEW upon its foundation in 2019. So, yes, the symbolism is powerful.

“I mean it just felt right,” Director X says of featuring Rose in the opener, with the scene in which she’s murdering that old Jag. “It's by far the most dramatic scene. She has one of the most dramatic stories you know what I'm saying? Like it's a big, big deal.”