Out of all the bizarre stories you hear about wrestling, this has been one of the most shocking ones. AEW star Taynara Melo f.k.a Taynara Conti initially thought WWE was a bordello. Before Tay ventured into wrestling, she had a solid Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA background. At the time, her skills outside the realm of wrestling were not a prerequisite in her WWE contract. Tay Melo signed up with WWE in 2016 and was released in 2020 as a result of the layoff tsunami amidst the global pandemic. During her stint in WWE as a rookie, she admitted that she had no idea about how things worked in the ring.
Over time, Melo picked up the nuances of wrestling and established herself as a legit professional wrestler. Today, the Brazilian wrestler is an active talent on the AEW women’s roster.
The Judo Black Belt was recently involved in a street fight where she teamed up with Anna Jay and took on Ruby Soho and Willow Nightingale at Rampage on January 11. Although Melo and Jay lost the match, the former said she’s interested in more street fights in AEW.
Tay Melo thought WWE was a brothel
Speaking on the Ring the Belle podcast, Melo explained how she thought WWE had something to do with prostitution. The 27-year-old wrestler admitted that she did not know what pro wrestling was before she entered the field.
According to her, when she was offered an opportunity at the WWE, she was hesitant about signing up due to her lack of knowledge about pro wrestling. The Brazilian native barely spoke English at the time and formed this perception that the industry was a brothel.
“WWE found my pictures (online). They were looking for Brazilian talent and they figured out I was just not a model, I had a martial arts background. Someone contacted my friend and was like, ‘You have an opportunity.’ I was like, ‘No. I don’t have any idea about WWE. I don’t even know what it means.’ To be honest, I thought it was something with like prostitution. I had no idea what pro wrestling was before,” she said.
Nonetheless, Melo embarked on her pro wrestling journey after her first tryout. In 2017, Melo competed in the Mae Young Classic tournament. She also praised Candice LeRae and Dakota Kai for being of help to her during her time on NXT.
Tay Melo celebrates Cody Rhodes’ win at the Royal Rumble
Back when Cody Rhodes was still in AEW, he defended his TBT Championship in a ladder match against Sammy Guevara, Melo’s husband, in a losing effort. Interestingly, that was Cody Rhodes’ final match at AEW.
After The American Nightmare won the Royal Rumble, Tay took to Twitter to post a picture with her husband and Cody Rhodes from the day of her wedding.
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