Tay Conti

Taynara Melo de Carvalho (born June 9, 1995) is a Brazilian professional wrestler and judoka. She is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she performs under the ring name Tay Conti. She also appears in AEW's Mexico based partner promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), where she is in her first reign as AAA Mixed Tag Team Champions with real life boyfriend and fellow AEW wrestler Sammy Guevara.

Tay Conti
Conti in January 2020
Birth nameTaynara Melo de Carvalho
Born (1995-06-09) June 9, 1995[1]
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Spouse(s)
Jorge Conti
​
​
(m. 2017; div. 2021)​
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Tay Conti[2]
Taynara Conti[3]
Taynara
Billed height5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Billed weight125 lb (57 kg)
Billed fromRio de Janeiro, Brazil[3]
Trained byDustin Rhodes
WWE Performance Center[4]
DebutApril 1, 2017 (2017-04-01)[5]

Prior to joining AEW, she performed in WWE on the NXT brand as Taynara Conti from 2017 to 2020.

Early life and judo

Taynara Melo de Carvalho was born on June 9, 1995, Rio de Janeiro. She has a brother and 2 sisters, one of whom is adopted. Melo grew up in Rio's notorious poverty-stricken and crime-infested favelas. Melo holds a black belt in judo and a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.[4] Melo briefly went to law school in Brazil[6] and she participated in trials for the Brazilian Olympic team at the 2016 Summer Olympics prior to joining WWE.[3]

Melo began her athletic career in artistic gymnastics in CR Vasco da Gama, but soon migrated to martial arts. First, Melo fought for the project "Brasil vale ouro" (Brazil is worth gold) and later went to "Instituto Reação", by judoka Flávio Canto. Melo was a regional champion and four-time state champion. In addition, she was a four-time Brazilian runner-up. She joined the Brazilian team and participated in the European circuit in Portugal and Germany.[7]

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2016–2020)

Melo was announced as having signed with WWE, and reported to the WWE Performance Center in October 2016.[4] She made her professional wrestling debut as Taynara Conti at WrestleMania Axxess in Orlando, Florida on April 1, 2017, competing against Sarah Bridges in a losing effort.[8] She took part in the inaugural Mae Young Classic, during which she lost to Lacey Evans during the first round of the tournament.[9]

Conti appeared on television on the October 11 episode of NXT, interfering in a triple threat match between Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, and Liv Morgan on behalf of The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O'Reilly) to prevent Cross from winning the match.[10][11] This led to a match between Conti and Cross on the November 1 episode of NXT, where Conti lost.[12] On April 8, 2018, Conti performed during the pre-show of WrestleMania 34, competing in the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal, becoming the first female Brazilian to compete on the evening of WrestleMania.[13] Later in the year, Conti qualified for the 2018 Mae Young Classic tournament after she defeated Vanessa Borne.[14] She defeated Jessie Elaban in the first round but lost to Lacey Lane in the second round.[15][16]

On April 20, 2020, Conti was released from her WWE contract as a result of budget cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17] Like all other talent released, she remained under the 90-day no compete clause, which expired on July 23, 2020. Conti later revealed in an interview that she had been unhappy for months at WWE and wanted to be released, but the company initially would not grant her a release out of fear she would go to All Elite Wrestling (AEW).[18]

All Elite Wrestling (2020–present)

On August 4, 2020, Conti appeared on AEW as Tay Conti, participating in the AEW Women's Tag Team Cup Tournament: The Deadly Draw and teaming with Anna Jay. The team, known officially as TayJay, defeated Nyla Rose and Ariane Andrew in the quarterfinals but lost to Ivelisse and Diamante during the semi-finals.[19][20] On the August 26 episode of Dynamite, she received a contract from the stable The Dark Order to join them.[21] On September 9, AEW announced that Conti had signed with the company.[2]

On the January 13, 2021, episode of Dynamite, Conti competed for the NWA World Women's Championship for the first time, and was defeated by Serena Deeb.[22] In the following weeks, Conti earned a title match for the AEW Women's World Championship, but she was not successful in beating the champion, Hikaru Shida, on the April 21 episode of Dynamite.[23] In September, Conti and Anna Jay began a feud with Penelope Ford and The Bunny in a series of singles and tag matches on Dynamite and Rampage. On November 13, Conti fought again for the AEW Women's World Championship, this time facing defending champion Britt Baker at Full Gear but came up unsuccessful.[24] The TayJay/Bunny & Ford feud came to a head when the team of Jay and Conti defeated the team of The Bunny and Ford in a Street Fight on December 31 on Rampage.[25]

On March 6, 2022, at Revolution, Conti faced Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship in a losing effort.[26]

Personal life

Melo resides in Orlando, Florida, in the United States since October 2016.

Melo married fellow judoka Jorge Conti in 2017; however, Melo confirmed on Instagram in November 2021 that they had been separated "for a long time".[27]

Since January 2022, Melo has been in a relationship with fellow AEW professional wrestler Sammy Guevara.[28]

Championships and accomplishments

References
  1. @TayConti_ (June 9, 2020). "I'm 25... God is amazing!!!" (Tweet). Retrieved April 2, 2021 – via Twitter.
  2. Satin, Ryan (September 9, 2020). "AEW Confirms Tay Conti Is Now "All Elite"". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  3. "Taynara Conti". WWE. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  4. "WWE Performance Center welcomes new class of recruits". WWE. October 25, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  5. "Taynara Conti". Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  6. "Tacos with Tay Conti". YouTube.
  7. "Ex-atleta da seleção brasileira troca judô pela luta-livre e vira estrela nos EUA". Rede Globo. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  8. "Atualizado (02/04): Resultados dos combates realizados na WrestleMania Axxess". Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  9. Molina, Josh (August 31, 2017). "WWE Mae Young Classic episode four results: Kairi Sane debuts". Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  10. Trionfo, Richard (October 11, 2017). "WWE NXT REPORT: GARGANO VERSUS ALMAS, THE NEXT QUALIFIER FOR THE WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH, BURCH VERSUS SULLIVAN, DREAM VERSUS RUSH, AND MORE". PWInsider.
  11. Trionfo, Richard (October 25, 2017). "WWE NXT REPORT: BATTLE ROYAL, IS THE VELVETEEN DREAM A NIGHTMARE FOR ALEISTER BLACK?, ALMAS VERSUS STRONG, LORCAN AND BURCH TEAM UP, AND MORE". PWInsider.
  12. Johnson, Mike (November 1, 2017). "WWE NXT SPOILERS FOR TONIGHT". PWInsider.
  13. Carapola, Stuart (April 8, 2018). "COMPLETE WRESTLEMANIA 34 KICKOFF SHOW COVERAGE". PWInsider.
  14. Trionfo, Richard (August 8, 2018). "WWE NXT REPORT: BASK IN KEITH LEE'S GLORY, A POOLSIDE SUMMIT, RICOCHET IS SENT A MESSAGE, AND MORE". PWInsider.
  15. Trionfo, Richard (September 26, 2018). "WWE MAE YOUNG CLASSIC REPORT: THE SECOND ROUND IS SET: IO SHIRAI, RACHEL EVERS, HIROYO MATSUMOTO, NICOLE MATTHEWS, AND MORE". PWInsider.
  16. Trionfo, Richard (October 2018). "WWE MAE YOUNG CLASSIC REPORT: SATOMURA VERSUS MARTINEZ, TONI STORM, AND MORE AS THE SECOND ROUND STARTS". PWInsider.
  17. Johnson, Mike (April 17, 2020). "WWE RELEASES CONTINUE (UPDATED AGAIN)". PWInsider. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  18. ""No, you're not gonna go to AEW" – Tay Conti says WWE denied her release to prevent her from joining AEW". The SportsRush. May 23, 2021.
  19. Lambert, Jeremy (August 3, 2020). "AEW Women's Tag Team Cup Tournament: Deadly Draw Results (8/3): Veda, Shaul Guerrero, Madusa Appear". Fightful. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  20. Powell, Jason (August 17, 2020). "8/17 AEW Deadly Draw tournament results: Powell's live review of Diamante and Ivelisse vs. Tay Conti and Anna Jay, and Brandi Rhodes and Allie vs. Big Swole and Lil' Swole in semifinal tournament matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  21. Powell, Jason (August 27, 2020). "8/27 AEW Dynamite results: Powell's live review of FTR vs. Best Friends vs. The Young Bucks vs. Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall in a gauntlet match for a shot at the AEW Tag Titles, Jon Moxley vs. MJF contract signing for the AEW Championship match at All Out, Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara in a tables match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  22. AEW Staff (January 14, 2021). "AEW Dynamite Results for January 13, 2021". All Elite Wrestling. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  23. Powell, Jason (April 21, 2021). "4/21 AEW Dynamite results: Powell's live review of Darby Allin vs. Jungle Boy for the TNT Championship, Hikaru Shida vs. Tay Conti for the AEW Women's Championship, Christian Cage vs. Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricky Starks vs. Hangman Page, Trent vs. Penta El Zero Miedo, Billy Gunn vs. QT Marshall". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  24. AEW Staff (November 14, 2021). "AEW Full Gear 2021 Results". All Elite Wrestling.
  25. AEW Staff (January 1, 2022). "AEW Rampage New Year's Smash Results for December 31, 2021". All Elite Wrestling.
  26. AEW Staff (March 7, 2022). "AEW Revolution 2022 Results". All Elite Wrestling.
  27. "AEW Star Tay Conti Reveals Separation from Husband". Wrestling News Source. November 23, 2021.
  28. Beltrán, William (January 1, 2022). "Tay Conti y Sammy Guevara son novios". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  29. @Inside_TheRopes (January 22, 2022). "The winner of the Inside The Ropes Magazine 2021 Most Improved Award is...TAY CONTI (@TayConti_ / @AEW)See the…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  30. Knipper, Justin (April 30, 2022). "AAA Triplemania XXX Monterrey live results: Vikingo & Fenix vs. Young Bucks Saturday's PPV will also feature Sammy Guevara, Andrade and Deonna Purrazzo". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  31. Kreikenbohm, Philip (April 30, 2022). "AAA Mixed Tag Team Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  32. McElvaney, Kevin (October 21, 2021). "2021 PWI Women's 150 – The Top 5 Revealed!". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  33. Meltzer, Dave (February 18, 2022). "February 21, 2022 Observer Newsletter: 2021 Awards issue, Cody and Brandi Rhodes leave AEW". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
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