An AEW wrestler is set to depart the company soon, Tony Khan confirms. For those who don’t know, there was a recent report that said Tay Melo had asked to be released from her AEW contract sometime in 2025, but it hadn’t been granted. This is what Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer said about the situation.
“Multiple sources told me that Tay Melo requested a release last year but it was denied. It’s expected we will know what’s up when everyone gets to TV tomorrow.”
Tony Khan addressed the rumors surrounding Tay’s status with AEW recently.
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Tony Khan Says Tay Melo Asked For Her Release Recently
During a media call for the upcoming AEW Redemption pay-per-view, Tony Khan said that there had been a lot of inaccurate reports about Tay Melo. He said that Tay informed him that she wants to step away from wrestling altogether and asked for her release after her last match, which took place at the June 6 AEW Collision. This contradicts what Alvarez reported.
“With Tay, Tay has said she wanted to step away from wrestling. She said I love AEW, and I love the people here, but I wanted to step away from AEW, and step away from wrestling. And that’s what she told me. That wasn’t in 2025. That was weeks ago at Collision after she wrestled against the Divine Dominion. And she came to me after the match, and said I would like a release. And I was taken aback, and we had a very nice talk. It’s far to the contrary of what I’ve seen reported about this being last year, or that it’s been an ongoing thing.
And I heard from Tay this week, and she said she’s not putting those reports out, and it really bothered her. And we haven’t had an unpleasant conversation ever. I’ve always had a very good relationship with Tay. And she has asked about stepping away recently. It hasn’t been a long thing. And also I haven’t kept her here.”
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Later, Tony confirmed that he’d grant Tay her release.
“Since that talk, I haven’t brought her back, booked her and I am going to give Tay that release.”
Tay previously had a stint with WWE NXT from 2016 to 2020, where she worked as Taynara Conti. What are your thoughts on Tay Melo’s AEW run so far?
For more on Tay Melo, Tony Khan and pro wrestling (WWE, AEW, etc.), you can check out this page. If you’re new to watching wrestling, check out our WWE streaming guide, which is updated for 2026.
Main image credit: AEW
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