Tay Melo

[1.0] "She was fine as Tay Conti and that's why she's not a Zero. Nothing about her is good like at all and her work with Anna Jay is simply flat out awful. Every time she's on my screen I'll either cringe or just watch something else because I know it'll just be a waste of time. It seemed like she was heading for big things a few years ago, but I don't see anything big coming for her anytime soon if I'm being honest."

[5.0] "My incredible brazilian wrestler, great striker that sadly don't get much love from Tony Khan. She stayed almost two years without stepping in a ring because she was pregnant and since them, I think she had like two single matches. All of them were tags or multiman ones, insane bad booking, just like half of the division."

[6.0] "I feel like Tay has unfortunately regressed a little but but I still find her pretty enjoyable. Her ring work is basic but solid, I just think she needs a little touch-up to her character. In 2022, I was picturing Tay as a future world champion but now I'm not so sure."

[6.0] "I would like to see Tay in a secondary title position soon, i think she's ready. She has improved overtime like her current tag team partner Anna Jay. I would like to see them win the AEW Women's World Tag Team Champions if possible."

[5.0] "Original 7 rating with comment from 18.08.2020: "Conti has future star written all fucking over her she just needs a couple tours in Japan and she'll be really good in ring, that said she is already quite impressive in ring. This woman just has something and I could feel it the first time I saw her in the MYC. With some more experience and some time in Joshi matches I really think this girl could be one of if not THE best in womens wrestling in the Western Hemisphere" Yeah this just hasn't panned out. She's had some good performances but she hasn't made as much improvements and gotten as much in ring experience as I had imagined. This is likely for multiple factors. I do think she has potential but after having a child now it's less likely she'll be able to put as much focus and travel as she would have prior"

[6.0] "I don't remember anything from her except that street fight with Anna Jay againt the Bunny and....someone. edit: raising my rating to a 6 because I ended up appreciating her work more"

[2.0] "Im genuinely surprised that Conti is rated so high here, I avoided giving a complete zero because Ive seen her improvement from the Mae Young Classic till AEW, but watching some of her matches there, Im not exactly impressed. Shes improved but not by enough to get a higher rating. Hopefully, one day she reaches that level where she could be a major star anywhere, but right now it just isnt it, even as a character/personality work it doesnt hit where it needs to be for even a Midcard star or player."

[0.0] "She's not a good wrestler and can't cut a promo. She also bizarrely wrestled with loose garters for...reasons? She looked ridiculous. Then she kept starting and stopping as a heel, a face, a singles, a tag team, no one seems to know what to do with her. I don't know if she plans on coming back but I hope she doesn't because the current AEW women's division is loaded and there would no place for her. There's nothing she does that indicates to me that she'll be successful at any point in her career. Any time she was placed in a prominent match it faltered. She doesn't have the timing to put on a truly great match. She moves like she's unsure of herself. Her place in the women's division reminds me of the mid-2000's UFC heavyweight division. When more experienced and talented fighters started coming in, you realized quickly that Tim Sylvia was never any good. Same thing for Tay since AEW has added a lot better talent since she's been away."

[6.0] "Wow I'm surprised by all the negativity here, but I get it to a degree. I think Tay Melo has excellent potential but her progress has been derailed more than once by outside circumstances. As others have mentioned, she really looked like she was putting it together in 2021 as an energetic, charismatic babyface. She had hard-hitting matches and a fun tag team with Anna Jay, which peaked with the famous hardcore match against Penelope Ford & The Bunny. Then she got together with Sammy and everything started falling apart on screen. The two were so obnoxious together that it forced a heel turn, which is not Tay's strong suit... and then they joined the Jericho Appreciation Society, where Tay was treated as a glorified valet. Her in-ring progress ground to a halt during this phase, and then of course she went on maternity leave before she could turn it around. Now with the JAS in the rearview, I really hope she can get things back on track when she returns. She looked so promising for a minute there."

[9.0] "As much as I want to give her a 10, I can't, simply because of her booking. When I first started watching AEW, she was simply just a valet for Sammy Guevara with the occasional match and that's it. Now, don't get me wrong, she was good in that role but I wish she wrestled more before she got pregnant. Maybe then she would be a 10. Also, she doesn't have much of a character and sometimes it's hard to understand what she's saying during a promo because of her Brazilian accent. Other than those simple flaws, she's an amazing talent and I would love to see her get a push (without Sammy) when she returns."

[6.0] "I reallyyyy wanted to like her because ill give the girl her dues and say she turned out some top tier matches and is a damn good wrestler who is more than capable of holding down a top spot in AEWs women's division. Unfortunately, ever since she and Sammy have been paired up together on screen she went completely stale and with her on maternity leave now this will drain what little bit of gas she had in the tank in terms of relevancy. Massive shame as in 2021 she was really starting to come into her own and produce quality matches on a regular basis, this is partially AEWs fault as they seem to have a serious problem when it comes to booking their female wrestlers at all. Wishing her all the blessings in the world for the upcoming few months and holding out hope that when she returns shell be properly used."

[5.0] "Tay is another AEW failure story. She used to be kind of bad in 2019/20, not knowing how to properly mix her BJJ/Judo skills and natural athleticism into her offence, but she improved a lot in 2021 to actually become one of the better workers in AEW women's division. Her offence was then cleaner and more impactful, and her more bubbly and endearing personality allowed her to connect more strongly with crowds. So, what happened to Tay in 2022? Well, "The Jericho Effect" happened -- the occurrence where any wrestler paired with Jericho as either his opponent or ally ends up devolving as both an in-ring worker and a character. Since then, her heel work has been far below her babyface work, since she no longer shows off any endearing fire or charm as a character, instead feeling very hokey every time she tries to play a 'bully', and she now seems to think that she has no reason to show off her otherwise decent offence because she clearly thinks being a heel requires that your offence automatically become far more basic and forgettable (because God forbid a heel looks like a competent wrestler! ). I also consider her forced pairing with husband Sammy to fall under the "Jericho Effect" umbrella, given Sammy has been painfully stuck to Jericho's side since AEW's inception, so if Sammy wasn't consistently Jericho's errand boy then Tay likely wouldn't have been forced into this total boring role she's in either. It's also worth explaining, though, that being paired with Sammy was equally detrimental to Tay's development as a character and a wrestler. She quickly just became Sammy's valet -- little more than his arm candy to have sickening displays of public affection with. And with fans already being pretty 50/50 as to whether they liked Sammy for his athleticism and crazy stunts, or whether they hated him for his extremely forced and dorky "look at how cool and crazy I am" personality, seeing Sammy and Tay suddenly on TV each week to proudly advertising their (a relationship, mind you, which they publicly denied even existed, seemingly because it sprung about as a form of Sammy's IRL infidelity) was the last straw for many. They weren't being 'cute' with their PDA, since they were far too arrogantly flaunting it, which made them both total heels. This was Tay and Sammy being declared heels against their wills, mind you, but it ultimately led to both eventually being turned full heels as they settled into Jericho's JAS, which removed whatever last few charm points that Tay still had. The last thing Tay has suffered from has been time off, especially with her recent pregnancy. Hopefully when/if she returns she will be able to exist as a character without solely being tied to Sammy (and therefore being tied to Jericho), and she'll be given permission and encouragement to return to having decent in-ring performances. If she just continues with the same trajectory she was on, though, then I'll probably rate her even lower."

[0.0] "Most improved wrestler in 2021 may have gone to her head because she's gone from being a very below average worker with possible improvement to an atrocious worker who can't work, sell, cut promos, pull good facials and without any of those things you won't make it in the business. Her and Anna Jay seem to be in competition as to who can out cringe each other."

[2.0] "I believed in her in her Babyface run, I saw her progress, but since her heel turn with Sammy Guevera and her association with the Jericho Appreciation Society, I don't like it at all. His association with Anna Jay no longer works."

[4.0] "Taynara Conti has a lot of discipline and is a legitimate shoot fighter on par with your Shayna Bazlers and Rhonda Rouseys. Given the small amount of exposure I've had to her matches, I've been impressed with her. I've only seen her in the Mae Young classic and as a backup dancer for Nikki Cross. However, given her Judo training, she has demonstrated a hybrid wrestling technique, and her facials are excellent. Taynara Conti has a lot of potential to grow and evolve into an extraordinary performer, despite her young age (she's just 22). Conti, who is also from Brazil, has an unusual appearance that helps her stand out.""

[6.0] "Conti is a tough one to rate. She's not great at a lot of aspect of wrestling; she doesn't have fantastic timing, she's not the most athletic wrestler in the world, sometimes her spots aren't great. Her strikes look amazing, though. She's a wrestler who isn't good at a ton, but the stuff she's good at she's very good at, which makes her matches interesting to watch. Lost a lot of momentum in the last year due to being dragged into her husband's orbit, which led her own career and development to stall."

[3.0] "According to Tay, it is noticeable that she is very green and often she gets very lost in the ring. She has some advantages due to her background in judo and jiu-jitsu, but it is often evident from her that she feels uncomfortable during matches, although she already has several worthy confrontations on her account, such as with Hikaru Shida and Britt Baker."

[7.0] "Tay Melo has improved a lot and nowadays she is one of the most prepared in the women's division. Too bad she was so overshadowed after she married Sammy. She was much better off on her own and could carry on as she was."

[4.0] "It's quite sad that someone that was so popular a year ago, has now seen her popularity take an alarming downfall. Pairing her on-screen with her real life boyfriend, Sammy Guevara, has turned out to be a major blow to her career and not a boost. This woman is NOT supposed to be a heel at all. What happened here? She does not have the cockiness of Sammy, she seems naturally likable, improved in the ring, had a likable pairing with Anna Jay (There should have been Women's Tag Team Titles for them to go after), definitely has charisma & charm. But now she is on verge of getting "Go Away" Heat along with Sammy Guevara. WOW. She is also a part of a candidate for 2022 Worst Feud of the Year: Sammy & Tay vs. American Top Team & Men of the Year. UPDATED: She is plain cringey and has plain bad matches these days. She and Sammy are worthy of "Go Away" Heat for sure, and so is Anna Jay. They are terrible."

[1.0] "Last year was a better year for her, this year has been really REALLY terrible, all od her matches had suck a lot, and I think she is overrated in ring, after the tag match she and Anna had against the Bunny and Penelope she did nothing"

[5.0] "While I do not think she is the best that Brazil has to offer, she certainly is the most accomplished talent that came out from the South American nation. The black belt in judo and blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu has a unique style and certainly showed a lot of potential, but seems to still be a bit green in the ring. Hopefully she gets better in the future."

[6.0] "Tay Conti has talent. She has a unique charm and her ring work has improved leaps and bounds since joining AEW. Which is why it's such a shame that AEW has booked her to be a valet for one of the worst parts of AEW TV, Sammy Guevara (and now the JAS). This has the potential to completely kill her career. She NEEDS to get back to being an active wrestler before it's too late. She has too much potential to be wasted like this."

[7.0] "She has been one of the most improved superstars of the last year and a half and she continues to get better. Her heel turn shows a lot of promise as well, and given the fact that she was a solid babyface that the crowd got behind, she has a bright future in the ability to play both roles. Her in ring work has come a long ways as well and continues to get better. As she improves the rating will as well and the I already think her improvements make her a solid star. It's only a matter of time before she puts it all together and I see her holding the women's title in the future."

[5.0] "I think she's got a unique style, a little green still but she shouldn't have been let go from WWE. Her and Anna Jay had some nice teamwork in the AEW women's tournament, would like to see more from her."

[3.0] "Tay was really hot with the audience back around the time she was competing at Full Gear 2021 for the Women's World Championship against Britt Baker and when she had that street fight on AEW Rampage, but her momentum came to a halt when her relationship with Sammy Guevara became an onscreen angle. Even if they are supposed to be slimy and obnoxious heels, Tay has now started to generate go-away heat from me just by association with Sammy. I can barely even sit through 2 seconds of their screentime without cringing."

[5.0] "Tay Conti is still pretty green in my eyes but she's getting better. Her casting as the heel girlfriend to Sammy is unfortunately guilty by association, but she has shown she can be a pretty okay babyface and heel."

[6.0] "Tay Conti has improved massively since her time in NXT and since become arguably one of the top stars of AEW's women's division. While she's still clearly got a long way to go until she's seen as one of the best in the division, her matches have gotten a lot better over a relatively short amount of time. Having said that, her on-screen pairing with Sammy Guevara is a death sentence. I understand they're a real-life couple but their presence together on TV is really unlikeable and unless they turn them heel soon, they're in danger of getting the Cody/Brandi reaction from the fans. I can see potential in an Edge and Lita style villainous role between the two, whether or not AEW will go down that road is yet to be seen"

"She's been at this for too long to still be as mediocre as she is. She has awful facial expressions, moves like she's underwater, and can't cut a promo to save her life. What were they teaching her in NXT? She is the definition of a diva search bimbo from back in the day."

[0.0] "When one grumpy old man from California named Dave M. called Tay Conti "Most Improved in 2021", I couldn't believe in that. I remember Conti in NXT and she didn't change since then: she afraids of cameras, her facial expressions are terrifying and her matches are still unwatchable."

[3.0] "Alongside her little boyfriend Sammy, Tay Conti is the most cringey wrestler in this industry but there's a clear difference between the two, and it's definitely the in-ring performance or having periods when you've been loving them but I don't think she has one of the two."

[8.0] "An improving performer, who has a range of skills that display promise for better things. Still not the finished article though, and still needs to work on some areas."

[3.0] "She does judo throws back-to-back on a dummy wrestler, looking like a prop without struggle. Trains martial arts, but that doesn't come across in her pro-wrestling, apart from a super choreographed maneuver. People such as her, anna jay, sky blue, penelope, bunny etc., are kinda throwbacks - Outdated wrestlers mostly pushed for their looks, basically one step above the previous divas generation. When you realize their wrestling style, personas and acting are the same stuff from 10-15 years ago..."

[4.0] "Can do some stuff well, but also has trouble running the ropes convincigly. AEW pushing the person who is a below average/undertrained wrestler, who can not cut a promo to save her life, but also looks amazing, is just not a great look for the company in my eyes. Reeks of WWE Diva times."

[5.0] "So many people comment on her improvement to the extent that she's actually become drastically overrated in my opinion. She's gone from bad to fine and that seems to be some giant praiseworthy effort in the eyes of many. She's only had 2 singles matches rated above a 6 on here. Those were with Shida and Deeb who are two of the best in the world and carried those matches. Her promos aren't anything that stand out either. That said, don't want to be entirely negative so again, she is fine. Has some unique offense based around her judo style and a good look. She doesn't get much of a chance outside short matches on Dark though which can't help. Would like to see her do a tour of Japan or work more indie dates to get more reps and then maybe she would become worthy of all the praise she gets because there's potential there"

[7.0] "A good girl with a lot of desire to learn. In AEW has improved a lot, thanks to the excellent Dustin Rhodes. I hope for her that the future is good."

[9.0] "Tay is an extremely talented fighter, they have an arsenal of very good punches and every week it seems that she pulls a few more out of her hat and on top of that she is still charismatic and beautiful, the only thing that makes me a little worried is her mic skill but other than that she has everything a big star needs"

[6.0] "She's ok. Good looking and does some decent judo maneuvers. Nothing special about her character or promos. A solid hand for AEW's women division."

[8.0] "She got a successful 2021 in aew where she continued to raise her game and elevate her status although it was easy since aew women division is dull with little to no competition but still can't deny the effort here...... Expecting a good things from her while her career progresses."

[6.0] "I wasn't sad to see her leave NXT, nor very excited by the prospect of her in AEW, but she's certainly putting in the work and improving. She's got a lot more developing to go before I see her has a credible title contender, but at 26, she's got a lot of potential growth ahead of her."

[8.0] "Easy on the eyes. A charming face! Just watch how natural she could attract people when she is on stage. Needs to speak better English to become a key player. Has made a lot of progess in pace, spots and selling, but still have space to improve herself. When she is teaming with Anna, everything looks quite right because both of them are gorgeous and charismatic. Another thing is her Gimmick, wish to see more in the future since she's got the natural attraction."

[8.0] "She's such an underrated wrestler. Tay is a genuine athlete who knows Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and incorporate it into her matches. Easy on the eyes too. To say that WWE dropped the ball with her is an understatement. At least she's finally getting a push in AEW. She has a martial arts style that is popular so there's no reason not to like her."

[5.0] "Obviously the advantages of Conti are there: she's got the age and the charisma to make a lot of herself if he keeps improving: but the issues right now is that she's been a rather slow learner over the years to wrestling. She wasn't very good in NXT, and while she has obviously made tangible upgrades and can work a decent enough match with the right hand guiding along, she's a bit clunky and the weird pseudo-judo wrestling style she brings to the table is not always the best translated to ring work. She's notable for doing "strong-style" but without the many years of experience and discipline that people like Suzuki or Shibata had, meaning she can be a bit..... hard to work with in the striking department. Regardless, she's a prospect that, with a few years of learning under vets of the game and experimentation, could be a big get for the company if they play their cards right. At the moment, she's fine enough, but not great."

[4.0] "I don't know: I just don't see what so many people see in her as an in-ring performer. Her judo throws may look cool but Hina and Rina (28 years between them) do them in all their matches and don't get praised to the High Heaves for them. Apart from that she doesn't do much in the ring. However she's quite the looker, charismatic and speaks a very good English. I think with a good trainer who can motivate her and good booking she could be very successful, but both things appear to be in short supply at the AEW Women's division now. I'll keep my fingers crossed though."

[8.0] "She's grown so fast in the span of a year and with little to no experience before that. Maybe her BJJ experience has made her more primed to pick up wrestling but regardless she's on track to be really good."

[8.0] "I've become a fan in a short time. She's shown so much potential so fast even if she only gets a little bit better she will still be real good."

[8.0] "I went from not being hugely impressed, to being blown away by Yay Conti. In NXT, she was always just untaped potential, but in AEW, she has shown she not only can wrestle a martial arts style and she's absolutely versatile. Conti shines in every match she's in with a creative moveset, a natural quiet charisma, and great matches."

[7.0] "7 for now but she's going to be great and it probably won't take much longer. She has a lot going for her and she's still very young so the upside is massive."

[7.0] "She has improved so much, her latest matches are epic . I think the next years she is going to be way more impressive."

[7.0] "Really charismatic and great looking. She's still very green right now, but improves every time she steps in the ring and it's really great to see it. She seems to have the passion to get better and she have potential to be a top star for any compagny."

[9.0] "Great wrestler, athletic, great look, Tay has really improved a lot since her time in NXT. Loved her matches with Nyla Rose and had a good showing in the women's tournament overall."