AEW Star Set To Be Released By The Company

AEW

Tony Khan has confirmed that he will grant an AEW star their release from the company, following reports surrounding her future this week.

It was recently reported that Tay Melo had requested her release in 2025, but it hadn’t been granted by AEW. 

Last seen in action on the June 6 episode of AEW Collision, Melo teamed with Anna Jay in a loss to Women’s World Tag Team Champions, Divine Dominion (Lena Kross & Megan Bayne).

Speaking during the AEW Redemption media call, which was shared by Fightful, Tony Khan shed some light on Melo’s status and confirmed he would be granting her release, saying:

“With Tay, also, a lot of inaccurate things I saw about Tay. And to be honest, there, in this case, there was smoke to the fire, but the people were reporting fire in the wrong place, so what did that really accomplish?

“With Tay, Tay had said she wanted to step away from wrestling. She had 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 the release.’ And I was taken aback.

“We had a very nice talk; it’s far to the contrary of what I’ve seen reported about this being last year, or it’s been an ongoing thing. And I heard from Tay last week; she said she’s not putting those reports out, and it really bothered her. 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 I also haven’t kept her here.

“Since that talk, I haven’t brought her back, booked her and I am going to give Tay that release.”

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Khan would also address the current status of Sammy Guevara, the real-life husband of Melo, indicating that the AEW star is still with the company.

Where Next For Tay Melo?

Not for the first time, Tay Melo has asked for a release from a contract, only for it not to be initially granted.

Back in 2021, the then-Tay Conti revealed she had asked for her WWE release only for the request to be denied. Describing her mindset at the time, Conti would state she asked for her “release for a couple months”, going on to reveal, “I was not happy. I was so unhappy there that I didn’t have any plans.”

With AEW, it appears that, despite past reports, Melo approached Khan for her release “weeks ago”, with the aforementioned Divine Domination match being the timeframe given.

There’s a possibility that Melo could make a WWE return, with the structure of the company different to that of her previous run, while TNA Wrestling may also be an option for a star who has many years ahead of her. In the meantime, there’s a world of independent wrestling opportunities out there to explore, with the AEW star joining a number of former WWE stars who have recently become free agents, including the former Zelina Vega.

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• tony khan
• TayJay
• tay melo
• AEW

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