Taya Valkyrie On WWE Contract Being Pulled, How She Reacted, If She Watches WWE Today
Recently on Talk Is Jericho, the legendary Chris Jericho spoke with Lucha Underground luchadora and GFW Knockout Taya Valkyrie. Among other things, Valkyrie talked about being offered a WWE contract and it being pulled, how she went from living in Canada to Mexico, and whether she follows the WWE product today.
According to Valkyrie, she had a contract offer from WWE before she went to train in Mexico, but the sports entertainment juggernaut reneged and the future Mrs. Mundo / Impact / Morrison / Nitro was never told why.
"A little unknown fact is that about seven months before I went to Mexico, I was offered a contract by WWE. And I went through all the steps, I was waiting to get all my medical tests done, and they decided to not take me, so needless to say I was wasn't given an explanation and to this day I don't really know what happened. I passed the background check and all of this stuff." Valkyrie added, "they pulled [the contract]. They just decided they didn't want me anymore. Needless to say, I was extremely upset."
Understandably, Valkyrie described her life's dream being dashed as "devastating" and she explained that she wanted to leave Calgary, Canada because she was embarrassed. 'The Lucha Queen' was put into contact with Konnan and ended up staying in Mexico for five years.
"It was a really devastating moment for me because I pretty much had everything. I was like, 'oh my God! This is going to happen! I'm going to do it!' And then, it was gone. Yeah, and I still don't really know what happened. I don't hold any grudges. I don't hold any bad feelings because, honestly, it all let to where I am today and I'm here with [Jericho], so it doesn't really matter! And I knew Ted Hart there and he put me in touch with Konnan because I really didn't want to stay in Calgary. I felt embarrassed, like, 'oh my God!' Well, it had kind of gotten out because I had quit my job, I quit my multiple jobs. I was working as a personal trainer and I was bartending on the weekends, so I had quit my jobs, I had gotten rid of my apartment, I was selling my car. Do you know what I mean? There were so many things that were happening and all-of-a-sudden, I had nothing. So I was like, 'what do I do about this?' So I was like, 'do you know what? Screw this – I'm going to do what I have to do to make this happen.'
"So then, I was put into contact with Konnan. I was going to go to Mexico for about a month, month-and-a-half, and I ended up staying. I was there for almost five years."
Valkyrie divulged that she follows the WWE product today, including the Mae Young Classic, because says she follows everything because she may end up work with those performers one way or another. She claimed to be "really happy" that WWE's female talent are "doing so amazing" and went on to put over Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Natalya, Ember Moon, and Asuka.
"I do follow that! It's important to follow everybody because you never know when you're going to be the opportunity to either be there or face one of them within my world or whatever. I think the girls that are in the WWE right now? I'm a huge fan of Charlotte's. I think Charlotte's doing a phenomenal job and really proving she's just as talented as her name says that she is and I think it's really cool. I think Sasha [Banks] is great. Bayley's great. Natalya, I've been a big fan of Natalya forever, since the Calgary days or before when she even went to WWE." Valkyrie continued, "I think some of the girls even in NXT are so good. Ember Moon is amazing. Asuka is amazing. Ruby Riot is amazing."
Check out 'The Pod Of Thunder And Rock & Roll' here. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to WrestlingINC for the transcription.
Source: Talk Is Jericho