Taya Valkyrie is on top of the world as 2022 comes to an end (Picture: IMPACT Wrestling)
IMPACT Wrestling star Taya Valkyrie is on top of the world just over a year after her shock WWE release.
The decorated champion, who currently holds gold in IMPACT, MLW and AAA, didn’t hit the same heights as Franky Monet in WWE as she joined during the pandemic months before boss Triple H fell ill.
Reflecting on getting let go in November just days before her husband John Morrison, she exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘I look back on myself in WWE and when I got released and where John got released, where I was so sad and depressed and in a place where I didn’t really feel like I fit in anywhere.
‘That just doesn’t feel like myself anymore. It feels like the past and a weird dream sequence that I lived through, but did I really live through it? Was I present? I dunno! [laughs] I’m so far separated from that, I’m in such a good place professionally and personally.’
A big part of that has been returning to IMPACT Wrestling for a second stint, where she currently holds the Knockouts Tag Team Titles as one third of the Death Dollz with Rosemary and Jessicka, as she’s loving the creative freedom and overall atmosphere in the promotion.
‘I need to be in such a good place mental health wise, and just be around people that really understand creative people like me. I’ve always felt a really, really cool connection with everyone from the office to the owners to the wrestlers,’ she said, noting they stayed close even during her time in NXT.
Taya worked in NXT as Franky Monet (Picture: WWE)
She added: ‘I can spread my wings and be weird if I want to. All our ideas are listened to – obviously sometimes we’re throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, but we really get heard that and I love that.’
Early on, she felt a similar vibe in NXT when she found herself in ‘a lot of creative meetings’ and being listened to, right down to having her dog Presley involved in the vignettes hyping up her arrival.
‘Things were really moving along. I was the glamorous blonde, Marilyn Monroe, Anna Nicole. As time went on, things changed obviously,’ she admitted, noting that toxic fans on social media only exasperated the situation.
‘Sometimes they can actually be the root of the problem. They can be the most loving, accepting, so invested in every one of us – to the worst, most horrible, hurtful Twitter freaks I’ve ever experienced in my life,’ she candidly added.
IMPACT Wrestling stars Death Dollz – Taya Valkyrie, Jessicka and Rosemary
‘But I enjoy what I do, I wouldn’t be doing it for 12 years if I didn’t love what I do and it’s an escape for me as well.
‘Especially over the last year to two years, with the pandemic, with NXT, with this year that has been probably the biggest year of my career winning a total of five championships, and more over the course of 10 months. You really have to just look back and go, “OK I’m strong, I can get through this.”‘
Taya admitted she and her husband John, whom she’s been with for seven years and married in June 2018, have ‘gone through so much together’, and they are each other’s rock.
‘It’s been really great because we have really honestly been through some horrible things together, let’s be honest! It’s not always roses and unicorns,’ she laughed.
Taya Valkyrie saw her win at Rebellion as a turning point (Picture: IMPACT Wrestling)
‘Last year when everything went down, we really didn’t know what was gonna happen, and what are we gonna do, how are we gonna pay our bills and our mortgage?’
The 39-year-old star hailed them both as ‘survivors’, and admitted she ‘thrives under pressure’.
‘I’ve been in positions where I have to go into survival mode,’ she pondered. ‘The never ending battery of, like, you push me down and I come up three times stronger. That’s just me. If you look back on my career, that’s definitely the way it’s been.’
For Taya, the turnaround started with the amazing response she received for her IMPACT return in April this year, and continued as she won AAA’s Reina de Reinas Championship from Deonna Purrazzo just weeks later at IMPACT’s Rebellion show.
‘It started to turn for the better, I started to gain my confidence back,’ she reflected. ‘I was like, “Oh! Oh yeah, I remember her! This Taya, I like this Taya!” You just have to remind yourself of who are you. It’s very corny to say, but it’s the truth.’
Looking to the future, the star is keen to push on and find a permanent home wrestling wise, as much as she’s enjoying her work around the world and the auditions she’s been getting in the acting world.
She said: ‘I definitely wanna sign somewhere full time in a New Year because I just want to have a home. But I also wanna be able to be creative and have those freedoms… So, I’m gonna pick somewhere where I can be happy, where I can creative and that appreciates me for me. So, we’ll see!’
IMPACT Wrestling is available to watch via DAZN for fans in the UK.
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The Knockouts Tag Team Champion is living her best life.
