Tony Khan has revealed what’s really going on with Tay Melo.
After her husband Sammy Guevara got people talking about his AEW future with a social media update, reports claimed that Tay Melo had actually asked for her release from the company last year but her request had been denied.
The AEW President was asked about the status of both her and Anna Jay during the 2026 Redemption media call. Tony Khan first confirmed that Anna was dealing with an injury, but she was firmly under contract with the company after signing an extension. On the topic of Tay, he accepted that there was some truth to these reports but revealed she only asked for her release after the June 6 episode of Collision last month:
With Tay also a lot of inaccurate things I saw about Tay, and to be honest, in this case there was smoke to the fire, but the people were reporting the fire in the wrong place. So what did that really accomplish? And with Tay, Tay had 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.
I’m Gonna Give Tay That Release: Tony Khan
Tony Khan explained that the narrative that he has been keeping the female star in the company against her will for long is completely false. The wrestling executive mentioned that he has not booked Tay Melo for any show since then and confirmed that he will give the AEW star her release:
She came to me after the match and said, ‘I would like the 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 you know, 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’s not, hasn’t been a long thing, and also I haven’t kept her here. Since that talk, I haven’t brought her back, booked her, and I am gonna give Tay that release.
The topic of MJF’s recent absence from AEW was also brought up during the media call. You can check out what Khan said about it here.
