Taya Valkyrie has traveled the world and seen plenty of things in the wrestling business, but she says nothing compared to her experience when NXT became NXT 2.0.
Having somewhat of a whirlwind career in WWE, Taya Valkyrie’s first television appearance for the company took place on the April 13th edition of NXT. During her time as part of the NXT brand, Franky Monet only wrestled six times and left WWE with a 3-3 record. The star was part of a mass release instigated by WWE on November 4th where 18 stars were let go by the company.
Speaking to Chris VanVliet, Taya Valkyrie opened up about her experience signing with WWE and the noticeable change when NXT began to make the shift to becoming version 2.0. Speaking about the change, the former Franky Monet says that it felt like night and day when Triple H stopped being involved every day, and that it was the most confusing time in her life despite her wide variety of experiences in wrestling.
“Yes. It was like night and day. It was a very obvious change of energy and a very obvious feeling. We were hearing all sorts of rumors about what they were looking for compared to last week. I was very confused and like well what is going on? This was in the summer and I had debuted in like March. It was so weird, it was the most confusing experience in my entire life. Having worked everywhere, I was left like what is going on?”
Taya Valkyrie continued, saying that it felt like walking on eggshells every day and that everyone seemed to be holding their breath to find out what changes were coming next.
“I can only speak for myself, but I can say that the energy definitely shifted. We were hearing rumors all the time of ‘They are going to be firing people this week.’ So then the whole week everyone is scared. But we are all there busting our asses. I ended up training with Steve Corino and the boys in the tag class. I loved training with MSK and Imperium. They are pushing me and making me do new stuff.
“Everything was good and everyone was working hard, but the shift of how they wanted NXT 2.0 to be literally changed from one day to the next. So I feel it made everyone feel like they are holding their breath.”
Earlier this year, Taya Valkyrie spoke about the possibility of joining AEW following her WWE release, saying that she’d be interested in becoming All Elite as she knows a number of people there from her time working in other wrestling companies.
Taya Valkyrie had harsh words for her former employers, saying that WWE has “zero respect” for its talent
Taking to social media shortly after her release, Taya Valkyrie has not held back on her assertions towards WWE and claims the company has “zero respect” for those putting their bodies on the line for the company:
“Stop supporting a company that has ZERO respect for their talent. You love pro wrestling, spend your money on the hundreds of other alternatives. This is wrong. Ethically, as employers they don’t care about us. Talent or fans.”
Stop supporting a company that has ZERO respect for their talent. You love pro wrestling, spend your money on the hundreds of other alternatives. This is wrong. Ethically, as employers they don’t care about us. Talent or fans.
— TAYA VALKYRIE (@thetayavalkyrie) November 19, 2021
The wider wrestling world also reacted to the cuts made at that time, with everyone from WWE Hall Of Famers to some of those let go giving their thoughts.