Taya Valkyrie first came to the attention of most U.S. wrestling fans during the second season of Lucha Underground, perhaps most notably when she and Cage had a bloody brawl that was one of the most intense and sensational intergender matches of all time. While her stock has only risen since then, both in the United States and abroad, the Canadian wrestler has faced some professional struggles as of late.
The former two-time Reina de Reinas champion recently departed AAA after she was finagled out of her title by the promotion. But things probably worked out great for the new champ, Sexy Star. The life of a pro wrestler tends to be pretty weird and usually there’s a lot of struggle and obstacles to overcome before you finally make it.
To wit: Valkyrie recently revealed on Talk is Jericho that she once had a contract offer extended to her by WWE, but after going through the entire hiring process, they opted to pull the offer. That’s not the first time we’ve heard of something like this. Perhaps most notably, fellow Lucha Underground star Willie Mack made a tearful farewell to the independent scene in 2014, but returned almost immediately after reporting for what was intended to be a WWE career.
Anyway, let’s hear Taya talk about the situation and how tough it was for her when WWE took the offer off the table.
“A little-known 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. They pulled [the contract]. They just decided they didn’t want me anymore. Needless to say, I was extremely upset.
“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 [Chris 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.”
Luckily, everything worked out for Valkyrie in the end. She’s on her way to being a huge star, with or without WWE. And it would be pretty surprising if she never ended up there in the end. Heck, if her Lucha Underground contract had been up at the time, we probably would have seen her in the Mae Young Classic. Maybe.
