Tony Khan has confirmed that Tay Melo will be released after she recently requested an exit from AEW.
There had been rumors for months that Melo wanted to leave AEW, with some reports claiming she had been trying to leave since 2025. During the AEW Redemption media call, Khan cleared things up, saying those reports were incorrect. According to him, Melo only made the request a few weeks ago.
Tony Khan explains when Tay Melo asked for her release
Khan said the conversation took place after the June 6 episode of AEW Collision, in which Melo and Anna Jay lost to Divine Dominion’s Lena Kross and Megan Bayne. After the match, Melo approached him about her future.
Khan said the rumors were partly true. However, the timeline being reported wasn’t accurate. He explained that Melo’s request wasn’t part of a long-running issue behind the scenes.
“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 people were reporting the fire in the wrong place, so what does that really accomplish?” Khan said.
He also revealed that Melo wasn’t looking to join another wrestling company. Instead, she told him she wanted to step away from wrestling completely.
“Tay had said she wanted to step away from wrestling. She has 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,” Khan explained.
Khan admitted his surprise at her decision but said the conversation was friendly and respectful. He also denied reports that she had been asking for her release for more than a year.
“That wasn’t in 2025. That was weeks ago at Collision after she wrestled against the Divine Dominion and she came to me after the match, and said, ‘I would like a 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 it being an ongoing thing. I heard from Tay this week, and she said she’s not putting those reports out. It really bothered her,” he said.
Khan made it clear that there has never been any bad blood between him and Melo.
“We haven’t had an unpleasant conversation ever. I’ve always had a very good relationship with Tay. And she asked about stepping away recently. It hasn’t been a long thing, and also I haven’t kept her here. Since that talk, I haven’t brought her back or booked her, and I am going to give Tay that release,” he said.
Read More: Tony Khan Addresses Sammy Guevara’s AEW Status After Exit Speculation
