On last night’s AEW Dynamite, Tay Conti challenged Hikaru Shida for the AEW Women’s World Championship in an excellent match. The action was competitive, intense and highly entertaining. It was another fantastic performance in a long line of fantastic performances from Conti, who gave the showing of her career and the champion her best match in months.
Over the past few months, Tay Conti has been on fire. Not only has she has racked up the wins across all three AEW shows, but her in-ring work has significantly improved to the point where she is one of the best workers in the division.
Her impressive run of victories meant she rose through the ranks all the way to the number one contender spot. Conti remained on top of the women’s rankings for several weeks, and it was only a matter of time before she got her shot at Shida’s title.
Tay Conti’s chase for the gold was the culmination of hard work, rigorous training, and brilliantly combining her Judo and Ju-Jitsu expertise into her wrestling style. It was this grind and hustle that garnered the support of the fans. Conti has always possessed a genuine likability and a unique charisma that has drawn the attention of the crowd. In NXT, as Taynara Conti, she was a wrestler that stood out due to those attributes.
Conti’s improvement and resulting success should come as no surprise to those who have followed her career. In NXT, Conti was a young wrestler with a lot to learn but showed a lot of promise. Despite her potential, she was rarely seen on television and used mainly for live events. It was this inability to thrive that led to her asking for release in 2020. However, she remained with NXT until April of last year, when she was among several names released.
In August, AEW announced Conti as a surprise entry into the women’s Tag Team Tournament – The Deadly Draw. She teamed with another newcomer Anna Jay, and a true friendship was born. The following month Tay Conti became “All Elite”, and her success story not only continued but thrived. Since joining AEW, Tay Conti has grown as a performer, improved as a wrestler and excelled every chance she has got.
AEW has rewarded Conti’s passion and determination with a shot at the NWA Women’s World Championship, big wins and, of course, this week’s title challenge. Yet despite the defeat in the biggest opportunity of her career, she looked great.
As the tweet above implies, Conti is using the unsuccessful title challenge in her stride. She is taking the loss as a learning curve and inspiration to improve further.
Tay Conti is a true success story of AEW. They saw her potential and put faith in her. They allowed her to evolve both on television and behind the scenes. Tay Conti’s success in AEW is a testament to her drive and determination and AEW’s training sessions and, above all, belief in Tay Conti.
