In this thread I want to discuss Tay Conti's rapid levels of improvement in AEW compared to as HR said in the AEw thread her plateauing in NXT, and what that says about the training in the performance center .

IN NXT Tay  always seemed like someone with potential but the rate of her improvement seemed to be pretty slow with her skill level seeming to be stuck at a similar level for most of her NXT career from her first matched  in the first MYC, to her last matches on NXT tv in 2019. While in AEW her improvement seem much more rapid , with her doing a much better job of utilizing her judo training in her wrestling while also experimenting with other styles of wrestling.


I feel as though this highlights a problem witht he performance center when it comes to them training talents with no prior wrestling experience.  

You have a lot of PC/NXT talents like Tay with pretty serious athletic backgrounds (Xia Li, Jessi Kaemala, Kavita Davi, even Kacy to a certain extent) who don't seem to be progressing at the rate one would expect someone of their athletic pedigrees to.


Even with someone like Bianca who has done very well doesn't seem to flow as naturally in the ring as one would expect a talent of her natural abilities would be able to.


This also might be a symptom of the homegrown talents not really being given many chances for longer takeover style matches.


I don't know just something to think about.     

Could it be a byproduct of how wwe trains everyone to be the same? The goal seems to be a homogenized product. It seemed like in nxt she was being molded into the typical wwe wrestler. Whereas in aew and on dark it feels lile shes allowed to embrace her uniqueness

Something similar to what nazzer said. nXt probably gave her a good foundation but is too controlling on what you can become. AEW probably gives you freedom to do stuff but in general probably doesn't have a good training program. So when she came in her basics were already above most of the AEW women's division. Then she started exploring on how to add to her matches using her other backgrounds. Coming up with an unigue style. So I don't think AEW or nXt alone would have done it.

I think Conti didn't get enough of a chance and I think she quit, if I remember she left her locker room with all her things and said she wasn't coming back, then made a comeback in NXT that seemed half ass(See video below) and then outright got her release. I think with AEW women's division in such flux she's taken a golden opportunity and made the most of it. I also think the match with one of her ex trainers in Deeb was right up her alley of comfort so she came off smelling like a million bucks.

I would blame Conti as much for not "buying in" with NXT as she consistently left and in turn WWE NXT could not push her with perceived "attitude issues".

This was one of the worst matches I have seen in NXT for instances:


Garrett isn't even bad but I just wonder the care in Conti at this point, I remember watching this match live and saying how did this even get cleared to be on Live TV? Everything in slow mo, the reaction time was like 2 steps away where even the viewers can tell what is going to happen.

I think her leaving NXT lit up her fire and made her start to really buy in. I remember she tweeted her watching NJPW matches and watching Shibata etc. Makes me wonder how serious she is taking this now that she looks night and day better.

Blindy i watch that match and it looks tp me like they are both performing exactly the way wwe would want them to do. Wwe matches are slow and plodding, they do kings road except they've skipped to the bit where they sell like their dead after the first move, resulting in this weird look like everything happens in slow mo. Their timing isnt off, thats wwe style.

I don't know about tay's specific 'issues' in nxt. But why wouldnt you get frustrated working there? There are so many talented wrestlers that seem to be in a holding pattern, so of course you would get frustrated.

Jan 17, 2021 18:11:18 GMT nazzer said:

Blindy i watch that match and it looks tp me like they are both performing exactly the way wwe would want them to do. Wwe matches are slow and plodding, they do kings road except they've skipped to the bit where they sell like their dead after the first move, resulting in this weird look like everything happens in slow mo. Their timing isnt off, thats wwe style.

I don't know about tay's specific 'issues' in nxt. But why wouldnt you get frustrated working there? There are so many talented wrestlers that seem to be in a holding pattern, so of course you would get frustrated.

I don't disagree with you and I think most of the non-Japanese born or wrestled(Storm, Kai) don't necessarily learn every little nuance but they have had some top notch trainers like Sara Del Ray, Sarita and the aforementioned Deeb. I just think there is so much talent when Taynara was in WWE NXT that she was a little fish in a big pond vs in AEW she stands out especially when against a Deeb or Thunder Rosa, talent that know what they're doing and can handle the little things like ring psychology, keeping the tempo of a match where Conti can just do her judo and impressive clinching without having to do the rest. 

Throw her vs Abadon or Swole and she looks messy. 

Sometimes people look to blame the infrastructure for their wrong doing but I think Taynara gave them a reason to drop her when in their eyes, the margin is so thin. She wanted to do more and that's perfectly fine but WWE can just have Xia Li or Kayden Carter to fill Taynara's shoes. They don't have the TV time to throw everyone out there so Conti leaving and going AWOL even if she's validated gives them a reason to cut ties with the push. 

Jan 17, 2021 19:08:04 GMT Blindy said:

Jan 17, 2021 18:11:18 GMT nazzer said:

Blindy i watch that match and it looks tp me like they are both performing exactly the way wwe would want them to do. Wwe matches are slow and plodding, they do kings road except they've skipped to the bit where they sell like their dead after the first move, resulting in this weird look like everything happens in slow mo. Their timing isnt off, thats wwe style.

I don't know about tay's specific 'issues' in nxt. But why wouldnt you get frustrated working there? There are so many talented wrestlers that seem to be in a holding pattern, so of course you would get frustrated.

I don't disagree with you and I think most of the non-Japanese born or wrestled(Storm, Kai) don't necessarily learn every little nuance but they have had some top notch trainers like Sara Del Ray, Sarita and the aforementioned Deeb. I just think there is so much talent when Taynara was in WWE NXT that she was a little fish in a big pond vs in AEW she stands out especially when against a Deeb or Thunder Rosa, talent that know what they're doing and can handle the little things like ring psychology, keeping the tempo of a match where Conti can just do her judo and impressive clinching without having to do the rest. 

Throw her vs Abadon or Swole and she looks messy. 

Sometimes people look to blame the infrastructure for their wrong doing but I think Taynara gave them a reason to drop her when in their eyes, the margin is so thin. She wanted to do more and that's perfectly fine but WWE can just have Xia Li or Kayden Carter to fill Taynara's shoes. They don't have the TV time to throw everyone out there so Conti leaving and going AWOL even if she's validated gives them a reason to cut ties with the push. 

Yeah sure, all true statements. When yu work for a company who very much values toeing the company line you simply can't act with a poor attitude, especially if there is a deep roster ready to take your spot. But damn, if you have any ambition it has got to be hard to sit in the background when you watch some of the others ahead of you getting time. This week on Smackdown you had Tamina, who is absolute garbage; and Natalya, who has the personality of a wet blanket - surely there are so many others that would be more interesting, why would you not feel stuck and wasted sitting in the minor leagues when that is what is above you. 

I think sometimes you've just got " to do it " and that's, work. And do it frequently enough at a certain level to improve.

I've noted in the past, Candice LeRae was one of the worst performers on the NXT roster - botchy, lacking flow, going through the motions between spots. But she was barely seen on TV. 3 years later, she's a different performer after being allowed the opportunity to work much more frequently at this level.

Similarly, Kacy would most likely see a rapid improvement, if given the opportunity to work and showcase that athletic ability, that could easily be turned into a lucha skillset.

So I would suggest, there's an order in which talent are pushed/developed especially out of the PC unless you're a high end independent talent.

But how they missed the boat on Conti, I don't know - 25 year old stunner with a legitimate background in combat sports...

Jan 17, 2021 19:08:04 GMT Blindy said:

Jan 17, 2021 18:11:18 GMT nazzer said:

Blindy i watch that match and it looks tp me like they are both performing exactly the way wwe would want them to do. Wwe matches are slow and plodding, they do kings road except they've skipped to the bit where they sell like their dead after the first move, resulting in this weird look like everything happens in slow mo. Their timing isnt off, thats wwe style.

I don't know about tay's specific 'issues' in nxt. But why wouldnt you get frustrated working there? There are so many talented wrestlers that seem to be in a holding pattern, so of course you would get frustrated.

I don't disagree with you and I think most of the non-Japanese born or wrestled(Storm, Kai) don't necessarily learn every little nuance but they have had some top notch trainers like Sara Del Ray, Sarita and the aforementioned Deeb. I just think there is so much talent when Taynara was in WWE NXT that she was a little fish in a big pond vs in AEW she stands out especially when against a Deeb or Thunder Rosa, talent that know what they're doing and can handle the little things like ring psychology, keeping the tempo of a match where Conti can just do her judo and impressive clinching without having to do the rest. 

Throw her vs Abadon or Swole and she looks messy. 

Sometimes people look to blame the infrastructure for their wrong doing but I think Taynara gave them a reason to drop her when in their eyes, the margin is so thin. She wanted to do more and that's perfectly fine but WWE can just have Xia Li or Kayden Carter to fill Taynara's shoes. They don't have the TV time to throw everyone out there so Conti leaving and going AWOL even if she's validated gives them a reason to cut ties with the push. 

I don't know Blindy here are 3 matches with Tay having solid matches with wrestler with the same or less amount of experience as her.

I'd also say that the level at which Tay is performing now in AEW does not make her easily replaceable. Xia for sure hasnot shown to be at her level. 

Most of the key points have already been made here. The only one I can think to add is that I think Tay's simply benefitted from learning/working with new people. I'm sure Sara Del Rey is a great coach but even someone with the wrestling knowledge that she has surely runs out of things to teach her students after a while. Conti had obviously plateaued in NXT, and never really found her lane combining her judo with pro wrestling and her character was a complete mess. Working with Dustin has seemingly sorted out a lot of those issues. It's one of the real positives of having a legitimate alternative in the business.

Jan 18, 2021 0:28:11 GMT dex02 said:

Jan 17, 2021 19:08:04 GMT Blindy said:

I don't disagree with you and I think most of the non-Japanese born or wrestled(Storm, Kai) don't necessarily learn every little nuance but they have had some top notch trainers like Sara Del Ray, Sarita and the aforementioned Deeb. I just think there is so much talent when Taynara was in WWE NXT that she was a little fish in a big pond vs in AEW she stands out especially when against a Deeb or Thunder Rosa, talent that know what they're doing and can handle the little things like ring psychology, keeping the tempo of a match where Conti can just do her judo and impressive clinching without having to do the rest. 

Throw her vs Abadon or Swole and she looks messy. 

Sometimes people look to blame the infrastructure for their wrong doing but I think Taynara gave them a reason to drop her when in their eyes, the margin is so thin. She wanted to do more and that's perfectly fine but WWE can just have Xia Li or Kayden Carter to fill Taynara's shoes. They don't have the TV time to throw everyone out there so Conti leaving and going AWOL even if she's validated gives them a reason to cut ties with the push. 

I don't know Blindy here are 3 matches with Tay having solid matches with wrestler with the same or less amount of experience as her.

I'd also say that the level at which Tay is performing now in AEW does not make her easily replaceable. Xia for sure hasnot shown to be at her level. 

All AEW Dark and all taped but yes she has a fire up her butt and is doing great. Xia is getting pushed because WWE sees money to be made in China, same with Boa and the mysterious female entity whose name eludes me. China>>>>Brazil as far as money making goes.

She is one of the best talents in AEW, not taking anything away from her. Just the field is not as deep as say NXT.