Tony Khan Clarifies Tay Melo Reports, Says He’ll Grant Her Release

Tony Khan has clarified reports of Tay Melo requesting her release and says that he plans to grant it to her. It was reported earlier this week that Melo had asked for her release at some point last year, but that it was denied.

Khan addressed the report on the media call ahead of AEW Redemption this weekend. He noted that Melo did ask for her release, but that it happened after the June 6th episode of AEW Collision. Melo and Anna Jay challenged for the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship during that show but didn’t win the titles. You can see the highlights below (per Fightful):

On the Reports of Melo Requesting Her Release:

“With Tay (Melo), 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?”

On When And Why Melo Asked For Her Release:

“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. 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 that it’s been an ongoing thing.

“And I heard from Tay this week and she said she’s not putting those reports out and it really bothered her, and we haven’t had an unpleasant conversation ever. I’ve always had a very good relationship with Tay, and she has 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, booked her, and I am gonna give Tay that release.”

Melo made her AEW in-ring debut in July of 2020, teaming with Anna Jay in the AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament.