 Tuft in 2023 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1978-11-01)November 1, 1978 (age 47) |
Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Gabe Tuft[1] Taj Milano Tyler Reks[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 246 lb (112 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Parts Unknown[2] Laguna Beach, California |
| Trained by | Ultimate Pro Wrestling[1] Florida Championship Wrestling[1] |
| Debut | February 2007 |
| Retired | 2014 |
Gabbi Alon Tuft[3] (born November 1, 1978) is an AmericanTikToker and formerprofessional wrestler.[4] Tuft is best known for her time withWWE under thering nameTyler Reks.[2] Tuft also competed in WWE'sdevelopmental territoryFlorida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where she won theFCW Florida Heavyweight Championship once and theFCW Florida Tag Team Championshiptwice, once withJoe Hennig and once withJohnny Curtis.
Since retiring from professional wrestling in 2014, Tuft has been working in marketing. She also launched a fitness website with several other wrestlers.[5][6] Tuft publiclycame out as atrans woman in February 2021.[7][8][9]
Tuft made her professional debut in February 2007 forUltimate Pro Wrestling.[1]
Tuft was signed to a developmental contract withWorld Wrestling Entertainment in January 2008 and was assigned to theFlorida Championship Wrestlingdevelopment territory. She made her FCW debut on February 5, 2008,[10] withJohnny Curtis in a losing effort against The Puerto Rican Nightmares (Eddie Colon andEric Pérez). A few days later on February 12, she made her singles FCW debut, losing to "The South City Thriller" Hade Vansen. She participated in a FCW Florida Heavyweight Title Battle Royal, which was won byJake Hager.[11] She also took part in the FCW Florida Tag Team Title Tournament withRycklon. During this tournament, she had her first victory at FCW defeatingTed DiBiase Jr. andAfa Jr. in the first round, however the pair subsequently lost to The Puerto Rican Nightmares in the quarter finals.[11] Tuft then had two chances at theFCW Florida Heavyweight Championship against then-champion Jake Hager; first in a one on one match and then in a triple threat match along with Curtis. On August 28, she participated in an FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship No. 1 Contendership Fatal Four Way along with Curtis,Tyrone Evans, andSheamus O'Shaunessy, who went on to win the match. Tuft then went on to have another two FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship shots against O'Shaunessy and lost both times.[11]
By November 2008, her ring name was changed toTyler Reks.[1] On December 11, Reks and Curtis defeatedThe New Hart Foundation (DH Smith andTJ Wilson) to win theFCW Florida Tag Team Championship inTampa, Florida.[12] After numerous defenses and 139 days of holding the titles, they lost them in a Two On One Handicap match to The Dude Busters (Caylen Croft andTrent Barreta). Reks won a FCW Florida Heavyweight Title No. 1 Contendership match and on June 11, 2009, she captured the Florida Heavyweight Championship by defeatingDrew McIntyre.[13] She later lost the title toHeath Slater at the FCW television tapings on August 13.[14] She later lost to Slater again during her rematch for the title. She lost toJoe Hennig in a FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship No. 1 Contendership match and lost a FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship No. 1 Contendership battle royal. She andLeo Kruger unsuccessfully challenged Los Aviadores (Epico andHunico) for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship.[1]
Reks made her main roster debut on the June 30, 2009 episode ofECW on Sci Fi, with asurfer in-ring persona, in a backstage promo withZack Ryder.[2][15] Reks had suffered a knee injury just prior to her debut, but was able to work through it and made her in-ring debut on the July 2, 2009, episode ofWWE Superstars, losing to Ryder.[16] On the July 21 episode ofECW, Reks gained her first win after defeatingPaul Burchill, and then beat him again the following week.[17] Reks participated in a 10-man battle royal on the September 15 episode ofECW for anECW Championship opportunity againstChristian, but the match would go on to be won by Ryder. Reks would begin a brief hiatus from television starting in November 2009 and began mainly workingdark matches andhouse shows for bothSmackDown andRaw and FCW matches. Reks was one of the participants in the 26-man pre-show battle royal atWrestleMania XXVI.[18]
In April 2010, Reks joined theSmackDown roster following ECW's cancellation. After months of only workingdark matches, Reks appeared as aheel on the October 15 episode ofSmackDown, while sporting a beard, chest hair, and new attire in addition tonever referencing to her time on ECW. After apromo, she challenged and defeatedKaval in a match for the latter's spot in the SmackDownBragging Rights team.[19] On theRaw before Bragging Rights, she participated in a SmackDown vs.Raw 30 Man Tag Team Battle Royal, in which SmackDown was victorious. AtBragging Rights, Reks was able to eliminateSantino Marella, before being eliminated bySheamus. However, Team SmackDown was successful in winning the Bragging Rights Cup for the second consecutive time, which would end up being Reks' most significant accomplishment in her WWE career.[2][20] After this, Reks was placed onAlberto Del Rio'sSurvivor Series team. On theSmackDown before the Survivor Series, she competed in a Ten Man Tag Team Battle Royal but her team lost. AtSurvivor Series, she was eliminated byKofi Kingston, as Team Del Rio went on to lose the match to TeamMysterio.[2][21] Reks was then moved into afeud withChris Masters, defeating him once onSmackDown and twice onSuperstars.[22]
On January 30, 2011, Reks made herRoyal Rumble debut at thenamesake event, entering theRoyal Rumble match as the sixteenth entrant, but was eliminated from the match in only 34 seconds byCM Punk andthe New Nexus. Reks was involved in another dark battle royal atWrestleMania XXVII. Reks participated in a battle royal to determine the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Her last in-ring television performance for five months would be beatingJTG onSuperstars.[23]
On April 26, Reks was drafted to theRaw brand as part of the2011 Supplemental Draft.[24] After wrestlingdark matches for a few months, Reks made herRaw debut in a backstage segment withCurt Hawkins,Wade Barrett, andAlberto Del Rio.[25] On the September 8 episode ofSuperstars, Reks made her in-ring return as she teamed with Hawkins to defeatTitus O'Neil andPercy Watson.[26][27] Hawkins and Reks then began appearing on the fifth season of NXT, by attackingthe Usos from behind on the September 27 episode ofNXT.[28] Over the next two weeks onNXT, Hawkins and Reks faced the Usos in tag team matches, with Hawkins and Reks winning the first match[29] and the Usos winning the second match.[30] Reks made her singles return on October 16 losing toYoshi Tatsu.[23] Reks participated in aWorld Heavyweight Championship number 1 contender 41 man battle royal and the "All I Want For Christmas Battle Royal" and was eliminated in both.[23] Hawkins and Reks would lose to the Usos once again on December 6. Reks and Hawkins would then lose a non-title match to the tag team champions Air Boom (Evan Bourne andKofi Kingston) on the December 22 episode ofSuperstars.[31] Hawkins and Reks engaged in a feud with the duo ofTrent Barreta and Yoshi Tatsu beginning in December 2011.[32] Both teams would play pranks on each other, with Tatsu being locked in a closet and Reks' hands beingsuperglued onto anXbox controller.[33] The feud ended when Hawkins and Reks defeated Barreta and Tatsu on the January 18, 2012 episode ofNXT.[34]
Hawkins and Reks would then settle into the role of NXT's troublemakers, tormenting NXT hostMatt Striker on his lackluster career and how they should be main-eventing NXT, even once going to the extent of assaulting him after a match.[35] They forced Striker to appointWilliam Regal as NXT's prime authority figure on the February 29 episode ofNXT.[36] Regal would employ harsh measures to keep Hawkins and Reks in line, including threatening suspensions for bad behaviour and condemning them to janitorial duty, this caused them much frustration.[37] On the March 21 episode ofNXT Redemption, Striker was knocked out withchloroform byJohnny Curtis andMaxine, and then Striker was kidnapped (kayfabe) by unknown persons,[38] later revealed to be Hawkins and Reks, who intended to blackmail Maxine into using her charms to get Regal to leave them alone.[39] Unfortunately for Hawkins and Reks, Striker was rescued byDerrick Bateman andKaitlyn.[40] On the April 18 episode ofNXT, the freed Striker confronted Hawkins and Reks about the kidnapping, and Hawkins admitted the crime. As punishment, Regal put Hawkins and Reks in a match against each other with Striker as referee and the loser of the match would be fired. Even though Reks won to supposedly save her job at the expense of Hawkins', Regal decided to fire Reks as well, sending the two troublemakers away from NXT.[41]
However, Regal could not keep the duo away from NXT for long, as they managed to convince villainous higher authority figureJohn Laurinaitis to rehire them as NXT's security team on the May 9 episode ofNXT.[42] Hawkins and Reks would then continue to play the role of Laurinaitis' lackeys, confiscating anti-Laurinaitis signs atOver the Limit[43] and attackingJohn Cena on the May 21 episode ofRaw.[44] Hawkins and Reks' association with Laurinaitis ended after Laurinaitis lost his job atNo Way Out.[45] On the final episode of the fifth season ofNXT on June 13, Hawkins and Reks defeated Bateman andPercy Watson.[46]
Hawkins and Reks would then engage in a one-sided feud withRyback in July 2012. After both Hawkins and Reks lost singles matches to Ryback onSmackDown, Ryback defeated both of them in a handicap match atMoney in the Bank.[47] AtRaw 1000, Hawkins and Reks, along withJinder Mahal,Drew McIntyre,Hunico, andCamacho, attempted to ambushKane to make a statement, but a returningThe Undertaker interrupted the attack and theBrothers of Destruction disposed of Hawkins and Reks.[48] The duo would once again lose toRyback on the August 6 episode ofRaw.[49]
After being told by SmackDown general managerBooker T to "step it up",[50] Hawkins and Reks debuted a stripper gimmick on the August 17 episode ofSmackDown while squashing a jobber tag team.[51] A week later, Reks asked for her release as she intended to retire from wrestling to spend more time with her family; she and WWE parted ways on August 21, thus ending the team.[4][52]
Reuniting withCurt Hawkins, the pair tagged together as part of Pro Wrestling Syndicate picking up a win in September againstKevin Matthews andLance Hoyt.[53]
During her time in WWE Reks, together with Curt Hawkins, created an animatedYouTube series calledMidCard Mafia in 2011, which was quickly cancelled and pulled from the internet after complaints from WWE management.[54]Since her transition, she has been featured on several television shows and media outlets including:The Tamron Hall Show,[55][56]Breakfast Television,[57]The New York Times,[58]E! Online,[59]Insider.com,[60]Newsweek[61] andWoman's World.[62]
Tuft married Priscilla Tuft in 2002.[63] Their daughter was born in 2011.[64] Tuftcame out as atrans woman to her wife in September 2020[63] and publicly on February 4, 2021.[7][9][65] In an October 2023 essay forBusiness Insider, Tuft wrote that her transition had contributed to her separation from Priscilla in October 2021 and that they were in the process of divorcing, but stated that they remain "the best of friends".[63]
In 2019, Tuft was diagnosed with an ascendingaortic aneurysm and underwentopen-heart surgery.[66]
The gender reveal (as it was specifically referred to in the press release supplied) will happen on the February 5 Extra TV. She will now go by Gabbi Tuft.
,Cagematch,Internet Wrestling Database