Prior to joining AEW, Melo performed forWWE'sNXTbrand asTaynara Conti from 2017 to 2020. Through a partnership with AEW in 2022, she also appeared in the Mexican promotionLucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), where she was a former one-timeAAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion with real life husbandSammy Guevara as members of AEW'sJericho Appreciation Society stable. She took a maternity leave from AEW in January 2023 and made her in-ring return at an event for AEW's Japanese partner promotion,World Wonder Ring Stardom, in January 2025 before making her return to AEW that June.
Taynara Melo de Carvalho was born on June 9, 1995, inRio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has a brother and two sisters, one of whom is adopted. Melo grew up in Rio's notorious poverty-stricken and crime-infestedfavelas. She holds ablack belt injudo and a blue belt inBrazilian jiu-jitsu.[5] Melo briefly went to law school in Brazil[7] and participated in trials for the Brazilian Olympic team at the2016 Summer Olympics prior to joining WWE.[2]
Melo began her athletic career inartistic gymnastics inCR Vasco da Gama, but soon migrated tomartial arts. She initially fought for the judo teamBrasil vale ouro ("Brazil is worth gold") and later joined Brazilian sports and educationNGOInstituto Reação, led by Olympic judokaFlávio Canto. Melo was a regional champion and four-time state champion. In addition, she was a four-time Brazilian runner up. She joined the Brazilian team and participated in the European circuit in Portugal and Germany.[8]
On April 20, 2020, Conti was released from her WWE contract as a result of budget cuts due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[18] Like all other talent released, she remained under the 90-day no compete clause, which expired on July 23, 2020. Conti later revealed in an interview that she had been unhappy for months at WWE and wanted to be released, but the company initially would not grant her a release out of fear she would go toAll Elite Wrestling (AEW).[19]
On the January 13, 2021, episode ofDynamite, Conti competed for theNWA World Women's Championship for the first time, and was defeated bySerena Deeb.[23] In the following weeks, Conti earned a title match for theAEW Women's World Championship, but she was not successful in beating the champion,Hikaru Shida, on the April 21 episode ofDynamite.[24] In September, Conti and Anna Jay began a feud withPenelope Ford andThe Bunny in a series of singles and tag matches onDynamite andRampage. On November 13, Conti fought again for the AEW Women's World Championship, this time facing defending championBritt Baker atFull Gear but came up unsuccessful.[25] The TayJay/Bunny & Ford feud came to a head when the team of Jay and Conti defeated the team of The Bunny and Ford in astreet fight on December 31 onRampage.[26]
Melo and Guevara then started a feud withRuby Soho andOrtiz, trading wins during August before defeating them atAll Out due to interference from Anna Jay.[citation needed] The feud between Melo and Soho resumed on the November 30 episode ofDynamite, leading to a match atWinter Is Coming where Soho defeated Melo.[citation needed] The feud continued with Melo and Jay defeating Soho andWillow Nightingale on the December 28 episode ofDynamite; Soho and Nightingale however defeated Melo and Jay on the January 11, 2023, episode ofRampage in a street fight.[citation needed]
On January 3, 2025, following a 22 month hiatus from wrestling, Melo made her in ring return and debut forStardom atNew Year Dream where she teamed withMina Shirakawa and faced the team ofAthena andThekla but were defeated.[35]
In 2017, Melo married fellow judoka Jorge Conti. In November 2021, Melo revealed that she was no longer married, and that the couple had been separated "for a long time".[37][38][better source needed]
Melo had been in a relationship with fellow professional wrestlerSammy Guevara since January 2022.[39] The couple got engaged in June inParis[40][41] and were wed on August 7, 2022, inOrlando.[42] In May 2023, atDouble or Nothing, Melo and Guevara revealed they are expecting their first child, and confirmed it on their social media accounts.[43][better source needed]
On November 28, 2023, Melo gave birth to a daughter named Luna Guevara.[44][45]
She is a fan ofMMA (particularly theUFC and the MMA fightersAmanda Nunes andCharles Oliveira), often comments on the events and fights of these events on her social media, in addition to having declared that she is open to a challenge of fighting MMA in the future and that she has visited a UFC Gym several times.[citation needed]
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