Tay Melo: I've Been Dealing With A Back Protrusion For Years, I'm Not Currently Cleared

Tay Melo says she's not cleared to compete.

Melo last wrestled on the January 13 episode of AEW Rampage. There, she and Anna Jay AS faced Ruby Soho in a violent Street Fight, in which Ruby and Willow emerged victorious. Melo has been sidelined ever since, and she recently revealed that she has been dealing with an injury.

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Speaking on Elite POV, Melo described how she has been dealing with a protrusion on her back for a number of years, and it started to flare up ahead of the Street Fight. Melo noted that the doctors helped her, and when she was asked about whether she wanted to do the match, she persevered. However, she recalled how she couldn't even walk for long periods the day before the match.

“I have a protrusion on my back, so it’s something that I’ve been dealing with for more than 10 years by now. I know how to go about it. Before the match, I started feeling it a little bit, and the doctors in AEW, they’re super good. I told them, they helped me see if it was okay to do it. They asked me, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna do it. Let’s go.’ I’ll never say no, let me tell you, unless I’m really dying. I was like, I’m in pain, I knew I was in pain. The day before, let me tell you, I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t walk. At the airport, the walk was so long, we had to get a wheelchair for me because I was not able to walk for too long. It was really bad," Melo said.

Melo continued by describing how she was able to do the match, but she was in a lot of pain once it was over. She recalled how she went to multiple doctors, and she confirmed that she is not cleared to compete. Melo made it clear that she's okay, but the doctors are being careful because they want to make sure she's completely recovered.

"It was getting better. The doctors helped me a little bit. The day of the match, in the morning, they were helping me with a massage and stuff. So I was able to do the match, bur after the match, I knew it would suck because I was already in pain. All the girls and everybody was so nice, and they were helping me because they saw in my face. I’m always super excited, I was excited, but you could tell that I was in pain. I’m trying to kind of hide it and let people get worried about me. I’m like, ‘No, I’ll be fine.’ But people know. Then after the match, I checked everything. I went to a couple different doctors and our doctor in AEW. So I’m not cleared for now, but I will be really soon. I’m good, don’t worry. I want to be cleared, but the doctor trying to hold me [back] a little bit to make sure I’m 100%. They told me I will be cleared in the next couple weeks, so I’ll be fine," Melo said.

In the same interview, Melo recalled taking a thumbtack out of her head following the Street Fight. Check out her comments here.

Anna Jay AS recently noted that she suffered dislocated ribs in the Street Fight. More information is available here.

Melo previously stated that she wants to go to Japan. Click here to see what she had to say.

Check out the card for the March 1 episode of AEW Dynamite here.

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