Taylor Wilde has been eyeing an in-ring comeback and says her return match was initially booked for an IMPACT Wrestling event in March.
Wilde recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about her new podcast, Wilde On, and revealed that she was originally approached by IMPACT to work an event for them earlier this year. Wilde had been retired from in-ring competition since 2011 but she was training to get back in the wrestling business. There had been rumors about Wilde possibly appearing at the “TNA: There’s No Place Like Home” event originally scheduled for Tampa, but she says the only thing they had agreed on was for her to appear at the Lockdown event in Windsor, Ontario, Canada on March 28.
“Truth be told, because I have quite a history with the people who work at IMPACT, formerly TNA, it was like a tryout situation for the both of us. I know I love wrestling and I’m excited to get back in the ring but it’s been a long time. So, to make sure it’s something I really wanted,” Wilde said, “and if I was really into it it would have gone from there. Then there’s the simple fact that I’m Canadian and these are American dates, so there’s a lot of paperwork that goes into that. So Windsor, it all seemed like a good fit.”
COVID-19 ultimately caused IMPACT Wrestling to cancel a number of live events, including the TNA branded event and Lockdown in Windsor. Wilde says there were a number of issues as to why she was only doing the Lockdown event, one of which was the United States and Canadian borders being shut down because of quarantine measures. Since retiring from wrestling Wilde became a full-time firefighter, and while she could have traveled as an essential worker she says she didn’t want to be away from her family and community because of quarantine measures.
“When they opened, although I could travel as an essential worker, the problem being is I would still need an American work visa,” Wilde said, “and compounded with that I am a frontline worker. I’m a firefighter and dealing with a vulnerable community. If I were to travel I would then have to be quarantined for two weeks and miss two weeks of work. It was something that on all angles, did not make sense.”
Wilde says staying home was ultimately a great decision for her family, and that in turn helped her get the idea to start her podcast as another way of being involved in the business again.
Our full interview with Taylor Wilde can be heard at the top of this page; check out the latest episode of “Wilde On” with Natalya as her special guest below:
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