Taynara Melo Guevara was born on June 9, 1995. He is a professional wrestler and judoka from Brazil. She is a member of the Jericho Appreciation Society and is contracted to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She wrestles under the ring name Tay Melo. She is also a former AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion with real-life husband Sammy Guevara in AEW's Mexico-based partner company Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). Prior to joining AEW, Tay Melo worked for WWE as Taynara Conti on the NXT brand from 2017 until 2020.
| Name | Taynara Melo Guevara |
| D.O.B | June 9, 1995 |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
| Occupation | Professional wrestler and Judoka |
| Professional Debut | April 1, 2017 |
| Ring name | Tay Conti |
| Husband | Sammy Guevara (m.2022) |
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Taynara Melo de Carvalho was born in Rio de Janeiro on June 9, 1995. She has three siblings, one of whom is adopted. Melo grew up among Rio’s notoriously impoverished and crime-ridden favelas. Melo is a judo black belt and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt. Melo temporarily attended law school in Brazil, and before joining WWE, she competed in tryouts for the Brazilian Olympic squad at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Melo began her athletic career in CR Vasco da Gama with artistic gymnastics but quickly transitioned to martial arts. Melo first battled for the initiative “Brasil vale ouro” (Brazil is worth gold) and subsequently went to the Instituto Reaço, founded by judoka Flávio Canto. Melo was a regional and state champion four times. She was also a four-time Brazilian runner-up. She became a member of the Brazilian squad and competed in the European circuit in Portugal and Germany.
Melo inked a contract with WWE and reported to the WWE Performance Centre in October 2016. On April 1, 2017, she made her professional wrestling debut as Taynara Conti in a losing effort against Sarah Bridges at WrestleMania Axxess in Orlando, Florida. She competed in the inaugural Mae Young Classic, where she was defeated by Lacey Evans in the first round.
Conti made an appearance on NXT on October 11th, interfering in a triple threat match between Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, and Liv Morgan on behalf of The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly) to prevent Cross from winning. Conti and Cross faced off in a bout on the November 1 episode of NXT, which Conti lost.
On April 8, 2018, Conti competed in the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal during the pre-show of WrestleMania 34, becoming the first female Brazilian to participate on the evening of WrestleMania. Conti qualified for the 2018 Mae Young Classic competition later in the year after defeating Vanessa Borne. She beat Jessie Elaban in the first round but was beaten by Lacey Lane in the second.
Conti was released from her WWE contract on April 20, 2020, as a consequence of financial constraints caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. She, like all other released talent, was subject to a 90-day no-compete provision, which ended on July 23, 2020. Conti subsequently said in an interview that she had been dissatisfied with WWE for months and wanted to be fired, but the organization first refused to release her for fear of her joining All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Melo made her AEW debut as Tay Conti on August 4, 2020, competing in the AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament: The Deadly Draw alongside Anna Jay. TayJay defeated Nyla Rose and Ariane Andrew in the quarterfinals before falling to Ivelisse and Diamante in the semi-finals. On the August 26 episode of Dynamite, she was offered a contract to join the stable The Dark Order. On September 9, AEW announced the signing of Conti.
Conti contested for the NWA World Women’s Championship for the first time on Dynamite on January 13, 2021, and was beaten by Serena Deeb. Conti won a title match for the AEW Women’s World Championship in the following weeks, but she was unable to defeat the champion, Hikaru Shida, on the April 21 episode of Dynamite. Conti and Anna Jay began a feud with Penelope Ford and The Bunny in September, with a series of singles and tag bouts on Dynamite and Rampage.
Conti contested for the AEW Women’s World Championship again on November 13 at Full Gear, this time against reigning champion Britt Baker, but was defeated. The TayJay/Bunny & Ford dispute reached a climax on December 31 on Rampage, when the team of Jay and Conti defeated the team of The Bunny and Ford in a street fight.
Conti defeated Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship on March 6, 2022, at Revolution. After months of fighting, Conti joined up with Sammy Guevara and Frankie Kazarian on May 29 at Double or Nothing in a trio’s mixed tag team match against American Top Team’s Ethan Page, Paige VanZant, and Scorpio Sky, which Conti’s team lost. Conti and Guevara joined the Jericho Appreciation Society on June 15 at Road Rager, turning heel. Tay Melo teamed up with Guevara on Rampage Quake by the Lake on August 12 to defend the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship against Dante Martin and Skye Blue, which they successfully retained.
Melo and Guevara subsequently began a feud with Ruby Soho and Ortiz, swapping victories until they were defeated at All Out due to interference from Anna Jay. Melo and Soho’s conflict resurfaced on the November 30 edition of Dynamite, culminating in a bout at Winter Is Coming in which Soho beat Melo. Melo and Jay resumed the feud by defeating Soho and Willow Nightingale on the December 28 edition of Dynamite; however, Soho and Nightingale defeated Melo and Jay in a street battle on the January 11, 2023 broadcast of Rampage.
Conti made her AAA debut with Sammy Guevara, defeating Los Vipers, Maravilla and Látigo, and Sexy Star II and Komander to capture the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship at Triplemana XXX on April 30, 2022. La Parka Negra would wrestle in Guevara’s stead for most of the match.
