Tony Khan sets the record straight about the AEW statuses of Tay Melo and Anna Jay amid “inaccurate” reports

Anna is in very good standing with us. She’s out injured right now. I had been hoping to book Anna in recent weeks, but she has an injury, and last week she was going for an MRI. Anna is somebody who is in good standing with AEW, has a lot of time left on her deal, and has extended her contract with AEW.

In her case, I’ve seen a lot of reporting that is inaccurate. I have a lot of work to do, and I don’t think that’s a secret. I’m not spending all my time myth-busting, and a lot of times these myths get carried away. Anna has actually extended her contract and is going to be staying in AEW, which is the exact opposite of what a lot of the wrestling media has reported. That probably speaks to the accuracy of a lot of these reports you see in pro wrestling.

With Tay, I also saw a lot of inaccurate things being reported. To be honest, there was some smoke to the fire, but people were reporting the fire in the wrong place. So what did that really accomplish?

Tay told me she wanted to step away from wrestling. She said, ‘I love AEW and I love the people here, but I want to step away from AEW and step away from wrestling.’ That’s what she told me. That wasn’t in 2025. That was just weeks ago at Collision after she wrestled against The Divine Dominion.

She came to me after the match and said, ‘I would like my release.’ I was taken aback, and we had a very nice conversation. It’s completely contrary to what I’ve seen reported—that this happened last year or that it’s been an ongoing issue.

I heard from Tay this week, and she said she’s not putting those reports out there and that they really bothered her. We’ve never had an unpleasant conversation. I’ve always had a very good relationship with Tay. She recently asked about stepping away. It hasn’t been a long-running issue, and I also haven’t kept her here. Since that conversation, I haven’t booked her, and I am going to give Tay that relief.”