01: We would love to see you back in Shimmer. Are there any plans on a return?
Yes! I’d like to participate in Shimmer again. I’m hoping for sooner rather than later.

02: What would you say your most memorable match in TNA has been thus far?
I would say my most memorable match would have been when I beat Awesome Kong in the $25,000 challenge and became the Knockout’s champ. It was surreal for so many different reasons, and I hold that moment as a turning point in my life and career. I also have the same pivotal feelings towards when Sarita and I became the first Knockout’s tag team champions. Making me the first Knockout in TNA history to have held both belts.

03: Your the first Knockout to have both Knockout and Tag title reigns. How does that feel to make history by being the first woman to accomplish this?
I feel blessed and reassured that perseverance does pay off in the long run. I typically choose the road less traveled, which is inspiring but much more challenging. Accomplishments like that make all my hard work and sacrifices well worth it, and all the more sweeter.

04: We know that being a wrestler, that you travel a lot. Do you have any crazy airport stories?
For some reasons wrestlers are infamous for airport horror stories. Its like we are all cursed, or we just experience more extreme airport bummers since we frequent them so much. I’m pretty lucky, I would say I’ve heard more airport terror tales than I’ve experienced. I’m actually on a plane currently while writing this. The worst for me was finishing a house show loop and flying back to Toronto with fellow Canadian Bobby Roode and all around great dude, Kaz. We had an hour and a half lay over in Dallas, Texas. We boarded our connecting flight, Kaz and I sat next to each other and passed out before the plane even moved. Two hours later we woke up thinking we’d be twenty minutes away from our final destination, and to our dismay we hadn’t budged. We were still in Dallas. We finally de-planed only to stand in another line to re-book our flights. After waiting in a line for over an hour with a plane sized population of pissed off travellers we were graced with the glorious news that the next flight out to Toronto was in 6 hours. Sweet. Luckily, Dallas airport is pretty great. After walking in circles, getting a massage and manicure, and eating it was time to board our final flight home. Waiting at our gate our flight home was delayed ten minutes, then fifteen minutes, then half an hour. Finally we boarded and they almost cancelled our flight due to Toronto airport having strict noise control rules minimizing any flights landing after midnight. Thank goodness we had a speed demon of a pilot to get us there at exactly midnight. I got home in one piece, ten hours later then planned. I’m sure it could’ve been worse.

05: Who would you say is the best women wrestler today?
Awesome Kong, hands down.

06: Do you have any plans on naming any of your finishers?
I named my German suplex the “Wilde Ride“, I’ve just never had ample opportunity to establish it. I even wrote it in permanent black marker on my knuckles on iMPACT once. Feel free to spread the word!

07: We know that you tag teamed with Roxxi in late ‘08 – early ‘09. You now tag with Sarita, with whom you have held the tag titles with. Do you miss tagging with Roxxi?
Of course I do! She is one of my favourite people to be in the ring and out of the ring with. We have a connection that goes far beyond wrestling. I don’t think I’ve ever made a more honest, and pure connection with anyone. We just get each other, and even though we don’t see each other much anymore due to work and geographic burdens she is someone I cherish and am SO thankful to have in my life. She’s an amazing human being and a rock star, she will get her moment to shine, just you wait.

08: In your opinion, what would be the dream Knockouts match for you be?
Me, Roxxi, Awesome Kong, ODB Vs. Angelina Love, Madison Rayne, Velvet Skye, Lacey. The ultimate motley crew battling against the new and old school Beautiful People. Oh how the claws would com out.

09: If you could pick any wrestler past or present to face, who would it be, and why?
I have two. 1) Trish Stratus, because she was on top during a time when wrestling was larger than life. There was so much hype and electricity during that era, it was truly an innovative moment for the new generation of wrestlers like the Hardy Boys and Edge and Christian. Plus, it was the first time that beautiful women were really taken seriously as professional wrestlers. 2) The Fabulous Moolah, as far as I’m concerned she is the reason women have existed as professional wrestlers. She initially paved the path that I have been lucky enough to travel down. I would trade my right foot to pick her brain for an hour and hear some old tales about life on the road. Not to mention, she is the toughest female that ever lived, I would be honoured for her to beat the snot out of me.

10: Who or what inspired you to get into professional wrestling?
My uncle Darren, and my crazy imagination.

11: As a wrestler, you are bound to have a few injuries every now and then. What injuries, if any, happened to you?
I’m like a cat with nine lives. I haven’t broken a bone after five years of wrestling and eleven years of hockey prior to that. I’m more like a domino effect, my injuries rebel off each other. I’ve broken and dislocated a few fingers and toes. I’ve dislocated both my shoulders. My right hip is out of place which causes my tail bone to shift out of place, creating extra tension on my lower back, which in turn puts pressure on the surrounding nerves, causing my sciatica to run down either legs. I broke the protective capsule in my left elbow wrestling in Mexico a few years ago which causes tendentious, bursitis, carpel tunnel, cubic tunnel, and nerve damage in my pinky finger. I’ve rolled both my ankles, and a Partridge in a Pear tree.

12: Which current WWE Diva would you like to face, and why?
Natalya Neidhart. She rules! It would be her strength vs my speed and agility. I think it would make for a very exciting match.

13: What is your favorite food?
ANYTHING CHOCOLATE!!

14: Where would you most like to visit and why?
I’ve been blessed to do a lot of travelling in the last few years. I would love to go somewhere tropical like Hawaii. I went to Paris this year, but I’d live to go camping and cycling in the country side of France. I’d also love to go to Greece, I’m a sucker for Mediterranean food and the beach. I’ve been tapping into my more relaxed, romantic side lately, so those two places seem the most appeasing.

15: Do you have anything that you would like to say to your fans?
THANK YOU!!!!!!! I know this is cliche, but I sincerely feel like I have the greatest fans a girl could hope for. I’ve spent my last two birthdays overseas wrestling and my fans make me feel like I have a family no matter where I go. You give me the strength to be my best, motivate me to take risks and stay grounded, and I feed off of you to be the goofy Taylor Wilde you have all come to know. You are all more than fans, you are my friends. I love you all!

Boo: What about your favorite female wrestler?

Madison: Trish Stratus. I loved her for so many reasons. She was beautiful, strong, and athletic and she was always a great role model for aspiring women wrestlers. She had a look that guys loved, and a personality that made women adore her as well. Her matches with Tara were some of my favorite ever to watch. The characteristics that made me love her are present in each member of our locker room. As much as I love to rip her hair out of her head in the ring, Taylor Wilde has the same presence about her that Trish always did. She’s strong, athletic, and… well.. she’s no Beautiful People, but she’s…. anyway… she’s good.

Jim Slotek
September 2009
Movie Entertainment

Professional wrestling had a tighter hold on Taylor Wilde than she knew.

When, at 22, she became the youngest title holder in Total Non-Stop Action’s Knockouts Division, the compact, blond spark plug had already “retired” from a wrestling career that had started at age 18 and taken her to Mexico and South Africa. She says she was serious about her decision at 20 to quit World Wrestling Entertainment and concentrate on her psychology degree at York University.

“I was retired for good as far as I was concerned,” says the Toronto girl born Shantelle Malawski. “It was a lot of things, but I remember meeting a veteran who I won’t name, who was in my opinion completely burnt out. And I’ll never forget that moment of meeting a celebrity, and them going (in a gravelly voice), ‘Meh, nice to meet you, kid,’ and kind of disregarding me. I just didn’t want to become that person.”

But Wilde found wrestling wouldn’t leave her head. “It’s like the most abusive and passionate relationship I’ve ever been hooked on,” she says. And she found a way to reinvent herself when TNA offered $20,000 to anyone who could beat the then champion Awesome Kong. TNA audiences soon began seeing a blond “fan” identified only as “Taylor,” attending events and demanding to be let in the ring.

“That time off basically gave me a new perspective on what I wanted out of life. I realized I’m a performer and an athlete, and wrestling basically covers all those desires and drives and small goals I have. So when I saw that $20,000 fan challenge posted, I realized it was do or die, now or never.”

The “fan” storyline played inevitably as a female wrestling version of David and Goliath. Malawski, who’d wrestled under the name Shantelle Taylor, was reborn in TNA as Taylor Wilde.

“The ‘Wilde’ part was brought to you by TNA,” she says. “I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first, but now I feel it fits.” “I mean, ‘Taylor Wilde’ is pretty much me. What you see is what you get. I’m, like, not the greatest actress in the world, but I’ve got a lot of personality, and I may be a little loud and overbearing in real life for some people. So it’s just an extension of who I am.”

Wilde’s greatest rivalry is with the other most famous Canadian in TNA Knockouts, erstwhile champ Angelina Love. They were tag-team opponents (Love’s “Beautiful People” tandem with Velvet Sky against Wilde and Roxxi) and, most memorably, opponents in last year’s TNA title match in Oshawa, Ont. (Wilde prevailed.)

Wouldn’t they be more suited as Team Canada partners?

Wilde sniffs, “If it wasn’t her, if it was any other Canadian, yes. She’s not that good guy I want on my side. She’s conniving and she’s very full of herself. I’ve known Angel a long time. We started at the same training facility in Toronto, and we’ve gone all around the world fighting each other. And now that we’re on TV, we’ve got a lot of old animosity and grudges to draw from.

“I think it’s better we’re competitors. We’re both from the same home town, we both have blond hair and we’re tanned. There’s so much competition on that level that I think we’re trying to wear each other out.”

She not only beat her in the ring that night in Oshawa, but came out on top against Love in a pre-fight “beauty pageant.” How is this different from, say, the Miss California contest?

“I don’t think Miss California and her competitors actually punched each other out during the competition. I think it would be great if the men did pageants, too. Y’know, wrestling is campy and fun and this was something new in the Knockouts Division – something to do apart from just wrestle or yell into a camera about how much we hate each other.”

Taylor Wilde exemplifies the TNA Knockout — solid wrestler, good look and unique.

This 5-4 blonde beauty not only brings her wrestling talent each and every match inside the six-sided structure but also her flare for fashion.

Wilde designs her outfits, and her salute to the crowd, as she appears on the rampway, ties into her fashion statements.

“I am Canadian, through and through,” she said. “Although I do have a lot of American friends and I did live in the states a while, the salute had nothing to do with America at first.”

Wilde explains.

“Really, how the salute started. I design all my clothes; I design all my wrestling gear,” she said. “The first outfit I designed was a pin-up sailor’s outfit. So I was looking for a sailor’s hat, and when I found one, I thought it would look really cute, if I saluted everybody. It kinda stuck.

“Now everyone does it with me. It was the first time I actually developed something gimmicky, and the crowd responded to it. It was very me, natural. It later became an ode to the troops overseas, but it is attributed to fashion.”

So much in wrestling is trial and error. Talent doesn’t know what will work or won’t until they initiate it before a live crowd. House shows, indies, TV tapings — anywhere, any place with an audience.

“It’s terrifying to try out things,” Wilde said. “To me, it’s got to feel natural to you. It’s funny that you have to do trial and error to what is natural to you. Whatever is the most natural is what the crowd plays to. How you hold yourself and what you do is what they get behind because they can see it’s true you. So the salute felt good. I thought, `I’m going to do it out there,’ and I was confident.”

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