Tracy Taylor
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by Shiai Mata Were one to first meet Tracy Taylor away from the ring, they may just have a hard time believing that this tropical beauty from the Aloha State's North Shore is a professional wrestler. As Tracy herself puts it, "I'm just a laid back surfer girl from the beautiful Hawaiian Islands." Easy going and quiet much of the time, Tracy readily admits that the revelation of what she does for a living inspires incredulity among many folks ("Their first response is usually, 'You're a WHAT?!?' she says with a laugh). But behind that beguiling smile is a woman whose personal motto is 'Go Hard or Go Home!' "I may look soft on the outside", she cautions, "but you can bet that I'm as hard as lava rock on the inside." Standing at 5'6" and tipping the scales at 135 pounds, the Hawaiian brunette broke into the business in November of 2005, inspired by Mike Taylor (her husband... the lucky guy!) and Bill Demott. Her list of trainers reads like a veritable "Who's Who" of Pro Wrestling: "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, Greg Gagne, Brad Armstrong, Nick Dinsmore, Joe Hamilton and Dave Taylor (whose style she said has most influenced her own). With an athletic background (she played volleyball, basketball and tennis in school, and was even a cheerleader; after college, she taught cardio kickboxing), she had the basic tools to gain entry into the sport. But staying in wrestling long term is another matter altogether; any successful worker will tell you that staying power requires dedication and determination... two traits which Tracy has displayed in abundance. That dedication and determination... not to mention a tremendous pain threshold... was put to the test early in her career. Tracy was wrestling against Angel Williams in a tough match one night. The fact that Tracy was suffering from a broken foot didn't stop her from giving Williams all the fight she could handle! Indeed, the Taylor/Williams feud was one of the hottest in all of wrestling in 2006. Tracy's debut match was against Angel, and the Hawaiian scored the win. She faced the blond many times after that, both in singles matches and in tag team battles, and frequently walked away with the win. She even managed to beat her rival in a bikini contest! Tracy quickly started to impress a lot of the right people, and it wasn't very long into her young career that she earned a much-coveted development deal with the WWE. Beyond the WWE, Taylor has also stepped into the ring for Deep South Wrestling, OVW, GCW, UWA, and of course she recently made her PGWA debut against Melissa Coates. Not the type of person to live with regrets, Tracy nevertheless is sorry for one thing: That she didn't get into the sport sooner. "Wrestling has opened my eyes to endless possibilities. It's truly in a league of its own!" Through her hard work and her success, Taylor sees herself as being a positive example, particularly in encouraging other women to give the sport a try. "Women in wrestling are rare beauties", she says, and she'd like to see such beauty be a bit less rare in the business. One look at her, and it's obvious that the brunette works out hard in the gym. But she considers the keystone of her training to be knowledge; she makes a point of studying her opponents and knowing as much about them before they step into the ring as possible. Of course, knowledge alone doesn't win matches, unless you have the physical skills to put it to use. Tracy employs a very agile and fast-paced style that often overwhelms opponents and leaving them reeling. In closing, the incredible islander says, "It's in my nature to spread the Aloha spirit, and it's tradition to give a flowered lei to all who visit the islands. But if crossed the wrong way, I'll be forced to 'lei' you out! Mahalo and Aloha!" |
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