Taylor Wilde quits!

[Hammy]

On her official twitter account, former TNA Knockouts Champion Taylor Wilde announced she had ?quit? TNA when a fan asked her about her status with the company.

TNA had not used Wilde in months and she was actually in Europe during TNA?s Bound for Glory weekend.

partial credit ? pwinsider.com

[D]

She was a good worker but nothing really special.

[nightrain]

GORGEOUS grappler Taylor Wilde has retired from wrestling.

In an exclusive interview with SunSport, the 24-year-old revealed that she quit TNA in order to return to her studies.

The stunning star ? real name Shantelle Malawski ? is a former TNA Knockouts singles and tag team champion, but was used sparingly during 2010 after the Bischoff/Hogan takeover.

In our chat ? her first and only one since leaving Dixie Carter's company ? the Canadian admitted that she was walking away from the squared circle altogether.

She told us: "I'm not just leaving TNA, I'm retiring from wrestling and going back to school.

"I have nothing but good things to say about TNA. If it wasn't for my experiences there I wouldn't be the person I am today.

"But the way things were going, I just felt I needed a change. With the state of the company and the way they were using me, there wasn't a lot for me to keep me going either.

"I've done a lot of the things I wanted to do, and there aren't many opportunities left for me."

Wilde's announcement of her parting with TNA was somewhat different to the typical 'future endeavours' announcement we are used to in wrestling.

She posted on her Twitter page a link to a YouTube video of Johnathon Schaech in the film That Thing You Do singing "I Quit". The intonation was clear.

Wilde added: "There were a lot of rumours that TNA had either released me or that I'd quit.

"I think a lot if it had to do with a lack of seeing me on TV. For the last six months I hadn't been around very much.

"I made the hard decision to actually part ways with TNA and I thought I'd do it in a different fashion. I love that movie. It jumped out at me ? it was a cuter way for everyone to figure it out for themselves.

"I had a couple of months left on my contract, but I made a decision pretty much when I first started working for a major wrestling company (WWE in May 2006) that wrestling is a wonderful job, it's a lot of fun and you get to travel the world.

"In my early twenties it was very lucrative, but I told myself that when I was 25, if it was an industry I could see myself doing for the rest of my life I'd keep going, but otherwise it was time to hang up my boots."

Taylor's first match came at the tender age of 17, so even as she approaches her 25th birthday later this month, she is comparatively experienced in the pro wrestling industry.

However, the psychology student has learned more than just holds and counters while in the grap game.

She told us: "I started off quite young in this industry. I've watched a lot of people grow up in this industry, and I've watched a lot of people age.

"I always kind of felt like a black sheep in the regard that I love wrestling, and I always approached it like a professional sport. I trained, I dieted ? it was more than just entertainment to me. It was who I was.

"I watched a lot of other people treat it as a party at all times. They never have a plan B. For some people that works, they feel like they have to put all their eggs in the same basket to be successful.

"I did a couple of conventions not that long ago where I was surrounded by women who had been somebody. Recognisable wrestling faces. They'll do autograph signings pregnant, because it's what they have to do to earn money.

"At the end of the day, as much as I love professional wrestling, if I were to retire when I was 40, and all I had done my whole life was yelling at a camera, wearing really tiny wrestling gear and punching other people in the face, it wouldn't look so good on a CV."

Wilde's debut in TNA came in May 2008 as a plant in the audience getting called up for the Awesome Kong challenge. After several losing attempts she beat Kong to win the TNA Knockout's title in only her third match in the Impact Zone. She held the title for just over three months.

But since that time, the TNA Knockouts division has had a rollercoaster existence. It has seen periods of great focus, high drawing power and copious talent, but has also been seemingly forgotten about at times and lost many of its top acts, including Kong and Gail Kim, to the WWE.

Like Taylor, Roxxi and Hamada also left TNA in 2010, despite possessing undoubted in-ring ability.

But despite her obvious frustrations about her usage, the star is impressively pragmatic about the role she had to play, and this obviously factored into her decision to quit wrestling

Wilde said: "As a female wrestler you are marketed to be cute, sexy, have a banging body and be full of life. You're not so cute when you are 30, 35, 40. And that's not a shot at older women.

"But as far as television goes, and what your body can take, our biological clocks are ticking. For most of us women we are marketed on our appearance, and that has a much shorter shelf life than any man in this industry."

It seems such a shame to see such a talented individual leave the ring ? so could she ever be persuaded to change her decision?

She said: "If I go back to school and earn a degree, and then some amazing wrestling opportunity came my way I'd be able to make a more adult decision.

"I have to think about the rest of my life, the state of my body and my bank account.

"But never say never. Maybe a year or two down the line ? if I can still fit in my tights!"

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/3340705/Sexy-TNA-star-Taylor-Wilde-quits-wrestling.html