Gabbi Tuft Reflect On NXT Being The Place 'Where Wrestlers Go To Die'

During a recent interview with Wrestling Inc, Gabbi Tuft discussed her time in WWE when she wrestled as Tyler Reks, including what NXT was like back then.

On Vince McMahon:

“Short and sweet. It was one of those, ‘Hey boss, how ya doing?’ Shake your hand, and move on the way. I had short meetings with him. He does short meetings with every new talent, at least when I was there, and it was awkward because I didn’t really know who I was. I was like, ‘Okay, yes, yes, sir, okay yeah.’ He asked me all the hard questions, I was giving him very simple answers.”

On WWE’s creative:

 “I will say I am 90% sure that there was no vision for me ever. Because, and I have some inside information because I know some of the writers, they were buddies of ours. Apparently in the production meeting before my big debut as the mean Tyler Reks with the beard and the dreadlocks, they had pulled me off TV as a babyface because it just wasn’t working. [I spent] six months plus trying to come up with this heel character, it was right before Bragging Rights. It was literally Friday night when I worked Kaval (Low-Ki). It was his spot for Bragging Rights. That production meeting Vince goes, ‘What are you guys doing with Tyler Reks?’ And I was told the entire production meeting room was just kind of, they just looked at each other and they go, ‘Nothing?’ ‘What are your plans for him?’ ‘We don’t have any.’ He goes, ‘He’s debuting tonight, he’s going to Bragging Rights.’ And that was it, that was all I knew.”

On NXT back then:

 “Hawkins and I always had a saying that NXT was where wrestlers go to die. It’s much different now, but back then it wasn’t even the C show, it was the D show. It was the, ‘Hey, put them down here before we let them go.’ We looked at it as a ‘we don’t really care anymore, we’re going to get fired or we’re going to figure this out.’ We had an opportunity to just experiment with everything. We broke all the rules, we stopped listening to our producers. They would say, ‘Don’t do this, don’t do that, here’s a mic, go five minutes.’ We’d go ten minutes. ‘Hey, don’t use that cane.’ We’d use the cane anyway. We just didn’t care, and we really started figuring out who we were individually and as a tag team, and it got to be really, really fun. We really started understanding how to shine, and how to get our characters across.”

On Bryan Myers:

“We are still friends and we talk occasionally. I actually haven’t talked to him in a couple of months, but today, I guess the news broke today? I didn’t even know the news broke today. I knew the press release was going out but I see Hawkins texting me and I’m like, ‘Oh, what’s he got to say?’ It was just three or four little hearts and a little, ‘I love you buddy.’”