Gabbi Tuft Doesn't Feel Tyler Reks Exists Anymore, Explains Downfall Of WWE Character

Former WWE star Gabbi Tuft (who wrestled under the name Tyler Reks) was recently on "Talk is Jericho," talking about the ex-grappler's time in the company and very different life today. Jericho opened the show pointing out that the last time the two were together, Tuft was living a pre-transition life as Reks. "It's weird," said Tuft about her time as the Reks character. "I don't feel like that guy exists anymore."

Tuft added that while many in the transgender community do not consider transitioning the "death" of their pre-transitioned selves, she felt that was the case. "I can't even imagine I was that person at that time," Tuft said. But that doesn't mean she hates her time in WWE or distances herself from her past. She told Jericho that she'll occasionally show her daughter videos of her wrestling days. Tuft said she wasn't much of a wrestling fan before joining WWE, only watching during childhood before growing out of it. Her first days training in Florida Championship Wrestling were her first in the business, after being scouted by WWE officials following being discovered by Rick Bassman in Southern California.

"I was the person everyone hated," Tuft said of her first day training at FCW, noting that other wrestlers didn't like that she didn't earn her stripes working the independent circuit before signing. But she said that WWE, including John Laurinaitis, saw her potential marketability, leading to her hiring. Tuft was with WWE from 2008 to 2012, debuting in ECW in 2009. But Tyler Reks never got over much and Tuft left the company in 2012. Today, she blames her inability to grasp the character, and her confidence issues at the time, although she thinks WWE could have given her a bit more support in that regard. Still, Tuft ultimately takes responsibility. "I don't blame anybody. I blame myself," she said.