Taylor Wilde has held the Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Knockout Championship title as well as one half of the newly created Knockout Tag Team Championship belts. What she lacks in physical stature, she more than makes up for in wrestling ability and pure determination. Refusing to be “just another pretty face”, Wilde has shown us matches inside steel cages, flying dives through tables, and the dreaded match of 1,000 thumbtacks.
Real Name : Shantelle Malawski
Alias(es) : Taylor Wilde, Shantelle Stevens, & Shantelle Taylor
Date Of Birth : January 26, 1986 Height : 5’3 Weight : Approx. 115lbs
Pro Debut : June 2003
Wrestling Organization : Total Nonstop Action (TNA)
Trainer(s) : Rob “El Fuego” Etcheverria & Bill DeMott
Finisher(s) : None
Independent Circuits
Taylor began her pro wrestling career in May of 2006 by signing with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in developmental stage and worked for a year or so in Deep South Wrestling. In 2007, she wrestled off-television and in house shows for both of the WWE Extreme Championship Wresting and Smackdown brands until being released in August of that year. Wilde gave up on a wrestling career to pursue a college degree, but six months later, she was called by Total Nonstop Action (TNA) and appeared in an off-television match defeating Raisha Saeed.
Taylor Wilde – TNA Knockout Champion
In May of 2008, she posed as an audience member answering the Awesome Kong $25,000.00 challenge. She was ravaged by Kong, as were many other independent wrestlers posing as audience memebers to try to break into TNA. On July 3rd, Wilde was granted another shot at Kong’s challenge and the TNA Knockout Championship if she could beat Raisha Saeed (Kong’s manager). She defeated Saeed and the following week, live on iMPACT! Wilde fought Awesome Kong for the second time. Taylor took the awesome one to school and not only won $25,000.00 but a TNA contract and the Kockouts Championship. Wilde and Kong feuded weekly over the title until Victory Road 2008 where Wilde soundly defeated Kong.
Taylor Wilde vs The Beautiful People
After Victory Road, Mi Pi Sexy immediately began trying to humiliate Taylor by calling her lucky. During an episode of iMPACT, Wilde pinned Velvet Sky in five seconds. As she was exiting the ring, Velvet Sky began screaming she just got “lucky” and could not repeat the victory. In response, Wilde re-entered the ring and pinned Velvet Sky twenty seconds later. Completely frustrated, The Beautiful People attacked Wilde in force beating her down and placing a brown paper bag over her head with Sky’s likeness drawn on it. This was referred to as “the brown paper bag treatment”. Her feud with Love and Sky continued until No Surrender of 2008 where she, accompanied by Rhino,defended the title against Angelina Love (with Cute Kip and Velvet Sky in her corner).
Taylor Wilde vs Awesome Kong
Her next major title defense resulted in successful retention her championship against Awesome Kong and Roxxi Laveaux in a Triple Threat at Bound For Glory. Wilde and Kong re-kindled the old feud and in early in October of 2008, Wilde lost the Knockout Championship to Kong due to outside interference from Saeed. The two clashed again for Wilde’s re-match, but she could not wrest the title away from Kong. Wilde and Laveaux began tagging together out of necessity and at Turning Point, they were victorious over Kong and Saeed.
Taylor Wilde & Roxxi Laveaux strike at The Beautiful People
The Beautiful People began a campaign to give “make-overs” to all the divas attacking Wilde, Laveaux, ODB, and many other female wrestlers. Sharmell’s appearance in TNA with the Main Event Mafia gave them a chance to join an establish group so they took advantage. Final Resolution featured Taylor, Roxxi, and ODB defeating the team of Sharmell and The Beautiful People. Love and Sky continued their post-match assaults on the Knockouts until shortly after election time when Wilde and Roxxi hired Shannon Spruill to portray Governor Palin. The Governor offered the Beautiful People a trip to the White House if they would lose their attitudes and act like normal people. In the following weeks on iMPACT! the Beatuiful People followed the Governor into “ordinary” and sometimes “disgusting” situations until finally Wilde and Laveaux humilated the Beautiful People by covering them in some kind of brown slime on iMPACT!. As The Beautiful People’s ranks changed, the attacks did not, and at Destination-X, The Beautiful People were beaten once again by Wilde’s team of Laveaux and The Governor in a Six-Knockout Tag Team match. Enfuriated, the Beautiful People assaulted the Governor and after the beatdown, they indiscriminately cut locks of her hair using a pair of scissors.
Taylor Wilde vs Daffney
In an April taping of iMPACT!, Wilde and best-friend Lauren were hanging out waiting for a “secret admirer” to arrive. Taylor’s admirer was not what she expected however, and she found herself being attacked by the Governor. Soon after, the Governor began sessions with Dr. Stevie appearing as the psychotic Daffney. Daffney blamed Taylor for her not coming to her aid during the haircut and began an all out feud with Wilde. By Sacrifice 2009, Taylor and Daffney’s dispute led to a Monster’s Ball matchup between the two. Taylor completely outwrestled Daffney during the pay-per-view, finishing the bout via Death Valley Driver into a trash can. Things began to get hardcore between the two and by Slammiversary, Wilde and Abyss had teamed up to wrestle Daffney and Raven in a match of Ten Thousand Tacks. This match was vicious and featured Wilde diving off the stage speakers driving Daffney through a table and was finished as Wilde body slammed Daffney into the pile of thumbtacks to pickup the victory for her team.
Taylor Wilde – TNA Knockout Tag Team Champion
As the Knockout division began to grown at a steady pace, TNA management decided to create new titles in the form of Women’s Tag Team Championships. Wilde entered the tournament with partner Sarita and the two began a four week winning streak. First defeating Daffney and Alissa Flash, then offing Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed, and finally defeating the Beautiful People at No Surrender to be the first ever TNA Knockout Tag Team Champions. The following week on iMPACT, the duo successfully defended their newly acquired titles against the team of ODB and Tara.
Taylor Wilde is unique to pro wrestling in the fact that, for someone of her height and stature, she does not seem intimidated by larger opponents. She’s willing to push herself and her opponents in ring capabilities to make a more believable and exciting product. She, and female wrestlers like her will eventually pave to way to serious female wrestling.