AEW's Tay Melo breaks down backstage after deeply emotional moment nearly 2 years in the making

AEW star Tay Melo made her in-ring return at STARDOM’s New Year Dream 2025. She teamed up with Mina Shirakawa and took on Thekla and ROH Women’s World Champion Athena. Unfortunately, Melo and Shirakawa lost this tag team match.

After this showdown, the duo was interviewed backstage. The AEW star was visibly overcome with emotions during this segment. She had not wrestled for almost two whole years because of the birth of her daughter.

Furthermore, she revealed how grateful she felt to be wrestling in Japan. It had been a dream of hers since she was a young girl. She was also overjoyed that her child got to see her perform for the first time.

"I'm just so grateful to be here. I have a background in judo so Japan was also a dream of mine since I was a little kid. So being here today and having my little baby watching me is just a dream come true. I know we lost today. I'll do better. I'll keep training hard," said Tay Melo.

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Tay Melo got teary while announcing her in-ring return

A few days ago, Melo announced on X that she would be making her in-ring return after more than 650 days at the STARDOM New Year Dream 2025 show. While making this announcement, she got emotional and shed a few tears.

"After two long years, I'm finally back. I could not ask for a better Christmas gift. I'm going to Japan. I'm going to STARDOM. And I'm not going alone. Because, I'm bringing my little me with me. Happy Holidays to you all, thank you so much for all the support and I see you all [sic] on January 3rd in Japan," she said.

The Brazilian native signed with All Elite Wrestling in 2020. From 2016 to 2020, she was signed to WWE.