A current acquaintance in Mexican wrestling also known as the Mexican Independent Circuit is the Canadian Taya Valkyrie, who signed a contract with WWE and already trains at the Performance Center in Orlando. Of course, she caused a huge stir when the former member of AAA and Impact Wrestling went from Taya Valkyrie to Franky Monet. It is worth mentioning that Taya Valkyrie had an outstanding time at AAA, where the respect of the Aztec public was earned, for which even the Mexican company took time to congratulate her on this achievement. Let’s take a look at some incredibly personal facts about her career and love life!
12 Franky Monet Fans That Will SHOCK Fans!
1. Bodybuilding career:
Before getting into the ring, she had a great career in the world of fitness. In 2005, she began competing in fitness competitions and doing bodybuilding modeling. In addition to this, she was first place in the 2010 CBBF Canadian Championship, a year later she won second place in the Arnold Amateur, in addition to all her appearances in calendars and fitness magazines during those years.
2. She wanted to become a ballet dancer:
Franky Monet grew up doing ballet as she grew up with parents dedicated to dance and gymnastics. Franky did not hesitate to follow in their footsteps, and she herself said that she chose dance over gymnastics because she always dreamed of being an artist and creating a great show for her surroundings.
3. Name change from Taya:
Franky Monet made her first NXT appearance to introduce himself and issue a challenge to Raquel Gonzalez. However, several fans expressed their dissatisfaction with Monet’s new name, as they would have preferred him to keep her old name ‘Taya Valkyrie’. The former IMPACT Knockouts Champion discussed in an interview saying that the higher-ups didn’t want her to use the Taya Valkyrie name because there was already someone named Valkyrie in NXT UK.
“Everyone called me Taya on the PC because I know everyone and a lot of my friends are there,” Monet said. “No one calls me by my first name, ever. Thus, to review some names they send you this list of names and you review them and make suggestions. Man, I tried to at least keep Taya or Valkyrie but they didn’t want me to use it because there is a Valkyrie that works for NXT UK. So for Taya, I tried really hard.”
Monet went on to say that she found logic in WWE’s proposal to change her name: “I’m sure somewhere in a book, there’s a ridiculous list of names or an email. It started this week to week of going back and forth with the name. No one ever said (it was about the IP), my theory was that I had been Taya on three different TV shows and there’s merch and stuff on me and they wanted to have something new which I totally understand and from a business perspective actually makes sense. I tried and it was very difficult, but in the end, I did not win this battle”, continued Franky Monet.
4. How the name Franky Monet was created:
The former WWE Superstar said that she had to give up using the name Taya in NXT, and then had to face fans who criticized her name as well.
Through her Twitter account, Franky responded to her fans and explained the origin of her name: “Hi guys. I love my name. Maybe since I chose it so imagine. You could call me Sunshine Tuna and I would make it work so take a breath, stop complaining and enjoy this evolution and travel with me”. “And for the record, no one was going to name me Sunshine Tuna was just an example. The name doesn’t make the fighter. One who is powerful and strong helps, of course, but I know we all think about these things a lot. It’s me, the ‘ Wera Loca’ always, now, forever. Anyway… yesterday was special. I’m exactly where I should be. Thanks for all the messages of support.”
“The name Franky Monet was chosen by me. Monet in homage to the French artist Claude Monet and Franky because I always liked unisex names and I think it’s super cute, brave and different.”
The female wrestler also went on to explain how Franky Monet is different from Taya Valkyrie, saying: “She is so much more extra than Taya. Now she has a Presley with her. Come on, that’s great. My dog comes to work with me every day and he does a great job. He’s just the crowd favorite. To be fair, he’s probably stealing all the scenes from me. She’s just that much more intense and that much crazier, and we haven’t even gotten to see all of that yet.
5. Franky Monet made her WWE NXT debut in April 2021:
As we discussed above Taya Valkyrie, now known as Franky Monet, made her WWE NXT debut by paying a little visit for the post-TakeOver episode, where Raquel Gonzalez celebrated with Dakota Kai her victory as the new NXT Champion after defeating Io Shirai. But the challenge already seems to present itself to her.
Taya Valkyrie’s debut was announced with videos of her little dog Prince Presley walking around the Performance Center. One of the videos announcing the debut of Franky Monet was an announcement to Raquel Gonzalez that they will be seeing each other again soon, and not just once.
Right after this little meeting, Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair, two former NXT wrestlers also came to celebrate their WrestleMania 37 victories as RAW and SmackDown champions with Raquel Gonzalez.
6. New changes and new experiences:
Franky Monet also spoke about an array of changes that ushered her in: “I’m very excited about it! I know people don’t like the change, but I think it’s going to be a good change and we’re going to see a further evolution of the NXT brand. We have a ton of talent working on a daily basis to prepare to be in NXT TV, so I think the change will be good for the brand. I love the new logo colors and everyone should be excited. We are going to see a new era”
For now the wrestler has shared her experience working with Triple H in NXT and loved the experience. During her time in NXT, Monet wished she had more opportunities. But the 38-year-old explained during an East Coast Auction Signing that Triple H was super happy to have her on the job. Although she didn’t last long in WWE, she also had good things to say about Shawn Michaels.
“Triple H was amazing and excited to have me there and very positive with me. I loved Presley [her dog], of course. It was great working with Triple H and Shawn Michaels,” Monet said.
7. Joining AEW:
2021 was a very unusual year in Taya Valkyrie’s career as she debuted in WWE NXT on May 25, 2021 against Cora Jade under the name of Franky Monet, and over the months she was unexpectedly fired from the company in November 2021. At a virtual autograph signing at East Coast Autograph Auctions, Taya Valkyrie showed her desire to work at All Elite Wrestling if she were offered the opportunity, as she believes things are going very well there and could concede with Rey Phoenix and Penta, whom she considers “brothers” to her.
The former NXT star did a virtual signing with East Coast Autograph Auctions and during it, she stated that she wishes she had more opportunities to show what she could do in NXT, saying: It was great [being in NXT] but I wish I had more opportunities to show what I can do, I’ll be honest. I didn’t feel like they gave me the opportunity that I needed and I don’t think I even scratched the surface of what you all know, you know that La Wera Loca and Taya Valkyrie bring to the table, but with that being said, I did win. a lot of knowledge, I learned a lot about myself and I’m really excited to bring all of that and remind everyone who I’m going to start next week.”
Since AEW is the second largest promotion in the world, some fans have speculated about her possible addition to the company and even Taya personally noted that she was open to that possibility and has friends on the roster, including former Tag Team Champions Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero M.
“Of course I would go to AEW. I mean, they’re doing something different, a lot of my peers and my best friends, my brothers. [King] Phoenix and the Pentagon are there, why not? So we’ll see what happens.”
After these events, Taya Valkyrie began first post-WWE match on January 15, 2022 in Canton, Georgia at a Vicky Dice event called Outlandish Paradise.
8. She was trained by Lance Storm:
In 2010, Franky began training at the Lance Storm Wrestling Academy, where she took her first steps in the business and graduated with honors in 2010. She would be a part of Lance’s Canadian reality series World of Hurt and also appear in season two of the series with Rowdy Roddy Piper. From there, Forster would then begin competing in various Canadian companies under the name Taya Valkyrie, her most notable stint being in Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling also known as ECCW.
9. She was taken-and dropped- by WWE years ago:
WWE signed Monet a decade ago and then released her a year later. Monet made her WWE debut when she battled with Dakota Kai and Raquel González in 2021. Her most notable feud was with González, but she was unable to defeat her for the NXT Women’s Championship. Monet was fired by the promotion in November of last year.
The connection with Lance Storm allowed her to have a test with WWE, a Tryout that was successful and led to the company offering her a contract in 2011, however, after a year of making her wait, they told her that they no longer needed her. and consequently released her from her contract. This failure devastated Franky but allowed her to venture out and go to Mexico, a place that would change her life in every way.
10. Her biggest and best years:
2019 was undoubtedly the best year in Franky’s career, her time with Impact not only gave her the women’s title but also put her on the list of the best fighters as the fifteenth best in the world. Taya Valkyrie lost the Queen of Queens only once in the ring. Yes, the Canadian fighter returned to Triple-A with the aim of recovering the championship that she did not lose in the fight since she left it vacant the last time.
After passing through WWE, Taya Valkyrie returned to Triple-A Wrestling in Rey de Reyes where she won the opportunity for the Reina de Reinas Championship held by Deonna Purrazzo, which she already wore three times, being the fighter with the longest reign by adding 1544 days with the scepter, broken down into 3 periods, but she also only lost the said belt on one occasion.
When her first reign took place, the longest to date in a single period, Taya defeated Faby Apache in Triplemanía XXII (2014) to hold the title for 945 days. Later, in Rey de Reyes 2017 she lost it against Ayako Hamada, a fighter who returned to the Star Caravan and won the title on her return. A month and a few days later, the Wera Loca recovered the Reina de Reinas by beating the Mexican-Japanese, this being her second reign, but Triple A announced on its website that the title was vacant on July 1, 2017, without giving to know the official reason, so the Canadian fighter announced her departure from the company just after disowning her as champion. She did not lose the scepter in the ring.
Taya Valkyrie then returned to the Star Caravan, but her rise to the top of the women’s division was not immediate, being September 15, 2019 the date on which she won the Queen of Queens in the function called “Fight Invades NY”, same in which she defeated Tessa Blanchard winning the title for the third time.
By February 24, 2021, it was revealed that Taya Valkyrie had signed a contract with WWE, vacating the Reina de Reinas once again in her career. This was the second time that the Canadian left the title without an ‘owner’. After passing through the McMahon company, Taya returned to Mexico, to Triple A, to enter the Rey de Reyes fight that gave an opportunity for the Reina de Reinas, which she won and, now, only the date and the place to face Deonna Purrazzo, having very latent the opportunity to get the title for the fourth time in her career.
11. Longest reign:
Speaking of her time at Impact, the crazy era continues to have the longest female reign, it was 377 days as champion. Reigning champion Deonna Purrazzo is about to break that mark provided she beats Mickie James in the next event. In Mexico her story is quite similar, there are three reigns as queen of AAA queens, which add up to 1544 days, something that no other woman has achieved. Why? Well because Forster would move to Mexico and begin wrestling for various promotions within the country. She was originally going to stay in the country for only six weeks, but she would be convinced to stay by El Hijo del Perro Aguayo, who would offer her a position in his stable De Ella Los Perros del Mal. On April 1, Forster debuted for the Perros del Mal. She would wrestle for the PDM for most of the year before moving on to work for other promotions including LEGEND Promociones, Universal Wrestling Entertainment, Invasion RCH and the International Wrestling League. Currently, in 2022, Franky Monet is still considered to be wrestling for the Mexican independent circuit.
12. Franky Monet’s husband:
Since 2016, Franky Monet has been in a loving relationship with John Hennigan, better known as John Morrison. The wrestling duo announced their engagement in June 2017. Forster and Hennigan would marry on June 1, 2018.