Who is Gabbi Tuft? Meet ex-WWE superstar Tyler Reks who came out as trans woman: 'I love myself for who I am'
Gabbi Tuft, formerly known as Gabe Tuft or Tyler Reks while she was a WWE superstar, revealed to Extra TV on February 4 that she is a woman. In the press release, Tuft spoke of how she was feeling before the transformation and wrote, "Despite his successes during and after his WWE career, Gabe was still wrestling with a secret persona dwelling deep within him. His is a persona he has been hiding in the loud silence of his soul since childhood. Finally, with the blessing of his loving wife Priscilla, Gabe is ready to reveal who he really is. “He” is now known as “She”: A beautiful, wise, witty and wonderful woman called ‘Gabbi’.”
According to reports, details on Gabbi's story will air exclusively on Extra TV on February 5. The synopsis reads: "This is a story that wrestling and other sports fans, friends and followers must not miss, especially many in the LGBTQ community dealing with challenging transgender issues, who Gabbi and Priscilla are willing to help." This has been an awaited gender reveal since Tuft's social media account on Instagram has been counting down the days to the reveal with stunning pictures. Here's more about who she is. This will be Gabbi's first interview about transitioning with Extra's Billy Bush.
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Who is Gabbi Tuft?
Born on November, 1,1978 as Gabe, Tuft competed under the stage name Tyler Reks in wrestling matches with the WWE where she started in the year 2007 for Ultimate Pro Wrestling. She was trained by Mike Bell. The now-retired professional wrestler has been part of Raw and SmackDown and has been married to her wife Priscilla since July 2002. The duo shares a nine-year-old daughter named Mia, who was born in November 2011. Reports reveal that one of the reasons Tuft had left WWE in 2012 was to spend more time with her family. After she retired from wrestling, she did team up with Curt Hawkins in 2014 for a small amount of time. As for her wrestling accolades, Tuft is a former FCW Champion and 2x FCW tag-team champion (1x w/ John Morrions, 1x w/ Curtis Axel).
The former wrestler went to Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa, California, from 1996 till 1999. In 2000, she transferred to California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, also known as Cal Poly-SLO. Tuft has a degree in civil engineering with a major in hydrology and structural engineering. Since Tuft has retired from wrestling, she works in marketing. Tuft and her wife also came up with Body Spartan, which is “a fitness company with an app to positively transform the body, mind and spirit of men and women through targeted video workouts, nutritional programs, and motivational sessions". In the summer of 2019, Tuft underwent open-heart surgery and was recovering quite well. On November 20, 2019, she posted a picture of her flexing, captioning it, "5-1/2 months post open heart surgery and I’m on my way back. Lowest weight was 226-lbs lookin like a crackhead according to @lefty675."
As for the incredible gender reveal, it has been reported that Tuft had identified her gender since she was young. Her account on Instagram has been counting down the days to the reveal. A recent post read: "1 day remaining." Part of the caption reads, "I am no longer afraid. Fear has been replaced with the highest vibrational state of gratitude." Her "2 days remaining" post also features her lovely wife Priscilla, and part of the caption read, "And so we stand by each other’s side, fully supporting, without judgement, without opinion, bonded by lifetimes of pain, heartache, joy, happiness, passion, irreplaceable experiences, births and deaths - and we are both free, and more in love than any lifetime before." She even posted one of these countdown pictures with her daughter, with part of the caption reading, "Whatever our path of involvement with family may be, we choose which moments we miss, and which we are a part of."
A few hours ago, Tuft posted a picture of her sitting in front of a photograph of herself from before. Part of her caption read, "The ball dropped early today as this is now worldwide news. This is me. Unashamed, unabashedly me. This is the side of me that has hidden in the shadows, afraid and fearful of what the world would think; afraid of what my family, friends, and followers would say or do." She added, "I am no longer afraid and I am no longer fearful. I can now say with confidence, that I love myself for WHO I am."
The press release added, "'Gabbi is about to share her thrilling story of gender transitioning from a former WWE Superstar, Body Builder, Fitness Guru, Motivational Speaker and Motorcycle Racer to a fun loving and fabulous female. 'She has been finally set free and ready to rule her world."
You can watch a bit of Tuft's upcoming interview below.