Who is Gabbi Tuft? WWE's first transgender suggests Vince McMahon blocked her from SmackDown backstage
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Gabbi Tuft, former WWE star who came out as the first transgender star from the pro-wrestling league, has said that she wasn't allowed to get backstage of the July 7 SmackDown. Tuft, who was known by her ring name Tyler Reks, retired from pro wrestling almost a decade ago. However, when she returned to the arena to watch SmackDown taking place at the Madison Square Garden in New York on July 7, she never expected that she would miss the WWE as much as she would.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, the TikTok star and fitness expert mourned that she expected to get “backstage access” until the very end. She told The New York Times days before the July 7 SmackDown, “Pretty sure we’ll have backstage access, too.”
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Tuft further revealed that she had not attended a single WWE match since her retirement in 2014 and thus thought it would be fun to attend one in New York. However, to her chagrin, she wasn’t allowed in the same backstage where she spent hours as a WWE wrestler. While a WWE representative told the NYT that the problem was caused due to “shortage of tickets,” Tuft was left wondering what the real cause was. She even told the news outlet, “One never knows with Vince,” referring to former CEO and current executive chairman of WWE.
Who is Gabbi Tuft?
Gabbi Tuft was a professional wrestler with WWE and was known for her dreadlocked gladiator persona Tyler Reks. Starting her career at the WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, Tuft participated in the pro-wrestling league from 2008 to 2012. During her time in the ring, per the pre-determined script, she was mainly shown as a heel or villain, who often was defeated per the script’s requirement, Reminiscing the past, Tuft told the NYT, “Sometimes I lost in style,” before adding, “Other times I just lost.”
In the same interview, she also gave insights about her life. Born to a successful car salesman father Chris Tuft and mother Lezley, the former wrestling star grew up in the Bay Area. She had a brother named Christopher who died by suicide in 2015. While she officially transitioned in 2021, she used to love dressing up in her mother’s clothes when she was alone at home. However, at that time, she didn't have any idea about her gender identity.
Since she was very thin as a teenager, she started weightlifting and soon grew up in size. In the meantime, Tuft also got enrolled in the California Polytechnic University and got a degree in civil engineering in 2000. After completing the course she got a job as an assistant engineer at PBS&J in Encinitas, California. Later in 2007, Tuft was working at the City of Dana Point as an extension of staff. Living in the Orange County, she was in charge of the Public Works Permitting Department.
During that time, she enrolled in a gym owned by a talent hunter of WWE, Rick Bassman, who encouraged her to join pro wrestling. She was also trained by Mike Bell and made her debut in February 2007 for Ultimate Pro Wrestling. Later, she went to Tampa, Florida, and was inducted into the Florida Championship Wrestling territory with the ring name of Tyler Reks. There she won the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship once. She also won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship twice, once with his tag team partner Joe Hennig and once with another partner Johnny Curtis.
She is married to Priscilla Tuft and has an 11-year-old daughter together. The couple is now in the middle of finalizing their divorce. Tuft retired from the pro-wrestling in 2014 to give time to her family.
What is Gabbie Tuft doing now?
After coming out as a transgender woman in 2021, Tuft is now living in Austin in Texas and has become an influential TikToker boasting over 800,000 fans. She is also a fitness enthusiast and has a website dealing with nutrition and fitness.