Why Taya Valkyrie's WWE NXT Run Was Completely Wasted
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On the March 31, 2021 edition of NXT, a vignette aired with a Pomeranian dog running around the Capital Wrestling Center at WWE's Performance Center. The dog eventually ran up to a woman in boots, and a graphic said "See You April 13th! Franky" Fans online quickly recognized the dog as Taya Valkyrie's dog Presley, and with Valkyrie having signed with WWE the previous month, anticipation began building for her impending debut.
That April 13 show was a big one for NXT -- coming off a great Takeover: Stand & Deliver show during Wrestlemania weekend -- and it was their first show on its new night of Tuesday. Valkyrie would come out to interrupt new NXT Women's Champion Raquel Gonzalez, and introduce herself by her new name, Franky Monet. With Presley in hand, Monet proclaimed that the world's best division had gotten shinier, and a little more boujee with her arrival. Unfortunately, Monet's debut would be the peak of her WWE career, as she was gone from the company seven months later after just six matches -- yet another casualty of WWE wasting a great talent.
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Taya Valkyrie Had A Championship Pedigree
Following her impactful NXT debut, it seemed that Franky Monet was destined to join the incredible lineage of NXT Women's Champions. As Taya, she spent the majority of her career in Mexico, where she won the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship three times, including a record length of 945 days in her first reign. Valkyrie went on to join Impact Wrestling in 2017, and was established as a top heel. She would go on to turn face and win the Impact Knockouts Championship, with another record length of 377 days. Valkyrie would also compete extensively in Lucha Underground in what was her first major exposure to the American audience.
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Franky Monet Was Presented As A Star Upon Arrival
A debuting wrestler can't receive much bigger of an initial push as Monet got. She was given the vignettes to build anticipation, and she debuted by confronting the new NXT Women's Champion. Not only that, she looked and carried herself like a star with her gaudy, over-the-top gimmick. Monet certainly had the charisma and proved it by cutting great promos from the jump. She also looked great in the ring, earning three consecutive squash victories over future NXT 2.0 stars Cora Jade, Elektra Lopez and Jacy Jayne. But then the wheels started to fall off. RELATED: Taya Valkyrie: Age, Height, Relationship Status & Other Things You Didn't Know About Her
The Booking of Franky Monet Was A Mess
Despite targeting Raquel Gonzalez during her debut, Monet was kept away from the NXT Championship for several months. In addition, her first three matches were spaced out over a period of three months, and she was not being consistently presented on television. She began associating herself with the Robert Stone Brand (RSB), which was essentially a revolving door faction of lower to midcard women at that point. Monet would suffer her first loss alongside fellow RSB mate Jessi Kamea against Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro. This was definitely a missed opportunity as NXT could've had Monet takeover the RSB and lead a stable of women's wrestlers, perhaps similar to the Jericho Appreciation Society where the other women worship her, dress like her, etc. But alas, the angle merely fizzled out until her ultimate release.
With very little momentum, Monet again began going after Gonzalez and the NXT Women's Championship. During this time, NXT rebranded to NXT 2.0, and Monet's character seemed a perfect fit for the new colorful and vibrant direction. Unfortunately, that would not be the case. Monet would go on to challenge Gonzalez on September 28, 2021, losing in an underwhelming 6:57. They didn't really have much chemistry in the ring, and frankly, weren't given enough time to tell a compelling story. It would be tough for a heel challenger to come back from that. The following week Monet would lose a match to Cora Jade (who she squashed in her first match) in just 2:09. That would be her last match as she was released a month later.
Franky Monet came in with all the promise in the world, but ended up as another talent wasted by WWE. She was never truly given the opportunity to shine and was done no favors by her booking. They should have struck while the iron was hot and had her challenge Gonzalez shortly after her debut, rather than waiting five months after she had cooled off.
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Taya Valkyrie Has Had Much Success After Her WWE Release
After her release, Valkyrie returned to both AAA and Impact and has been competing in indie promotions across the U.S. and Canada. Valkyrie defeated Deonna Purrazzo for the AAA Reina de Reinas title at Impact Rebellion, and at Slammiversary 2022 she won the Knockouts Tag Team Championship alongside Rosemary. Valkyrie is also the current holder of the MLW Featherweight Champion. She also recently called out Thunder Rosa to challenge for her AAA Reina de Reinas Championship, which was accepted by Rosa. While Taya Valkyrie continues to thrive, Franky Monet will go down as one of the bigger "what ifs" in NXT/WWE women's history.
