Tara Zep says she was dealing with serious post-concussion symptoms when she stepped into the ring for MLW, including vomiting after matches and being forced to back away from deathmatch bookings.
During a conversation on Jasmine St. Claire’s Off The Rails podcast, Zep looked back on her MLW match against Delmi Exo in Atlanta. The appearance came during her first year in wrestling, while she was already traveling through the United States and struggling with the effects of a concussion.
“That show was in Atlanta—not last year, but the year before, during my first year wrestling. This will be my third year wrestling now. That was a crazy one because, being from Canada, I was already in the States for some other stuff and kind of on a little tour. This was also when I was dealing with my post-concussion sh*t, and I was puking after every match. Oh man, it was a nightmare.”
Zep said the symptoms became bad enough that she stopped accepting deathmatch bookings, even though that was a major part of what she was doing at the time.
“I wasn’t taking a whole bunch of wrestling bookings. At that moment, I was doing a lot of deathmatches, and I wasn’t taking any deathmatch bookings at all because my brain was f+cked.”
Despite being sick and concussed, Zep went through with the MLW appearance. She said the booking was intended to introduce her to the company, with the possibility of placing her alongside Krule.
“Then I got this MLW booking, and it was just supposed to be an introduction—like, ‘Maybe we’ll use Tara. We’ll see.’ I was supposed to work with Krule and be in Krule’s faction. I did that one show. I was sick as a dog that day. I was concussed as f*ck. I did the match, and it was super fun. It was super short and simple.”
The potential run did not continue because MLW wanted Zep available for several future dates, and she could not guarantee regular travel from Canada without the proper visa. Still, her admission shows just how much she was putting her body through during the earliest stage of her career.
What do you make of Tara Zep wrestling for MLW while dealing with those post-concussion symptoms? Let us know your thoughts and leave your feedback in the comments.
