(NEXSTAR) — Gabbi Tuft, the ex-WWE superstar who wrestled as Tyler Reks, has come out as transgender.
“This is me,” Tuft wrote in an Instagram post Thursday. “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.”
Tuft called the last eight months “some of the darkest” of her life.
“The emotional turmoil of being transgender and having to face the world has almost ended me on multiple occasions,” she wrote, telling her wife Priscilla, “Your support along the way means more than you will ever know.”
The California-born 42-year-old wrestled in WWE Raw, Smackdown and Wrestlemania events and developed a reputation for flying kicks, punishing takedowns and signature flowing dreadlocks.
But Tuft gave up life in the ring to spend time with Priscilla and their daughter, she stated in a news release.
“I don’t expect everyone to agree or understand,” Tuft wrote on Instagram. “It’s not my place to change any of your core beliefs. Just know that the outer shell may change, but the soul remains the same.”