Originally published on ProWrestlingSheet.

It's been over a month since Taynara Conti was relieved of her duties in NXT, and now she's opening up about frustrations that were simmering long before that.

In an interview with Ring The Belle, Conti contends she never got a shot to really prove herself. "I need to feel like I'm useful. The last couple of months, I was not feeling that anymore. I was trying to have conversations asking for opportunities. And don't get me wrong. I never asked for a TakeOver match. I never asked for a title shot," she said. "I know everything is step-by-step. But I was on the same step for a long time."

It wasn't for a lack of effort either. Conti claims she tried to switch things up multiple times in an attempt to stand out. "I picked like a hundred different gimmicks. They were like 'no, keep doing what you're doing,'" she added. "I tried to change my hair, to change my gimmick, to change my gear and they were like 'no Tay, don't change, just keep going, the opportunity is coming." But it never did.

Taynara then became increasingly frustrated by new, more experienced talent being signed who were routinely passing her over. "I asked them 'what about me?' and they were like 'well, there's people coming with more experience, they have wrestling backgrounds of ten years.' In my mind, I was like, if you keep signing people who have like ten years of experience and you don't use me, why do you sign people that don't come from pro wrestling?"

Despite voicing her displeasure and questioning her place in NXT, she was surprised when news of her release came. "I was not expecting it at all. I was training, I was doing live events," Conti explained. "When I got the call, not gonna lie ... what a bad moment. I was feeling so bad, so bad. I got the call and I was by myself at home and I was just crying."

In retrospect, she wonders why she wasn't granted the release sooner. "I'm not able to do anything right now," she said. "I'm getting kind of crazy because I'm at home doing nothing. Why didn't they give me my release a couple of months before? Because then I would be able to do something." Conti, however, seems to have her sights firmly set on a future in a brave new world.

"I don't know much about indies or or other companies. It's kind of new for me. But I know I can learn, and that's exciting."

Watch the interview below.