AEW’s Johnny TV & Taya Valkyrie on Producing Pro Wrestling’s First Scripted Rom-Com
Q&A
Marriage is hard enough under everyday circumstances, let alone when you factor in the busy on-the-road lifestyle of being a pro wrestler. Yet somehow Johnny TV and Taya Valkyrie have found wedded bliss for almost six years.
The All Elite Wrestling stars have been together through the ups and downs of their respective careers. They’ve appeared before onscreen starting with Mark Burnett and Robert Rodriguez’s Lucha Underground. After runs there, WWE, TNA, and MLW, their journeys have brought them to AEW. They also perform for Tony Khan’s other promotion Ring of Honor.
This power couple has been able to show fans other sides of their dynamic through the Johnny Loves Taya digital series. The 10-episode show brings elements of the two’s real life but within a scripted format they describe as pro wrestling’s first rom-com. With the finale on the horizon, Johnny and Taya talk about the making of the project, what’s to come, and why their relationship works.
AEW
How did this idea come about?
Taya Valkyrie: We just wanted a creative and different way to introduce us as a couple to the AEW audience. Even though we have been on-screen on different shows, this was the first time they saw us as a couple. We were looking for a different way of filming promos or backstage segments. Then it evolved into what we have now, which is our 10-episode weekly series we created here in Los Angeles with a great group of friends. The first rom-com in professional wrestling history. We’re very excited about it.
Tell us about what it has been like putting it together.
Taya: People don’t realize that on top of our TV schedules, traveling every single week, we’ve been shooting this on our “days off.” It has taken over our lives.
Johnny TV: It has been a labor of love. This last week for example we did two 17-hour shooting days for Johnny Loves Taya in a row just because we needed to finish all the assets for an episode to AEW. I think the first thing Taya and I did was The Iron Sheik Massacre on set, and working together in the ring is always fun. We had this fun idea, which was largely Taya’s idea, to do the first-ever fully scripted pro wrestling rom-com. We had to commit to making the time and doing it and hitting deadlines.
Taya: We’re both perfectionists when it comes to what we put into the world. We worked really hard on this. I’m thrilled people are getting to see a different side of us. This is definitely not a reality show and is very different.
Johnny: It is based on us somewhat. It’s based on a true story of something that one of us said or happened to us or a friend. We heighten it, reframe it, and put it in the context of scripted shows.
Phrogging, I had no idea what that was before this show. So I find the show educational as well.
Johnny: Taya is literally obsessed with phrogging.
Taya: I’m not obsessed with phrogging. I’m obsessed with true crime in general. Phrogging is a part of it. There was a show that came out a few years ago about phrogging. I had never heard of it either. It was an inside joke we had that we made into an episode. You see that throughout the series. Even with the shark party for our dog Presley. We’ve had shark parties for Presley for years. What you see on Johnny Loves Tya was actually one-tenth of what it was. Everything corresponds to something that happened. We’re just elevating it. A little bit crazier.
AEW
Was Lorraine “The Hurricane” in the show really your mom?
Taya: Yes. She is in the finale too. She is recurring. My mom was here for Christmas, and we asked her to be involved. She loves being involved. Angelina, her dog, is the most well-behaved dog compared to our Bowie and Presley. So we make the joke that she is overly trained and is this robot dog. She doesn’t necessarily train dogs, but Angelina does go to classes with her to become a robot dog.
Johnny: Then she tries to train our dogs the same way. She just has a lot of advice and wants things done a certain way. It’s unsolicited.
Where have you found inspiration for elements of the show?
Taya: For me, when we were coming up with the jingle and cartoon opening, I had a way I wanted it to come across. I’ve had so many people come up to me saying with bobbleheads that they reminded them of The Girls Next Door. That’s what I was going for. The jingle was from The Nanny. I grew up on those sitcoms. My mom loved that show. For me, it was putting all these ideas together from things I loved as a kid and teen into what Johnny Loves Taya.
Johnny: Stylistically, it’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. In Seinfeld, they’re actually based on a true story and something that happened to a cast member. Like Modern Family, but with a family of wrestlers. Work is where you see pro wrestling, but we thought, “What does it look like at home or play?” That is what we are trying to show.
What’s to come?
Johnny: Episode 8 is a musical episode.
Taya: We sing, and dance. You’ll see the musical talents of Johnny and Taya.
Johnny: Mostly Taya, and what we can do with autotune for me. We did two days of 17 hours in a row.
Taya: We’re very lucky we had Brynna Campbell who did our jingle for us and wrote all this original music for us,
Johnny: Within a week or more, she wrote three songs, recorded sample tracks, recorded us, and had to fix me through autotune. Then we recorded master tracks and incorporated one song each where we both have dancers. The Phrogger comes back!
Taya: Episode 9 and the finale were shot in Las Vegas.
What’s the secret sauce to your marriage?
Johnny: Finding the most amazing person in the world. Lucky enough to have her. She accepts me for who I am.
Taya: Yeah, John’s a weirdo [laughs]. The best thing is we’ve grown and evolved together. We’ve been lucky enough to work together. The trials and tribulations of work and life, we’ve been through a lot. We’ve always supported each other and each other’s crazy ideas. It just works. We sometimes have creative differences or view things differently, but that is what makes it magical. That’s why we work because, with those conflicts, we discuss everything and try to work it out and create something magical. So, when our two crazy brains come together, that’s what happens.
Supercard of Honor is coming up this week, and Johnny, you’re set to face Dalton Castle. Someone who in many ways is along the same wavelength as you in presentation and creativity. What can fans expect when it’s “Fight Without Honor?”
Johnny: Expect the unexpected. I couldn’t agree with you more in terms of the way Dalton thinks. It’s refreshing to work with someone and not be over the stereotypical thing. There are only so many title spots, so when you’re not having it, working with someone like Dalton is the best. The amount of crazy ideas he, myself, and Taya have.
Taya; We could fill a novel. Working with him has been so much fun. I enjoy the fact he is this passionate and creative and outside-the-box as much as we are. That’s shown in our dynamic on screen. At Supercard of Honor, you’re going to see a crazy match.
Johnny Loves Taya episodes can be found on AEW’s YouTube channel.
AEW Dynamite, Wednesdays, 8/7c, TBS
AEW Rampage, Fridays, 8/7c, TNT
AEW Collision, Saturdays, 8/7c, TNT
Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor, April 5, 7/6c, Streaming on HonorClub
