Toni Storm realized that WWE isn’t the place for her.
The former NXT UK Champion left the company in December, as she requested her release the week after she challenged Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Storm was a guest this morning on Busted Open Radio, and she looked back on her departure from the company. She admitted that a number of factors, including being away from home for so long, were responsible for her decision. Storm also expressed her gratitude for her time in WWE, but she noted that at the end of her time there, she somewhat “lost it.”
“I went two and a half years without going home at all,” Storm said. “That’s after a life of about seven years of being on the road. Like I left for England, about seven or eight years had passed, and I was like, oh my god, and then take into account the amount of negativity that you hear about WWE and then add that on top of it. And I’m not saying that I have a problem with WWE at all. I’m actually really grateful for the time that I got to have, and I learned so much. It was so cool. It was real, and it was cool.
“But in the end, it wasn’t real cool. And something just happened, and I left, and I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience, to be honest. I just kind of, you know, have you ever lost it? Have you ever just lost your mind? That’s kind of what happened, I guess. The stress of not seeing family in years and then just so many overwhelming things all at once. And yeah, I’ve been happier ever since.”
Toni Storm said that while she romanticized being part of WWE as a child, it dawned on her that it wasn’t the place for her, and she didn’t want to stick around taking a spot when someone else could come in that wanted to be there.
“I just realized it was just a moment where I realized that it wasn’t for me,” Toni Storm said. “As much as I might have romanticized it as a child and thought that this is my dream, and this is what I have to accomplish. Like, I just realized, maybe it’s not, and maybe this isn’t the place for me, and who am I to take someone else’s spot that actually really wants to be here? That’s not fair. And I just thought, you know, I’m still going to be a wrestler. I spent years wrestling before WWE; I loved it. So it was really all there is to go back to doing something that I love.”
At the end of the day, it just became clear for Storm that she had to move on. She stated she didn’t leave the company on bad terms and that she respects all of the women on the roster over there.
“Yeah, there was really no point in going further, and I didn’t leave on bad terms or anything like that,” Toni Storm said. “But it became abundantly clear that it just wasn’t the place for me at all. And I love and respect all the women there. I think they’re amazing. They’re so hard working. They inspire me, but that wasn’t my place. Yeah, I don’t really know how else to put it.”
Storm later signed with AEW and debuted on the March 30 episode of AEW Dynamite. She qualified for the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament by defeating The Bunny, and she’s set to face Jamie Hayter in the first round.
READ MORE: Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter Set For AEW Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament
What do you make of Toni Storm’s comments? Are you happy to see her in All Elite Wrestling? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit Busted Open Radio with a link back to this article for the transcription.
