Toni Storm dives into her departure from WWE.
After choosing to leave WWE in late 2021, Toni Storm is now a member of All Elite Wrestling and is scheduled to compete in the Owen Hart Cup tournament. Storm made her in-ring debut against The Bunny and on the most recent episode of Dynamite, she had a segment with Jamie Hayter and it was confirmed that they will go one-on-one in the future.
Toni joined David LaGreca and Mark Henry on Busted Open Radio to discuss her venture into AEW and her reasons for leaving WWE. Storm described her exit as an ‘out of body experience’, adding that she knew it was time to leave.
She realized it was not the place for her and did not want to take a spot on the roster from someone that wants to be in that position.
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 there. I learned so much and you know what? 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 it felt… I felt like I was having an out of body experience to be honest. I just kind of — 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.
It was just a moment where I realized it wasn’t for me and 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, I just realized, ‘Maybe it’s not and maybe it’s not the place for me’ and who am I to take someone else’s spot that actually wants to be here? That’s not fair and I just thought, you know, I’m still gonna be a wrestler, I’m still gonna be a wrestler. I spent years wrestling before WWE. I mean I loved it so I was like all there really is to go back to is doing something that I love so how bad can it be really?
Storm went on to add that she respects the talents of WWE’s women division. She said she did not leave on bad terms but it became clear that the company was not a fit for her and that’s the best way she can explain it.
Yeah, there was really no point in going further and I didn’t leave [WWE] on bad terms or anything like that 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 and they inspire but that wasn’t my place. Yeah, I don’t really know how else to put it.
The field for the women’s and men’s portions of the Owen Hart Cup tournament field are still taking shape. Former AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker is returning to TV on 4/20 and she’ll be taking on Danielle Kamela, formerly known as ‘Vanessa Borne’ in a Owen Hart Cup qualifier.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Busted Open Radio with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
