Toni Storm is the latest guest on Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast. During the interview, Storm said she did not know until that day that she was going to quit WWE. She was asked what happened to make her quit:
“So obviously the frustration had built at this point. It also doesn’t help that everyone I know doesn’t really have a good thing to say about it (WWE). Also, my own husband (Juice Robinson) left for the same silly old reasons. It’s hard for him to keep encouraging me to keep going when he’s gone through all the same stuff.”
It was like Christmas time, and I had about five shows, like a big loop. It was Tampa, Orlando, I think it was DC, Baltimore, and Albany. I’m ready to do this sh*t. I’ve booked everything. I’m ready to go. I’m ready to start work and here we go. I’m ready to do this.”
“Then on Christmas Eve, I get told, ‘You’re just on one of them. You’re just on the Tampa one.’ I’m like ‘Alright, fine. No problem. Whatever’ I go to the Tampa one and I don’t have a match. It’s like the run around the 24/7 title thing with Dana Brooke. That’s fine. Okay, cool. Fine. Sh*t happens. It’s Christmas time. It’s busy. I get it.”
“The next day, I get a phone call in the afternoon saying ‘You realize you’re on the show tonight right?’ ‘No, but like, I will be there.’ It’s in Orlando where I live, so that’s okay. I’m like well, I kind of had a feeling this would happen. I go and I wrestle Sasha and Charlotte for the title, cool. I’m like, here we go. We’re moving.”
“Then following this is that three-day loop. I was confirmed numerous times from numerous people that you’re not on it. So I’m up all night regardless like they’re gonna put me on it. I’m gonna be ready. The 6 am flight is when everyone’s leaving. 6 am comes, nothing, and I don’t hear from them. Nothing. It’s all good. I get on with the day as normal. I go to the dentist at 11 o’clock. I’m laying in a chair with tubes in my mouth getting work done. My phone starts just going insane, off the hook. They need me to be on a plane in like two hours.”
“How do you even say no? You can’t say no because then you get heat. So you’re backed into a corner. I have to do this. I actually want to do this, but it’s been made extremely difficult for me at this point. Nonetheless, I’m pulled out of a chair.”
“I raced home, grabbed my things, and got to the airport. I’m running around all day. Keep in mind there’s all this pent up frustration that’s been building and building and building for months and months and months. Then I get to the show. It’s halfway through the show, Washington DC. We get there to do the match. I still can’t put it into words. It was just the overall frustration of the lack of respect for my time and my effort. I want to give this my all. I want to give this everything I got. I want to give my whole life and my whole being. I want to give it all to you guys, but you’re making it frickin difficult. I just lost it and I quit. I just told them, ‘I’m so unhappy. I need out.’
She later added, “I felt like I had no control over my life. I could pretty much kiss goodbye any chance of going home and seeing my family after two and a half years of not seeing them. I can kind of kiss that goodbye, because that sh*r ain’t happening. So it got me to the point like, ‘What is the point here? Why am I holding on to this so bad? Do I need this so bad? Is my entire identity based on whether or not I become WWE Champion? This is crazy. The sun is still gonna shine tomorrow, the birds are still gonna sing, and I’ve still got my husband, my dog, my family, and my friends. So who cares? I’m out. I am done and now I don’t care what happens'”
On the differences between AEW and WWE:
“I would say probably the biggest comparison is I’m not like walking on eggshells. There’ve been a lot of people that have been there (WWE) and have come here (AEW), and they’ve said the same thing. But so far, I felt really welcome. I felt really calm. I feel that’s going to be what will make me perform better, and overall, just do better.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Talk Is Jericho with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription
