Toni Storm Reemerges on Instagram After Sudden WWE Departure
Toni Storm is back on social media. On Saturday, the former WWE Superstar went to Instagram to post two photos of her sitting outside with her dog. She didn't write anything in the post, but several WWE Superstars left comments to show their support for Storm, including Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks and Aliyah. Storm's last Instagram post was on Dec. 26 shortly before she left the company.
It was first reported that Storm was released by WWE, but Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer clarified what happened. "As far as her reasons and why she left, the only thing I heard was, you know, burnout, essentially," he said, per ComicBook.com. "There's probably a 90-day non-compete involved...whether she can go [to AEW] and that was part of the deal that you can't go there, I don't know that."
Storm was very popular with WWE fans. After spending time at NXT UK and NXT, Storm was called up to the main roster this past summer. Towards the end of the year, Storm was teaming up with Banks as well as battling Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship.
While appearing on the Out of Character podcast, Storm talked about the challenges she dealt with while on the main roster. "It's the worst cause you just don't know," Storm said, per Inside the Ropes. "Obviously, wrestling [can be] so unpredictable. Next week you could be main eventing and winning a title and everything could be happening or nothing. You don't know. This is show business at the end of the day. It's a topsy turvy industry.
"When you're sat in catering, it's not a good feeling. Just sitting there waiting for your shot. Waiting for your big break. Waiting to show everyone what you've worked your life to be good at. I just sat there [asking] 'When am I next? What's happening?' Now [when] stuff starts happening, I'm still like, 'what's going on?' Oh, my God. What is my life?" During her time in WWE Storm won the NXT UK Championship. She also won the Mae Young Classic in 2018, which was held at the WWE's first all-women's pay-per-view, WWE Evolution. Before working in WWE, Storm spent time in Progress Wrestling and World Wonder Ring Stardom