KEY POINTS

  • Dave Meltzer points to Toni Storm's on-screen treatment that led to her release
  • Storm was made to look like a weak challenger against Charlotte Flair
  • The former NXT UK Women's Champion reportedly paid for her own flight after a house show

Former NXT UK star-turned-main roster staple Toni Storm made headlines after news broke that she left WWE.

A new report claimed that Storm had been dealing with burnout leading to her exit.

Prominent pro wrestling insider Dave Meltzer reported about Storm’s motivations on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio.

“As far as the reason why she left, the only thing I heard was burnout essentially. If you watch the buildup of her and Charlotte Flair’s feud, if you were her and you think about your job instead of just doing your job, you would probably ask a lot of questions. ‘Why did I get a pie thrown in my face twice when I’m the babyface?’” said Meltzer.

Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp was the first to break the news about Storm’s departure and later added that it was widely believed within the company that she asked for her release according to his sources.

After spending three years in the company’s developmental brand NXT UK and the main NXT show, Storm was called up to the main roster this past summer with a win over Zelina Vega in her debut match.

Meltzer’s report referenced the short-lived feud Storm had with Charlotte Flair, where fans repeatedly questioned why she was a babyface and yet it was the SmackDown Women's Champion who would repeatedly get her shots in on her.

Storm would then gain her title shot against Flair on the December 24 episode of SmackDown but unconvincingly lost.

Cassidy Haynes of Body Slam also reported that after having a Triple Threat match with Flair and Sasha Banks in a house show, Storm paid for her own flight home, to which online wrestling fans have since noted as her impromptu departure from the promotion.

“The one thing with WWE is that they are about feeding their top stars, their protected stars. That’s not to say that they’re not trying to build stars, but the reality is they are only trying to build a few stars and Charlotte Flair is one of those stars and Toni Storm isn’t,” Meltzer later added.

During her run with the company, Storm had won the Mae Young Classic in 2018 and held the NXT UK Women’s Championship for 231 days before dropping the title to Kay Lee Ray.

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