Toni Storm Disputes Report That She Left WWE Over Burnout

One of the biggest mysteries in wrestling recently was why Toni Storm quit WWE in the middle of a "SmackDown" Women's Championship storyline with Charlotte Flair. She is now opening up about the decision further on "Talk Is Jericho."

It had been reported at the time that burnout was the reason why she opted to walk away from WWE, and Storm is aware that people "suspected" that, but she pointed out that she "was in catering most of the time."

"I've got to be honest with you, I was totally unhappy, I wasn't burnt out ... Not that I am complaining and obviously I don't want to bury the place at all, I don't want to say anything bad, because to be honest, I am really grateful for the whole thing," she said.

The night that she did end up quitting the company took place after a series of events and, from her perspective, poor communication on WWE's behalf, which started with her being told she was on a show the day before at the last minute. Luckily she "had a feeling" that would end up happening, but then she had confirmed "numerous times with numerous people," that she wasn't on the following three-day loop.

Despite that, Storm was indeed booked onto the loop at the last minute, as she got the call at 11 am while she was "laying in the chair" with tubes in her mouth "getting work done" at the dentist.  She admitted to feeling like she was "backed into a corner" with the situation, even though she wants to "give it all" to WWE.

"My phone starts just going insane off the hook, they need me to be on a plane in like two hours," Storm revealed. "How do you even say no? You can't say no because then you get heat ... I have to do this, I actually want to do this, but it has been made extremely difficult for me at this point."

Storm managed to arrive "halfway through the show," in order to compete in what would be her final WWE match, and she admits that after that she "still can't put it into words," when trying to describe her feelings on how she felt. But, she had "pent-up frustration" that had been "building and building for months and months."

"It was just the overall frustration, the lack of respect for my time and my effort, " she said. "I want to give this everything I've got, I want to give this my whole life, my whole being ... but you're making it frigging difficult, and I just lost it and I quit, and I just told them, 'I am so unhappy, I need out.'"

It was John Laurinaitis who received those final messages from Storm, who admitted that she "just cracked," but at that stage, she was "just over it." The former "NXT UK" Women's Champion did point out that Laurinaitis was "really cool" with her after that, even though she "thought they were going to be really mad."

"I messaged him and said, 'I can't do [this]' I wouldn't even care if they had not let me go, I was not going to show up, I wasn't going to do it anymore because you know what, I've sat back and I've tried to be a good girl my whole fricking life, and I've tried to do the best," she said. "I've tried to be the most professional, and I've tried to do everything by the book ... but I just didn't care at that point."

If you use any quotes from this article please credit "Talk Is Jericho" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.