*Update* In addition to what has been written below, Fightful has further added the following –
“Those that Fightful spoke to within WWE say that Toni Storm asked for her release from the company. This was later confirmed to me, and we reached out to people close to Toni said that things were fine when we asked about extenuating circumstances, and how she was doing.
Storm worked a triple threat match at last night’s WWE live event, and PWInsider noted that talent indicated she flew herself home. This is also what we’ve heard from other talent.
The memo that went out did not list budget cuts as the reason, as has been tradition of late.
We’ve been told that many within WWE were ‘blindsided’ by the news of Storm asking for her release. One source within the company we spoke to said that it would have been difficult for WWE to justify not granting someone their release after several rounds of ‘budget cuts.’”
It is being reported that Toni Storm and WWE have parted ways.
The former NXT UK Women’s Champion and current SmackDown Superstar is said to no longer to be with the company according to Fightful. In a series of tweets, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful can confirm that he has been informed that she has departed from the company.
In the most recent post, Sapp states that those he spoke to in WWE say that Storm requested her release. He is looking to reach out to those closest to her to confirm. The memo received did not indicate “budget cuts” as the releases throughout the year have stated.
PWInsider is confirming the report by Fightful. They added the following –
Fightful.com initially reported the release. PWInsider.com has independently confirmed Storm’s departure.
The story making the rounds is that Storm requested and received a release. The word among talents is that Storm flew herself home this morning from Baltimore. WWE’s internal announcement did not state Storm was released due to budget cuts.
PWInsider.com is told last night’s Triple Threat match went down as scheduled, so it does not appear this was a case of something happening inside the ring to trigger the departure. Storm had recently been programmed with Flair on TV but that program obviously, is done.
Storm has been with WWE since 2017 and participated in both Mae Young Classic tournaments. She was the winner of the second and was crowned at the Evolution pay-per-view in 2018. She is a former NXT UK Women’s Champion and went on to hold the title for 231-days before dropping it to Kay Lee Ray. She moved to the NXT US brand and followed by SmackDown which she debuted over the summer.
Storm was recently in a SmackDown Women’s Title feud with the champion Charlotte Flair. She lost to Flair on the Christmas Eve SmackDown last Friday.
WWE nor Toni Storm have confirmed her release at the time of this writing.
Diva Dirt will provide any further updates if any further news is provided. We wish the best for Toni Storm and hope to see her in the ring again shortly.
