WWE Rumors: Toni Storm Requested Release Because She Was Burned Out

Toni Storm reportedly left WWE this week due to feeling burned out from working for the company.

During Thursday's edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer cited "burnout" as the only reason he was given when asking sources about Storm's surprising departure (beginning at the 2:00 mark):

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp was the first to report Wednesday that Storm was "gone" from the company. In a follow-up, Sapp noted that those within WWE he spoke to believed Storm asked for her release.

In another report, Cassidy Haynes of BodySlam.net wrote that Storm paid for her own flight home after facing SmackDown Women's champion Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks in a Triple Threat match at a live event Tuesday.

Haynes added that it was Storm's way of quitting the company, and WWE subsequently granted her request.

Storm signed with WWE in 2017 and made her debut as part of the inaugural Mae Young Classic. She later went on to be one of the faces of NXT UK and became the second person to hold the NXT UK Women's Championship.

The 26-year-old Aussie won the second Mae Young Classic tournament and eventually made the move from NXT UK to NXT.

Storm received her official main roster call-up in July, and while it took some time for her to be utilized consistently, she most recently took part in a feud with Flair.

Their rivalry led to a SmackDown Women's Championship match on last week's episode of SmackDown, which Charlotte won.

Storm was viewed as a potential future top star in the WWE women's division, but now her wrestling future is in question.

It is unclear if Storm intends to take time off even after her 90-day non-compete clause ends, but if she does return to wrestling, she figures to be a hot commodity on the free-agent market.

AEW and Impact Wrestling would both likely express a great deal of interest, plus she would undoubtedly have options in the United Kingdom and Japan, which are two countries she excelled in before joining WWE.

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