Naomi Says She's No Longer with WWE After Walking out in 2022 with Sasha Banks

Naomi confirmed Thursday that she is no longer part of WWE after stepping away from the company in May 2022.

The two-time SmackDown women's champion posted an advertisement for her upcoming appearance at WrestleCon next weekend on her Instagram account. Per Wrestling Inc's Ella Jay, a commenter asked Naomi if she was still with WWE, to which she replied, "No frien'."

After Naomi and tag team partner Sasha Banks walked out prior to the May 16, 2022, episode of Raw, it was unclear if either of them would be back, especially when Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Wrestling Inc.'s Matthew Wilkinson) reported in May 2022 that Naomi's WWE contract was set to expire "soon."

The controversy surrounding Naomi and Banks started before the walkout. The two had been scheduled to compete in a six-pack challenge to determine Raw women's champion Bianca Belair's opponent at Hell in a Cell.

Instead, the match was changed to a singles bout between Becky Lynch and Asuka, and the Raw commentary team labeled Sasha and Naomi as "unprofessional" for walking out before the show.

Fightful Select (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News) reported the plan was for Naomi to win the six-pack challenge before losing to Belair at Hell in a Cell.

Banks and Naomi reportedly had issues with the booking decision due to their status as WWE women's tag team champions and left after WWE refused to make any creative changes.

During the May 16 Raw, WWE released a statement, saying that Naomi and Banks placed their titles on the desk of then-head of talent relations John Laurinaitis and left the building:

Just a few days later on SmackDown, WWE announced that Naomi and Banks had been suspended indefinitely and stripped of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships.

It seemed at that point the relationship would perhaps be difficult to mend, but a huge change in power occurred within WWE in July.

Along with Laurinaitis being removed from his talent relations position, Vince McMahon announced in July that he was retiring from his roles as CEO, chairman and head of creative.

McMahon's daughter, Stephanie McMahon, and Nick Khan replaced him as co-CEOs, while Stephanie was also named chairwoman.

Additionally, WWE legend and NXT founder Triple H was named WWE's new vice president of talent relations and head of creative.

That move seemed like a big deal in terms of keeping Banks since she was signed and developed by Triple H in NXT, but she instead decided to make the move to New Japan Pro-Wrestling and STARDOM, debuting as Mercedes Moné at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on Jan. 4.

While Naomi isn't as closely tied to Triple H as Banks, she is deeply rooted in WWE nonetheless, as she has been with the company since signing a developmental deal in 2009 and is married to fellow WWE Superstar Jimmy Uso.

Like Banks, the 35-year-old Naomi has an impressive resume, having won the SmackDown women's title twice and the WWE women's tag team titles once.

It remains unclear if there is desire on either side for Naomi to return to WWE at some point, but her comment suggests she is done with the company for now, unless she is trying to throw fans off the track of an eventual return.

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