Former WWE Star Reveals They Nearly Retired Before Joining AEW

Toni Storm was granted her release from WWE at the end of 2021 upon her request following a SmackDown Women’s Championship match against Charlotte Flair. Despite only being 26, the rising Australian star and former NXT UK Women’s Champion cited burnout as the reason behind her wanting to leave WWE. Storm would not wrestle again until making her surprise debut on the March 30 episode of AEW Dynamite, qualifying for the Owen Hart Women’s Tournament while also confirming she had signed a full-time deal with the promotion. 

In a new interview on the AEW Road To… series, Storm revealed she considered retirement before joining AEW. Storm initially found success in promotions like Progress and Stardom before joining WWE in 2018.

“Recently, I planned on retiring from the wrestling industry, which is something I have never considered in my entire life. I’ve put my entire life into becoming the best professional wrestler I could be. And I lost that part of myself and it brought on a lot of feelings of emptiness and sadness that I can’t even describe. I traveled the entire world to be good at this, just like Owen Hart did,” Storm said. 

“AEW is home to the best women’s division on the planet. I just qualified for the Owen Hart women’s tournament. For the first time ever, I can truly say that I am home,” she added.

Here’s what’s on the lineup for tonight’s AEW Dynamite. The company’s next big event is the Battle of the Belts II show on April 15 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland (Dallas), Texas. 

• Ring of Honor and AAA World Tag Team Championships: FTR vs. The Young Bucks
• The Hardys vs. The Butcher & The Blade (Tables Match)
• Christian Cage vs. Adam Cole
• Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifier: Samoa Joe vs. Max Caster 
• Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifier: Hikaru Shida vs. Julia Hart

The arena was the same location as Ring of Honor’s Supercard of Honor event from this past Friday, the first ROH event under Tony Khan’s ownership. That show featured FTR beating the Briscoes for the ROH tag titles, only for the Young Bucks to run in and attack Jay and Mark Briscoe after the fact. The show then ended with Samoa Joe making his debut and the announcement that he had signed to work full-time for both AEW and ROH.