Toni Storm Gone From WWE After Requesting Release, Reaction From Within WWE

UPDATE 2: A few more details have been reported regarding Toni Storm’s exit from WWE, as confirmed on Wednesday. Fightful Select has updated their report to note that people close to Storm have said that in regard to how Storm is doing and any extenuating circumstances, things are “fine.”

The site adds that several people in the company were “blindsided” by the news that Storm requested her release. One source in WWE said that it would be hard for the company to justify not granting a requested release after they’ve had so many releases under the purview of “budget cuts.”

UPDATE: PWInsider has some additional details on the events leading up to Toni Storm reportedly requesting and receiving her WWE release today. At last night’s WWE Live Holiday Tour event in Washington, DC, Toni Storm was in action, and she took part in a Triple Threat match for the SmackDown Women’s title against champ Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks. Flair retained her title in the matchup.

According to PWInsider’s update, Storm’s matchup at last night’s live event went down as scheduled. As of now, it does not appear there was something that happened in the ring that triggered her exit.

ORIGINAL: Per Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, WWE has released former NXT UK women’s champion Toni Storm from the company. Additional details are not yet available, but WWE did confirm to Fightful that Storm is no longer with the company.

PWInsider has also independently confirmed her WWE release. PWInsider’s report also noted that the word behind the scenes is that Storm requested and received her release.

Additionally, she is said to have flown home this morning from Baltimore, Maryland. WWE was scheduled to hold a live event there today at the Royal Farms Arena for the company’s Holiday Tour. Also, WWE’s internal announcement did not state that Storm was released due to budget cuts.

The news comes not long after her SmackDown Women’s Championship match with Charlotte Flair aired last Friday on WWE SmackDown for Christmas Eve. The match was taped a week before on December 17 in Chicago at the Allstate Arena. Charlotte Flair won the match via pinfall.

Toni Storm joined WWE as part of the NXT UK roster in 2018. She later moved to the main NXT roster in 2020. Toni Storm later moved to the main WWE roster as part of SmackDown last July, winning her debut match against Zelina Vega.

During the 2021 WWE Draft, Storm was drafted to stay on the SmackDown roster. At Survivor Series 2021, she was part of Team SmackDown for the 5-on-5 women’s Survivor Series elimination match, who lost to Team Raw that night.

During her WWE career, Storm won the 2018 Mae Young Classic, beating Io Shirai in the finals. She was also NXT UK women’s champion, holding the title for 230 days from January 2019 to August 2019.