One of the brightest stars in all of professional wrestling has decided to call it quits at age 29.
According to an interview she gave with James Dator of SBNation, former AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm will retire effective immediately from the wrestling business.
Storm had the following to say:
“I’m not used to being a loser. I’ve failed at everything. I lost in AEW, I lost in Japan, I lost in Mexico. This is the last you’ll hear from me again. Enjoy Mariah May as your champion. You can all enjoy that. AEW is just fine without me. Everything is going well for AEW. They don’t need Toni Storm.”
Storm has had a decorated career in the business despite not even being 30 years of age. Initially starting out on the Independent scene in Australia, she made the move to the U.K. at 18 years old to further her career.
Eventually, Storm inked a deal with WWE’s NXT. Having success there, she eventually moved to SmackDown before leaving the company completely after four years.
Storm became one of AEW’s biggest faces — portraying a punk rock look as she took on the company’s best and brightest. For a brief spell, she became a fixture in the heel Outcasts stable. However, Storm’s best work came as “Timeless” Toni Storm — a flippant actress from old Hollywood who acted erratically in the best way possible.
Her protegee, Mariah May, ended up (predictably) turning on her which caused Storm to not only drop the title belt, but also endure a bit of a meltdown.
Storm has been off AEW programming since August. Since then she’s been wrestling sporadically in Mexico. This news of a retirement has many skeptical that Storm will indeed retire. She seemingly stayed in character when making this announcement. If one were to completely leave the business, you’d assume they’d revert to their normal personality.
Additionally, given her talent, age, and love of sport, it’s difficult to envision her permanently stepping away — especially when AEW’s Grand Slam Australia will take place in February of next year. Storm moved to Australia at age four — growing up there before moving to the U.K. as an adult. Being able to compete at home in front of her people seems like a no-brainer.
Whether this is real or a work, Storm is certainly entertaining if nothing else.
