Toni Storm On How Juice Robinson Handled Watching Her Struggle In WWE
Toni Storm and Juice Robinson are kindred spirits. Not only are the two stars husband and wife, but they share similar frustrations when it comes to their tenure in WWE.
Storm was the latest guest on Chris Jericho's "Talk Is Jericho" and the recently signed AEW talent went into further detail about her final day on the job at WWE. Storm was feeling extremely underutilized and Jericho asked if she thinks she upset someone in management.
"I wasn't doing anything wrong, I felt like I was doing okay," Storm said. "In fact, Vince [McMahon] seemed quite high on me on my last day. Vince was taking time to talk to me and I don't know, stuff seemed like it started to get moving but I just didn't trust it. Something didn't sit right with me."
Jericho asked Storm what McMahon was talking with her about.
"He was giving some guidance on what I think I should do. This, that and the other, and I don't know. I'm really grateful for the opportunity, but no thanks," she said.
Storm then brought up how Robinson was extremely supportive of her during her time with WWE, but also understood how the effort and optimism seemed fruitless. Robinson had his time in "WWE NXT" as CJ Parker from 2012 to 2015 before he requested his release, which was granted in April of 2015.
"It's hard for him to keep encouraging me to keep going when he's gone through all the same stuff," she said. "It got harder and harder for him to keep telling me to like, 'Just keep going, just keep trying.'"
A big tipping point for Storm was during a Christmas holiday loop of a WWE tour. She was told that she wasn't scheduled to be on a three-day part of that loop but stayed up all night just in case, only to hear nothing by 6:00 AM. Storm decided to go on with her day and while laying in a dentist's chair got a phone call from WWE that she had to rush to the aiport and fly to Washington DC. After arriving, she waited through half the event before going out to perform and ultimately deciding to quit.
"Who did you tell?" Jericho asked.
"I told Johnny Ace [Laurinaitis]. I messaged him," she said. "I wouldn't even care if they had not let me go. I was not going to show up, I was not going to do it anymore. I've sat back and I tried to be a good girl my whole freaking life and I've tried to do the best. I've tried to be the most professional, I've tried to do everything by the book in the most respectful way all the time and then I just cracked. I just, yeah, cracked. Lost it. You know, you just wake up and lose it?"
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please give a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.