Toni Storm: ‘I signed my life to AEW,’ rules out WWE return
AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm doesn’t know exactly how much time she has left on her contract, but she plans on staying with AEW for life.
Storm was a guest on The Sandman’s podcast recently and revealed that she signed a five-year deal with the company at some point. She first signed with AEW in March 2022, but it’s unclear if she remains under her original contract.
“I’m on a five-year deal and I can’t remember how long. But I’m a lifer for AEW. There’s no like, ‘Oh, well, I’ll see what happens,’” she said on the show.
Earlier in the conversation, Storm said that after her run with AEW, she’s done with wrestling, will not go back to WWE, and fans will never see her again.
“When I’m done wrestling, you’ll never see me again,” she added. “You’ll never see me in any other capacity, or in any other company, for that matter.”
When asked if “AEW was it” for her, Storm responded, “Exclusive. And then I will vanish with that. There’s no encore.”
“I’m not doing anything else. Where would I go? What would I do? Because I’m on a long deal for AEW. I signed my life to AEW.”
The Sandman then stated he used to feel the same way about ECW but then said “something happened that I never would have thought would happen,” most likely referring to the company going out of business in 2001. Sandman went on to wrestle in WWE, TNA, and several other promotions after.
Storm continued:
“That does happen a lot in wrestling, though. Yes, random, crazy s–t happens but as of now, AEW for life.”
Asked if she would ever return to WWE, Storm answered: “No, and that’s no offense to them, I think they’re great.”
“I understand them for exactly what they are: They’re a machine, they’re a business and I just don’t fit in with their whole schtick and that’s cool.”
“I love a lot of the people that work there. And it’s like yes, get that money, get that power but realistically, in my life, that’s it.”
“I could do another 20 years with AEW,” she added.
Storm’s next defense of the AEW Women’s World Championship is set for Saturday’s All Out pay-per-view from Toronto. She’ll put the title on the line in a fatal four-way against Kris Statlander, Thekla, and Jamie Hayter on the show.
Her full appearance on The Sandman’s podcast is available below:
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.