AEW Women\'s World Champion \"Timeless\" Toni Storm has opened up about her time in WWE, offering a complex and somewhat contradictory assessment of the creative freedom she was given during her run with the company from 2017 to 2021. While she stated that she had \"complete creative freedom,\" she also admitted that she felt she \"wasn\'t told what to do enough\" and was often \"very lost\" when it came to her character\'s direction.
Speaking on the Marking Out podcast, Storm was asked about the level of creative freedom she had in WWE. She explained the nuance of the situation.
Well here’s the thing, this is where I get stuck on it. If the WWE- I don’t think I was told what to do enough. I wasn’t told to do anything actually,\" she said. \"But overall like, I don’t feel like I was told what to do enough. I was very lost.\
Storm elaborated on the differences between production direction and character direction.
\"I mean like I knew there was direction in things like ‘this is how you do it, this is what you do on television, cameras.’ As in regards to a character? No, I was never like, I mean they write promos but like I was- I just did it,\" she explained.
\"Wasn’t really told “do this, today you’re a cat and your names Tori bloody Smith. No one told me anything and I kept my name the whole time and it was like I had complete creative freedom to be honest, some where others didn’t and others were given things. It’s so much so a very difficult thing to grasp.
Storm\'s comments suggest that the lack of a defined character direction left her feeling creatively adrift at times. She even stated that she would have been open to a more outlandish gimmick if it had been presented to her, as it would have given her something concrete to work with. The creative freedom, in her case, was almost a double-edged sword, leaving her to navigate her own path without a clear map.
I wish they would, I would have done anything to be honest. That’s the weird thing about this if they had just given me some mad off the wall thing, I would have 100% gone with it. This is like therapy!” she said.
\"Timeless\" Toni Storm is scheduled to defend the AEW Women\'s World Championship against Jamie Hayter, Kris Statlander and Thekla next Saturday at AEW All Out.
