Current Women’s World Champion Naomi and her husband and fellow WWE Superstar Jimmy Uso sat down as guests for Stephanie McMahon’s podcast – “What’s Your Story?”
In 2022 while Naomi and Sasha Banks were WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, they both decided to leave the company ahead of an episode they were booked for on Raw. A lot of what took place that day is still unknown, but this led to Naomi going to TNA, while Banks would go to Japan and eventually land in AEW where she currently is the TBS Champion.
“I think when the walkout and all of that happened, I think that was the first time honestly, in my adult life, where I had the chance to stop, rethink, redefine, and figure out what I really wanted next, how I wanted my life to move forward from this. And I really, in the beginning, struggled trying to process that. I thought I didn’t want to wrestle anymore. I thought I was done. [Jimmy] was also in a different point in his career. He was in the thick of Bloodline life,” Naomi explained to McMahon.
“He did such a great job, but also, I had to go through a lot emotionally and mentally on my own because he had his own stuff going on. And that was the first time where I just had to do the work on myself. And it was, I think it was great. It made me stronger. It relit a fire in me. I became a lot more confident in myself because I didn’t have him to reassure me on things about work. And I just thought I grew so much through that and through that time period when I was gone. So when I came back, I was ready. I was refreshed. And I was intentional on what I wanted this time to be like. And I just — I focused, I locked in, and I worked hard on it. And it paid off.”
Naomi also discussed about not needing to necessarily pick between motherhood and a WWE career anymore. This is something over a decade plus ago wasn’t heard of for the women talent. Since then, women such as Becky Lynch, Candice LeRae, Alexa Bliss, and more have been able to take the time away to start their family and still come back and get in the ring and have a career.
“I always felt like I had this time crunch on me, but now, the women are showing and I really feel like if I wanted to stop and go have a baby, we can do it. They’re doing it so gracefully, so beautifully. And it is hard. It’s not easy. I see the lows, but they get through it, and they’re better for it. And they’re inspiring so many women. I think that’s just incredible because sixteen years ago, you didn’t feel like you could do that. I felt like it was a wrap. You have a baby, you’re done.”
Despite Naomi being the current champion after successfully cashing in her Money in the Bank contract, it is unknown what her current in-ring status is. She was planned to face IYO SKY this past Monday on Raw. The match was cancelled due to Naomi not being medically cleared. An official reason has not been released. She is currently planned to face Stephanie Vauqer at Clash in Paris at the end of this month.
