In an interview alongside Jimmy Uso for What’s Your Story? with Stephanie McMahon, Naomi opened up about the journey she has been on in her career.
Talking about the lessons she has learned over the years, the current Women’s World Champion addressed her walking out on the company in May 2022 due to frustration she and Mercedes Moné (then Sasha Banks) felt about their direction and treatment, saying the moment made her reassess her career at the time:
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.
She also noted that Jimmy, who was in the midst of the Bloodline storyline at the time, “had his own stuff going on” causing her to focus on handling her situation on her own, something Naomi states ultimately helped her grow:
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.
The interview (which can be seen below) was purportedly filmed on July 22, prior to her scheduled title defense on the 8/11 edition of Raw being pulled when she was deemed not medically cleared to compete.
Source: F4WOnline