Naomi Shares Story Of 2022 Walkout In WWE Unreal Season Two

The second season of WWE Unreal continues to look behind the curtain, which was pulled wide open in season one last year. And the second installment of the Netflix docuseries delves into one of the biggest news stories in recent WWE history, with Naomi discussing her 2022 walkout alongside Sasha Banks.

A little under four years ago, when the now Mercedes Mone was plying her trade in WWE, the duo captured the Women's Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 38. After defending the belts for several weeks, Naomi and Banks were advertised to compete against each other in a six-pack challenge match on the May 16 episode of Raw to determine a new number one contender to the WWE Raw Women's Title.

Naomi and Jimmy Uso discuss the 2022 walkout

It was reported at the time that Naomi and Banks wanted their creative to focus on them as tag team champions, whereas Vince McMahon's direction was going to call for each half of the tag champs to challenge for Raw and SmackDown's respective Women's Titles for at least a month, thus derailing the momentum of their Tag Title reign.

Unhappy with what was being presented to them, Naomi and Banks left the arena before their Raw match could take place. Naomi would not return until the 2024 Royal Rumble, while Banks would go on to join AEW, rebranded as Mercedes Mone.

The walkout was used as a major discussion point in the second episode of WWE Unreal's second season. Shortly after R-Truth's own contractual difficulties are highlighted, the focus then shifts to Naomi's departure and subsequent return to the company between 2022 and 2024.

"In 2022, it all just came to a halt," Naomi, real name Trinity Fatu, explains as she documents the path of her WWE career up until that point.

"I'm not going to go into too much detail because I don't like talking about it. In 2022, my tag team partner, Sasha Banks and I were tag team champions. There was a lot that happened that day at work that led us to leave, like literally walk out" the former Women's World Champion continues.

Jimmy Uso, Naomi's husband, describes how he experienced the moment, having been working a match during the same episode and originally being unaware of what had happened.

"I just remember after my match I went to look for her and I couldn't even find her. And I called her and she was like, 'I left' and I was like 'damn'."

"The wrong thing to do"

As well as Naomi and Jimmy, several members of the WWE creative team discussed the situation, with WWE's VP of Creative Writing, Hall of Famer Michael Hayes, emphasizing that he believed walking out was the wrong way to handle the matter.

"I was very surprised and shocked when I heard Trin had decided to get up and walk out. That's the wrong thing to do. That's just the wrong thing to do. You work the show and you work the show not because you don't want to then, it's for down the line when things cool off and you go, 'really glad I didn't burn that bridge.'"

Naomi goes into more detail about how she approached the decision to walk out, explaining, "I needed to stand up for myself. Not as Naomi but as Trinity. And that was the first time in my life, my career, not employed and not knowing what to do next and where to go next."

Both Naomi and Jimmy reveal in the episode how difficult the time apart from working together was, with Jimmy telling the cameras, "her leaving the company was obviously a blow. Of course, you know when your ride-or-die ain't by you, of course you feel that effect."

Naomi adds, "Now we're not working together, traveling together, on the road together. That was a very difficult, scary time for me."

TNA would eventually beckon for Naomi, who debuted for the promotion in April 2023, eventually winning the Knockouts World Title, before returning to WWE less than a year later.

What led to Naomi's WWE return?

The multiple-time World Champion reveals that it was family that led to her 2024 return, saying, "What led to me returning to WWE was my family. All my family was there. I do understand the significance of the Samoan dynasty and the family that I'm in. And it also makes me wanna pull my weight, because I'm surrounded by great wrestlers."

In her two years back with WWE, Naomi has established herself as one of the most prominent parts of the company's weekly programming. Her initial alignment with Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill saw her once again become one half of the Women's Tag Team Champions, before Naomi was revealed as the mystery attacker who put Cargill on the shelf for several months at the end of 2024.

Naomi's subsequent heel turn has been regarded as one of the most effective in recent WWE history, leading to her winning the women's Money In The Bank contract last year, which she successfully cashed in at the Evolution Premium Live Event in July, becoming the Women's World Champion in the process.

Currently, Naomi is out of action as she announced her pregnancy in August of last year, 36 days after lifting the world title.

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