Why Did Naomi Leave 'Total Divas' this Season?

The women of Total Divas may be professional backstabbers/front-stabbers/turncoats/Benedict Arnolds in the ring — trying to keep up with who is feuding with whom in WWE is like having the most vivid of middle school flashbacks — but they've proven themselves to be pretty damn loyal ladies in the "real" lives that are seen on the E! series. So then why did Trinity McCray Fatu, aka Naomi, leave Total Divas after being there from the very beginning? And in the middle of Season 3?! First, the disbanding of The Funkadactyls on Raw, and now this... there's only so much an average diva (and, presumably, a Total Diva) can take.

With the endlessly confusing crossover between the reality that takes place on Total Divas and the capital-F-Fake reality that makes up the storylines of the WWE, there's always something to speculate about in the Divas franchise. But once rumors began to fly that Naomi, as well as Summer Rae, would not be returning to Total Divas for the last half of Season 3, the Diva herself took to Twitter to clear things up. She confirmed that she would, indeed, no longer be a part of the Total Divas cast, but really threw in an extra curve ball to fans, including that it was "not by choice."

Well, if it wasn't Naomi's choice, then whose was it? Let's a play a little speculation game of our own to figure out why Naomi won't be returning to E! this Sunday...

The Funkadactyls Split

Naomi and Cameron have never exactly been storyline magnets, and while their professional split in WWE made waves for a bit, there seemed to not be a lot of room for their stories in the first half of Season 3. Now, word on the street (aka the WWE website) is that Cameron's rivalry with new cast member Alicia Fox will be stirring up some drama for her in the coming season. Maybe the series' producers just think Naomi's narrative well has dried up.

New Blood

The addition of Alicia Fox and Paige to the cast in the latter half of Season 3 is an interesting one, and one that's sure to draw a few WWE fans that have thus far resisted tuning into Total Divas. Fox and Paige are former frienemies in the ring, and recently teamed up to try to destroy the Divas name altogether. It would make sense the producers might do a little housekeeping to make room for some stars with new stories to tell.

We're Getting Scammed

Of course, there's always the chance that Total Divas is finally going for broke and having a total crossover between the WWE Divas storylines and the reality show: "Naomi versus the Divas who betrayed her, tonight on Raw." It could happen...

The Bright Side

Shockingly, not everyone is a fan of Total Divas. The overlap between the reality show and the Divas franchise is often viewed as harmful to the WWE Divas brand. For example, according to Bleacher Report, many WWE fans found the attempt to coordinate the arguing happening between Trinity and Ariane on Total Divas, which is filmed months in advance, into the feud between Naomi and Cameron in live Divas world, to be totally disenchanting. With Naomi now out of the Total Divas net, she's free to focus entirely on her Divas storylines, and possibly even garner the WWE support of those who actively root against Total Divas.

Images: Frank Ockenfels/E!