Alongside Io Shirai, perhaps the name most people assumed would be a frontrunner for winning this year’s Mae Young Classic has finally been officially announced by the WWE, in what almost feels like a formality at this point. Aussie star Toni Storm – who moved to the UK a few years ago to become one of the UK scenes biggest and most decorated stars – has officially been confirmed as the 19th entrant into the Mae Young Classic II.
BREAKING: As first reported by @DailyMirror, @tonistorm_ will RETURN to the @WWE #MaeYoungClassic this year! https://t.co/9cFy4iJEAO
— Mae Young Classic (@MaeYoungClassic) July 26, 2018
Debuting in 2011, Toni Storm learned her craft in the vibrant Australian indie scene, working with the likes of Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW), Riot City Wrestling (RCW), and Pro Wrestling Alliance Queensland (PWAQ, now Chaos Championship Wrestling), where she was a 2x PWAQ Women’s Champion. In 2014, she tested the UK waters with British Empire Wrestling (BEW) and the rest, they say, is history.
In 2015, she began a whirlwind tour of the UK and European independents, competing for PROGRESS, IPW:UK, Merseyside’s All Star Wrestling (ASW), Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE), Scotland’s Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Preston City Wrestling (PCW) and much more, including Germany’s Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) and Spain’s Revolution Championship Wrestling (RCW). But conquering the British Isles and Europe was just the start.
In 2016, she started working in Japan with Stardom, where she won the Stardom World Alliance (SWA) Undisputed World Women’s Championship, the championship defended in and outside of Stardom, in their allied territories such as BEW, RCW (Spain), Association Biterroise de Catch (ABC) in France, and Mexico’s Women Wrestling Stars (WWS). She would go on to hold that title for 612 days.
In 2017, she would be crowned the first ever PROGRESS Women’s Champion, following a gruelling Natural Progression tournament series, in a triple threat final against Laura Di Matteo and fellow MYC entrant Jinny. She held the PROGRESS title for 357 days, before losing it to Jinny this past May. But the Natural Progression Series IV wasn’t the only big tournament Storm won in 2017. It was the first of many. In April, she won the 2017 Cinderella Tournament in Stardom, giving her a title shot against World of Stardom Champion Io Shirai at a later date. By the time the title shot happened, Shirai was no longer the champion, but Mayu Iwatani. The challenge made no difference, and ultimately Storm defeated Iwatani to become the World of Stardom Champion in September of 2017. She also won the prestigious Stardom 5*Star Grand Prix in 2017 (Stardom’s version of NJPW’s G1 Climax) and in Germany, won the wXw Femme Fatales tournament. Not to mention, making the Final Four for the inaugural Mae Young Classic, bowing out to eventual winner, Kairi Sane.
In January of 2018, she added another women’s world title her to trophy case, winning the wXw Women’s Championship, defeating another MYC entrant, Killer Kelly. She was also a part of the WWE’s United Kingdom Championship Tournament event, winning the #1 Contendership to the NXT Women’s title, before facing defeat to Shayna Baszler on the second night. Just last night at PROGRESS Chapter 74: Mid Week Matters, she defeated Laura Di Matteo to become the #1 Contender again to Jinny’s PROGRESS title.
Much like Io Shirai, Toni Storm is considered one of the top professional wrestlers in the world – regardless of gender – and is poised to become one of the focal points of NXT UK as it gets ready to start taping this weekend. But first, we’ll all see her once again enter the Mae Young Classic, but this time, the winner’s podium could feel the effects of an inbound Storm.
CURRENT CONFIRMED MAE YOUNG CLASSIC LINE-UP
- Kacy Catanzaro, USA
- Isla Dawn, Scotland
- Kavita Devi, India
- Jessica Elaban, USA
- Kaitlyn, USA
- Reina Gonzalez, USA
- Jinny, England
- Karen Q, USA
- Killer Kelly, Portugal
- Lacey Lane, USA
- Mercedes Martinez, USA
- Nicole Matthews, Canada
- Tegan Nox, Wales
- Deonna Purrazzo, USA
- Rhea Ripley, Australia
- Io Shirai, Japan
- Toni Storm, Australia
- Mia Yim, South Korea
- Zeuxis, Puerto Rico
