AEW is making a bold choice by having the ascending Megan Bayne step up to challenge “Timeless” Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s World Championship. Yet, it plays into one of the division’s most engrained tropes.
Have you noticed how, early on, the new women’s champion faces a “monster” gatekeeper? Think Nyla Rose returning to take the L. Differently, Bayne’s undefeated streak brings stakes to her challenge.
However, if Bayne loses, some might look at AEW’s history of booking invincible heavyweights and draw short-sighted conclusions. Pigeon-holding Bayne as a gatekeeper to elevate others, like Brian Cage and Lance Archer, or labeling her “misused,” like Kamille or Wardlow.
It’s an issue most promotions struggle with. WWE experienced the same booking difficulties as AEW with Jade Cargill. Stagnation isn’t uncommon. It does restrain our abilities as fans from investing emotionally in a wrestler. Nyla Rose could do more, but she is slotted into a position that makes it hard to believe she could win a championship.
Compounding this problem is the historic booking pattern of only giving a small group of women the opportunity to develop characters the fans invest in. Usually, the champion and her eventual successor. The rest will be rotated on and off stage. It’s a systematic problem.
Subverting expectations, Bayne winning the championship on her first opportunity would break fresh ground. There are some crossovers from my speculation on whether Harley Cameron won the TBS Championship with various new possibilities. Yet, would it subvert AEW’s spotlighting issue?
A Timeless Shadow
Fantasy booking is flawed. Yet, as an alternative history fan, pondering about what could reveal a lot about a wrestling promotion’s current situation. It can reflect fans’ feelings and the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and potential threats.
Truthfully, I don’t think AEW would book a Bayne upset. There are three big reasons:
- Bayne is still TV-level green. Think about the miscommunication with Thunder Rosa and the steel chair.
- Bayne’s character is not fully established. The crowd was quiet when the Goddess assaulted Storm. Some have not emotionally invested in Bayne yet.
- The “Timeless” character is red hot. Even before the game-changing Hollywood Ending, Storm draws attention and intrigue.
Storm is the undeniable leading lady of the women’s division. Others and I want Storm to have a significant title reign. It’s a gamble with more to lose than gain by taking the belt from the Timeless one so soon. Yet, to play devil’s advocate, Storm’s appeal and success overshadow the division.
Recently, I broke down how even Mariah May’s title reign and characterization suffered because Toni Time never went away. It repeated the previously mentioned history of the championship and used that conveyor belt booking of placeholder challengers to keep things moving. Like WWE’s women’s division under Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan, A
EW can, through Storm’s star power, keep the lights on. Like with Ripley/Morgan, other women on the card risk neglect.
Storm foreshadowed facing Kris Statlander, Willow Nightingale, Athena, and Mercedes Mone. Undoubtedly, these would be fantastic PPV-level contests. Conversely, facing faces in Statlander and Nightingale risks splitting the crowd. Mercedes and Athena have their championships and teased feud first, which may occur before All In.
That leaves time to fill. Storm has beaten most of the women’s roster at least once.
Dashing Dreams
Storm is at her zenith as a character and performer. Bayne, as a performer/character, wouldn’t fill Storm’s blood-stained shoes as champion, but she wouldn’t have to. Storm demands her spotlight with or without the championship. With the right planning and stories, an upset could help place Bayne at the top of Mount Olympus and help build others, too.
An upset victory for Bayne wouldn’t make The Goddess an instant star. A good title run would need to follow that maximizes her strengths and hides her weaknesses. Initial shock and heat gained from dashing the promise of denying fans those illustrious foreshadowed contests also give Bayne’s character power. It also addresses another divisional problem.
AEW’s women’s division is face-heavy. After Mariah May, there isn’t another top female heel to fill the void. Heels can be created or supplied with returns or turns. For example, Hikaru Shida teased going heel before disappearing. The short-term issue is that the systematic booking pattern of bringing women on and off stage is to be challengers for the moment.
Yet Bayne as champion doesn’t change the formula. It would only flip the dynamic with a field of new opponents. It would give AEW fresh opportunities for storytelling and help build Bayne and her successor. Given Statlander’s inability to defeat Bayne, there’s a natural story. Against opponents like Nightingale and Statlander, Bayne would learn on the job quickly.
Like with Mariah May’s title reign, AEW could build another female star with a title reign.
As for Storm, she can be redirected and afforded the privilege of character development given to her male wrestlers like Hangman Adam Page, Swerve Strickland, and MJF. Character evolution.
Storm Redirected
The biggest issue of taking the championship from Storm is that her Timeless persona from inception is interdependent with the belt. So much so that without it, Storm’s suffered an identity crisis twice. It would be diminishing returns to go back to that well. Nevertheless, sooner or later, the character needs to exist without the title. A strong personal story that replaces or changes Storm’s relationship with the championship would aid that transition.
There’s a story left on the table from before Toni became Timeless. Storm cost Jamie Hayter more than the women’s championship. In storyline, Storm put Hayter on the shelf. After Hayter’s All In Return, her retro-aesthetic symbolically foreboded how reality clashed with expectations. Her subsequent booking that avoided this clear link with Storm aided Hayter in being normalized. A breakout star fitted back into rotation.
Hayter got over as a kick-ass heel. Returning from visa issues with a turn, costing Storm the championship out of revenge, has justification and a personal and professional history. Such an opportunity could sever Storm from the championship, shifting her focus to a personal grudge. It would leave Bayne the title spotlight while Storm’s spotlight follows her elsewhere. Giving more women opportunities in the process.
Conclusion: Encore
This speculation reveals a lot about the booking and concerns of AEW’s women’s division. A sense of nerves about when, who else might, and how frequently Storm and the rest of her division will be allowed to hit that watershed level of storytelling of The Hollywood Ending. The booking history shows a reliance on tropes that support prior trends.
Yes, this week’s Dynamite featured two competitive women’s matches. Ironically, perhaps due to another type of Storm that highlights this week is an exception to the norm. One that many hope brings lasting change.
AEW’s creative is turning a corner and the women’s division has seen more feuds and characterisation outside of the title scene. Nuance has trickled down the card. The revolution’s been gradual. Many of us want it sustained and want more cinematic storylines, beats, and moments across AEW’s divisions.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
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