Toni Storm and Mariah May have delivered one of AEW’s most compelling women’s storylines, blending drama, character evolution, and in-ring intensity. As their rivalry reaches a potential turning point, it not only showcases their individual growth but also highlights the broader struggles and triumphs of AEW’s women’s division.
“There is no small parts, only small actors.”
Stanislavski’s famous expression might apply to acting but it’s not transferable to wrestling.
So Much Good
AEW’s women’s division has evolved. It’s larger, stronger and fans are generally more invested. The amount of talent with varied experiences, styles, and personalities ranges.
We have more storylines underneath the two women’s championships scenes. Future contenders, champions, and sometimes characters are being built. Various women, from Queen Aminata to Harley Cameron, maximize their time in the spotlight and gain fan support for their efforts.
AEW’s women’s division seems to be getting more time in the spotlight. On Saturday, the division’s best long-term storyline could reach its conclusion. Potentially, it could set up a third match between Toni Storm and Mariah May, creating an epic trilogy.
The levels and layers of detail with Storm’s character have captivated fans. The inclusion of Mina Shirakawa helped break new ground for LGBT representation.
It’s been timeless. Various teething problems with the “Timeless” character won’t matter. Eventually, nostalgia and selective memory will airbrush these cracks from both women’s foundations.
Regardless, for many AEW fans, including myself, Storm vs. May is the best women’s storyline in AEW. Maybe in all women’s wrestling. However, in 2024, it was second place to the violent splendor of Swerve Strickland vs. “Hangman” Adam Page.
A lot of thought, effort, and time has been put into the character and story arc of Toni Storm. However, that level of planning and development has, like a creative version of trickledown economics, continued historic inequity.
All About Mariah < Toni Time
I love Mariah May’s “Glamour” character and its evolution, despite its limits. With one year of television experience, May’s presentation and her handling of solo moments reinforce that she’ll be the champion again.
Even when the crowd or journalists were silent, May’s persona shone rather than crumbled, owning that void. One day she will carry the division without having to put her foot on its throat.
Never has May shied or shirked from her character or responsibility to be “The Woman from Hell”. In promos and on commentary she’s found ways to be memorable. Granted, sometimes her comments have dug too close to the bone. May’s open disinterest, disdain, and put-downs of the rest of her locker room fit the character but touch the nerves of some fans and their perceptions of the treatment of AEW’s women.
Beyond the champions and their successors, the other women are interchangeable challengers for conveyor belts until the time for change comes. At times, the storylines driving five of May’s defenses felt functionary.
Simplified from personal issues to a more generalized fight for control of the division seemed reminiscent of Dr. Britt Baker’s character and reign. Ironically, when things were supposed to be all about Mariah, the lack of detailed storylines emphasized the black and white looming shadow of a returning Storm.
The delayed championship celebration killed time. Most stuck in between Storm and May were neither elevated (except Shirakawa) or, at worse, were presented as temporary or lesser.
Thunder Rosa, stood in the crowd with a sign (“WTF”), when rockstar Toni Storm (re)debuted. This former AEW Women’s World champion was signposted as a bit-part player in someone else’s limelight.
That lack of creative investment in other characters (their motivations and agency), including May, meant it remained “Toni Time!”
Behind the Lipstick of Toni Storm
I endorsed Roma Falani’s take that Mariah May’s character was a tormented soul. Especially when the character’s tonal change in promos and presentation facing Mina Shirakawa emphasized a new layer of feminine sexual power. A power that could have hidden weakness.
Outside of that feud’s sapphic presentation, when has May’s character shown insecurity? When else has the mask slipped to expose an ugly truth?
Compared with the complex layers of Page or Strickland’s feud, both men in their words (and Hangman’s face) showed inner conflict. Shades of grey. Besides Shirakawa, May’s persona is detached and aloof.
Whilst not overtly sexually objectified like Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan, there is a vein of misogyny. Tony Schiavone, the voice of AEW, once called May a “bitch”. Other times, Schiavone is overwhelmed by May’s presence.
May has performed the attractive “cold, calculating woman” trope perfectly. Like Ripley and Morgan, May’s elevated stereotypical material, but the characterization remains two-dimensional.
And if there is a shred of conflict in May, a love for Storm’s character and a more complex character there, let’s see it. Signs of life behind the lipstick. Something along this line might follow Grand Slam.
Regardless, it shows the disparity between the men’s and women’s creative. Also, how Tony Khan’s investment both advances and limits the division.
Fighting for Light
The core issue, like much of human behavior, is deeply furrowed in AEW’s past. AEW only invests in one or a small clutch of women at a time. It’s a problem I’ve discussed repeatedly.
First, when “Timeless” Toni Storm first became women’s champion. Then when exploring the history of AEW’s women’s revolutions. Recently after last year’s Full Gear.
There is progress but it is piecemeal. It’s frustrating repeating. Like a lot of AEW fans, I want parity.
This week on Dynamite might have seen two women’s matches, but inevitably one was a squash, and the other was cut by commercials. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy and the numbers don’t lie.
X user @AdamWilton4 calculated that the average Dynamite women’s match in 2024 lasted 8:01 minutes. The same as 2023.
You can flip this pessimism to celebration. Given the lean time and opportunities, it’s a testament to the talent, perseverance, and commitment of AEW’s women’s division. Many got themselves over.
Willow Nightingale smiles anyway. Kris Statlander is more than a woman. Fans wait in anticipation for the return of Skye Blue.
Her “wife” Queen Aminata receives cheers during every match. Megan Bayne is rising.
But “older heads” of the division, previous champions, like Hiraku Shida, Thunder Rosa, and Nyla Rose just fall out of rotation and seem side-lined with minimal time for characterization. Ultimately, while many are doing so much with such little time, it’s not enough.
Mariah May Knows Best
Recently, I discussed the limited power of fan outrage but, when united, fans can make changes. It happened with #GiveDivasAChance. If AEW fans want change, then we must make themselves heard.
It’s not like the women aren’t hungry. Take Mariah May’s comments to Busted Open:
“It’s not my choice that I get stuck backstage doing 60-second promos. I know they’re going to be awesome, but I think I can do more… I want to do in-ring promos and I really want to keep working on my in-ring because I know the stuff that I watch back and I’m not happy with. I always want that to be better. Learning how to tell a story with less is what I’m really trying to understand at the moment… I know what I want to do and to try and get that vision and get that onto AEW TV is what I’m aiming for.” Mariah May, Busted Open Radio, transcript from Fightful.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – AEW – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on Mariah May, Toni Storm, AEW Grand Slam, and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their YouTube
