All About Toni: AEW's best story goes back to where it all began
The Mariah May/Toni Storm feud continues to take unexpected cinema-inspired turns, over one year later
When Mariah May joined All Elite Wrestling in November 2023, it was clear which direction her story with Toni Storm would go. Upon seeing merchandise mentioning that it was “All About Mariah” most people familiar with the 1950 classic All About Eve knew this was going to end with Mariah taking Toni’s title, and her place at the top of the division.
Eve, of course, is about the titular character Eve Harrington latching onto and eventually replacing broadway star Margo Channing, who is growing older and increasingly concerned about her future career prospects.
Mariah and Toni’s story closely followed the storyline of All About Eve up until Mariah turned on Toni and attacked her, adding a bit of violent wrestling flair to the Hollywood story while still touching on the themes of the film. May eventually beat Storm to win the AEW womens title at All In in London last August.
From there, a despondent Toni left London and went on a journey across the wrestling world. She travelled to Japan, where she faced Stardom’s Mayu Iwatani. Mayu kicked out of the Storm Zero - Toni’s finisher - three times on the way to beating her. From there, Toni went to Mexico where she lost to La Catalina in CMLL. Once again, the Storm Zero was not enough to win.
While this may have been a great opportunity for AEW to interface with its international partners, it was also a way to underline how thoroughly May had mentally and emotionally defeated Storm. While Toni couldn’t win with her best move, Mariah May repeatedly finished matches with it herself.
(Note: This is probably one of the most interestingly subtle ways I’ve seen a company tell an interpromotional story. Wrestling stories often require a time investment and detailed knowledge of story beats. CMLL and Stardom fans didn’t need that here, but anyone who had followed Toni across all three promotions could gain something from it).
After 4 months away from the promotion, Toni Storm returned in December. This time, she appeared as the old version of her character, pre-Timeless transformation. A few weeks later, it was revealed that Storm was simply acting out the role of her past character and was still very much Timeless in one of the best promos in the promotion’s history.
While the timing of this reveal was questioned by some wrestling personalities, the motives behind it were purely psychological. In storyline, Storm knew that she lost because she let Mariah get to her and that if she wanted to get her title back, Toni would need to return the favor.
The emotional manipulation and callbacks to the early days of this feud didn’t end there. On this week’s Dynamite, Toni dressed up as “The Glamour” Mariah May, showing that she could play the same game Mariah did. As a story beat, this is another occurrence in a series of mind games the two have played against each other to get an edge.
But this fun and slightly humorous moment is also calling back to All About Eve once again. The film ends with Eve meeting a fan of hers, Phoebe. In the final sequence, Phoebe dresses up in Eve’s clothes and continues the cycle.
Instead of a new “Phoebe” dethroning Mariah, Toni appears set to fulfill the role of both Margo Channing and Phoebe. Storm dressing up as May could be indicator that she is going to break the cycle and win the AEW Women’s World Championship for the 4th time at Grand Slam Australia on February 15th. It’s also possible that Mariah proves there is no going back, ending the story for now.
Wrestling feuds are often told in a way that is easily predictable. The stories told in the medium are similar to the stories we’ve seen told elsewhere for the history of storytelling, and it’s that classic, broad appeal that makes wrestling resonate with people. This makes it all the more compelling when a story told in wrestling is able to take unexpected routes to its conclusion like this one has.
Regardless of how the feud wraps up, Toni Storm and Mariah May have elevated their character work to a level that we only rarely see as wrestling fans it will be interesting to see how - or if - they pay this off in Australia.