Tony Khan says he and Toni Storm have been planning out her Timeless gimmick for quite some time now.
All Elite Wrestling owner Tony Khan recently took part in an AEW Full Gear Media Call. When asked about the AEW Women’s World Championship match between Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida, Khan spoke about the evolution of Storm’s character in 2023.
“Yeah, I’m really excited for the match,” Tony Khan admitted. “I am very excited about Hikaru Shida versus Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s World Championship. It’s been a great rivalry. And I’m excited about the match and to take a closer look at it this weekend. I thought the sit-down interview last week was very compelling. And there were some great points.
“First of all, you have to look at Hikaru Shida, who is the most accomplished champion, arguably in AEW. I think she would be on a very short list certainly of the great women and men who’ve competed in AEW since the first year and are dominant competitors. Hikaru Shida has not been pinned or submitted in 2023.
“She’s been a great champion, and she regained the championship. She put herself on not only a very short list, but I believe she ensured her immortality in the AEW history books. The run she’s on is amazing. And with a great sit-down interview between Shida and Toni Storm, and something I thought was such a great point was when Toni Storm answered Shida’s question. Shida asked Toni, what happened to you?
Toni Storm has embraced her timeless character
“As it’s clear, Toni has changed a lot. Some people think she’s lost her mind, and Toni said you happened to me. You’re the one who’s caused all this. I’ve changed because of you. And it’s true. Shida’s had Toni’s number. There was a time when the two of them were friends. And Shida Storm is something that was a lot of fun, and they had a friendly competitive rivalry, and Toni Storm, at one time, was the poster girl of AEW in a very different way.
“And it’s something some might consider a fall from grace. I see it differently. When I sat down with Toni a long time ago, we had a shared vision for this stuff, and I came to Toni and showed her some ideas, old Hollywood movies. And it’s exactly the kind of stuff she loved, and she had a vision that was very similar of a starlet. The word she had used at the time months ago when we talked. This was a long time ago when we first started.
“It was a long time ago, and I’ll say this: it was when I first started working on getting Mariah May’s visa and stuff. And that took longer than I would have liked, but it worked out great. And I sat down with Toni a long time ago, talking about old movies and plans and things we could do. She started watching the movies, and she sank her teeth into it more than anybody has ever sunk their teeth into anything ever.
“And she had such great ideas, and then we brainstormed, and I think Toni’s great, and I love working with her. And it’s just incredible. She is not just channeling a Hollywood starlet; she’s become the Hollywood starlet. And it’s undeniable she is Timeless Toni Storm now, and I’ve tried to come up with ideas to involve her in the show getting more of her segments to tell the story differently and portray her and feature her differently than anybody else.
Tony Khan believes Toni Storm has grown into an immortal character in AEW
“I think she’s grown to be something of an immortal character in AEW. I used that word earlier, and I mean it because I think there’s stuff in wrestling that people will remember years from now and talk about, and I think she’s doing something people will remember for a long time, and it’s only going to keep getting better and better as we keep going on and it’s really just getting started.
“And I think it’s important to remember, like Toni said, it got started with Shida. And Shida was the one who set her down this path to madness. It’s a path other Hollywood starlets have followed, like Norma Desmond and many others. Is there some Margo Channing self-absorbedness in there? Is there — well, frankly, I’ll save some surprises and not say much more about it.
“But I am excited about what’s happening with Timeless Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida. I think they’re two of the best stars in AEW, and I’m so excited about the match and what Hikaru Shida is doing as the world champion now for the third time and about Toni Storm’s Hollywood Homecoming this Saturday.”
You can check out the complete AEW Full Gear Media Call with Tony Khan in the video below.
Tony Khan: Toni Storm Is Doing Some Of The Best Work In Wrestling Right Now
What do you make of Tony Khan’s comments? Have you enjoyed the Timeless Toni Storm character so far? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
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