All Elite Wrestling: Toni Storm v Mariah May - Who will win?
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00:00Hello, and welcome to another round of wrestling predictions on the internet.
00:10Well, my name is Benjamin Jackson, and I'm joined by Alex Nelson to talk through our
00:14predictions for AEW All in London, taking place this Sunday at Wembley Stadium in, well,
00:22London.
00:23Personally, one of my favorite matches that I'm looking forward to at AEW All in London,
00:29and one of the storylines that I have been following intrinsically, not just because
00:34she's from my neck of the woods, or was born in my neck of the woods, but because I've
00:37absolutely enjoyed the cartoonish character that she is performing at the moment.
00:44I speak none other than Timeless Toni Storm, the tramp that is the champ, as she refers
00:50to herself, against her understudy.
00:53Can I call her an understudy?
00:55No, not an understudy anymore.
00:58Marvelous Mariah May, now how did this match come about?
01:01I'll give you a brief rundown how it all occurred.
01:05Toni Storm took Mariah May under her wing as the proverbial understudy.
01:09Timeless Toni Storm at the minute is going through a whatever happened to Baby Jane slash
01:13Sunset Boulevard kind of character or a gimmick, if you want to use the proper professional
01:19wrestling term.
01:21Mariah May then went on to dress as Toni Storm in pretty much a single white female situation.
01:28That was occurring.
01:29Hat check to you, RJCity, because I know you're a film buff.
01:34And then throughout everything, Mariah May wins the women's bracket of the Owen Hart
01:41tournament this year.
01:42The pair of them, they run up the ramp celebrating and boom, Mariah May turns on Timeless Toni
01:50Storm.
01:51A little bit earlier than a lot of wrestling fans were predicting that turn, but here we
01:55are now.
01:56Mariah May believes that she is much, much better than her one time mentor, Timeless
02:03Toni Storm.
02:04Timeless Toni Storm is just still going off doing her classic golden era of a Hollywood
02:12matriarch kind of thing.
02:14I've absolutely enjoyed Toni Storm's steez at the moment.
02:18It's not just the fact that she dresses the part, her mannerisms and everything like that
02:24have been a joy to watch.
02:26For me, it's been one of the highlights of all elite wrestling this year.
02:30Plus, she was born in New Zealand and wrestled in Stardom in Japan, which I'm a bit of a
02:35fan of as well.
02:37How have you found the Toni Storm character since you made that transition?
02:42Yeah, like I said at the very top of our recording when we were comparing WWE to AEW, it does
02:49have its moments of that sort of more cartoonish over the top element.
02:53But I think whether you're a fan of that stuff or not, you can't fault Toni Storm's
02:59commitment to the bit.
03:03The enthusiasm and the effort that she's put into this character really has helped sort
03:08of stand her apart from other people in the division.
03:11And yeah, whether you think it's stupid or whatever, you know, you can't deny that she's
03:18having fun with it and really has gone with it.
03:21I mean, that's the thing, though.
03:23Wrestling can be stupid at times.
03:25I think people forget that it doesn't have to be like this utmost.
03:29If you wanted serious things, you've got the UFC and you've got an armada of other wrestling
03:34companies, but you do need that silliness sometimes because casual fans gravitate to
03:41it.
03:42Like I know my wife, for example, who follows wrestling a little bit by proxy because I
03:48watch it. She absolutely is enamored with two wrestlers, Rhea Ripley from the WWE, but
03:55let's be honest, who isn't, and Toni Storm.
03:59And the reason she loves Toni Storm is just the mannerisms, the character, the watch for
04:05the shoe, all of her little bits and pieces.
04:08So it's the equivalent of another guy who is blowing up in terms of outside of wrestling
04:16circles, Joe Hendry.
04:18The amount of signs I see from non-wrestling fans who are like, oh, say his name and he
04:25appears.
04:26The guy ended up in the top 10 of the UK singles chart with his theme song.
04:31So I love the fact that Toni Storm's character in AEW is a little bit of a palate cleanser
04:38as well with the kind of seriousness and the blood and guts that goes on at times with
04:43the company.
04:44I don't know that that's a bit of a hypocritical statement to make because the whole storyline
04:49and the turn with Mariah May involved her burying a stiletto into Toni Storm's skull
04:56and that image of her just bleeding everywhere.
04:59But she still, despite the serious nature of the feud, has those silly moments.
05:06I mean, at the most recent taping of Dynamite, where she took on Saraya, it was just a glorified
05:13love letter to our world of sport or older British fans might be familiar with the phrase
05:19all in wrestling.
05:21So it's great.
05:23But do you think that that let's call it silly element might hinder the seriousness of this
05:30feud?
05:31And do you think that this is going to be the end of the feud or do you think this is
05:34going to continue to the next event?
05:38I think much like Mercedes Manet, who we mentioned on our last prediction, Toni Storm
05:44in particular can also really turn it on in the ring.
05:48And I think that kind of over-the-top character almost comes to an end when she sits between
05:55the ropes and that bell rings and it's just go, go, go.
06:01Given that she also wrestled quite extensively on the UK scene before being called up to
06:05the WWE, I'm expecting her to get quite a good reception.
06:07Definitely.
06:08I mean, I saw her wrestle quite a few times down in Camden and stuff.
06:11But for progress wrestling by charts, it would have been progress at the time, yeah.
06:18So yeah, if I was there, I'd probably be cheering along.
06:21As for whether it's the end of the feud, I think, I mean, without wanting to get into
06:27predictions too early, I do think that as much as we have spoken highly about the character,
06:33there could be a little bit of a refresh in the works.
06:36Maybe some time away from screen would help with that.
06:39But I do also think there's a third name that we'll have to mention in just a little while
06:44who I think might sort of turn things on its head a little bit.
06:48Oh, really?
06:49Okay.
06:50One to entice people to the next video where we do a brief rundown.
06:53I like that.
06:56Predictions Alex, is it going to be timeless Toni Storm or is it going to be marvellous
07:00Mariah May?
07:02I think this feud has been set up specifically to put Mariah May over.
07:08I think they've done a good job of that.
07:10I think she wins.
07:14And then I think we see a rapturous return of Jamie Hayter.
07:18Ah, another.
07:21She's a Welsh-born wrestler, is that correct, Jamie Hayter?
07:25Yes.
07:26We'll just have to check that.
07:27But she's definitely UK.
07:29Oh, yeah.
07:30Well, you know, she's got to have the crowd behind her regardless.
07:33How long has Jamie Hayter been away for?
07:35Quite a while.
07:36She's from Southampton originally, that's what they're saying on Cage.
07:40She's been away a good while and I think long enough that a lot of people might have forgotten
07:45a little bit and it will be a bit of a surprise.
07:48But in front of that Wembley crowd, yeah, that's going to be something if it happens,
07:51which I hope it does.
07:52Oh, that's a bonus prediction.
07:54Not only do you think Mariah May is going to win, but you think Jamie Hayter is going
07:58to turn up.
07:59I agree with you completely, Alex.
08:01I think that this whole feud has been set up, even going back to when Mariah May was
08:06acting as Tony Storm's understudy as a means to elevate Mariah May to this position.
08:13I think that Tony Storm loses, it frees her up to then, like you mentioned, take some
08:19time off, maybe refresh that character.
08:22Maybe we finally get the conclusion of Sunset Boulevard in AEW where it turns out that,
08:28spoiler alert if you've not watched the movie, Luther is the one that's been writing her
08:32letters and fan mail and stuff like that, just to keep her kind of delusions going.
08:38I think Mariah May is going to win it.
08:40I think it's going to elevate her to the TBS title.
08:42And if you think that Jamie Hayter is going to come back, I think that perhaps that might
08:46lead into a Jamie Hayter, Mariah May feud.
08:51Whether Jamie Hayter comes in and costs finalist Tony Storm by accident or on purpose, I guess
08:58we'll see.