The December 11 edition of AEW Dynamite featured the return of former AEW Women’s World Champion, Toni Storm. Fans knew that Storm was an important signing when she first joined the company in March 2022. She’s since become the most important woman on the roster, and the one that will infuse the division with the excitement it’s been lacking lately.
Mariah May defeated Mina Shirakawa in the main event, but before she was able to celebrate, some familiar music hit in the arena. Storm didn’t bring the pomp and circumstance known to accompany her “Timeless” gimmick. Instead, she was back in her original punk look, hat, eye black, and everything else it involved. It has been nearly four months since her last match, and the emotions ran high as she stood on the AEW stage.
The AEW Women’s Division needs Toni Storm. The ebbs and flows of momentum continue to hit this division hard, but the latest flow is especially troubling after the excitement that was circling this group. Fans continue to hope for women to get more than one match on Dynamite each week, or its own Continental Classic, but those have yet to come. The addition of Mercedes Mone has been a boost, but even as she has great matches, there hasn’t been much change in how the women’s division is booked.
Can Storm single-handily change that? Probably not, but what she does bring is some immediate interest at the top of the women’s division. Her story with Mariah May was one of the most important in the promotion. Fans expected some type of turn, but the brutality that May exhibited when attacking her and, in their match, elevated things to a new level. A level that hasn’t been met at any other point in May’s 109+ day run as champion. Storm’s return immediately puts the spotlight back on this feud, and with her returning to her original look there are questions about what changes Storm is bringing to this character, as that’s been one of the shining parts of her latest run.
Fans should be excited that Toni Storm is back on AEW television. The women’s division truly needed its anchor to generate momentum heading into 2025. Everyone knew that she was a major free agent get when she returned to wrestling two years ago. But the reaction to her return on Dynamite and the hope of what’s to come shows that Toni Storm is the most important woman in All Elite Wrestling today.