Toni Storm’s in-ring return on tonight’s episode of AEW Rampage against Harley Cameron has left many fans and industry insiders questioning the booking decision. Storm, who had been absent since losing the AEW Women’s Title to Mariah May at All In: London and declaring herself “retired,” made her return on Wednesday’s Dynamite after May’s successful title defense against Mina Shirakawa. Rampage was taped immediately after Dynamite, making it the stage for Storm’s first match back.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez shed light on the backstage reaction to Storm’s return being booked for Rampage, a show often seen as AEW’s lowest-priority program.
“Hey, you called it during the break. There are people that will argue anything. Do you know how many people I talked to in AEW yesterday, and every last single one of them, ‘aghast’ may not even be the right word, ‘appalled’ that Toni Storm’s return is on Rampage. Meanwhile leave it to the fans, leave it to the wackos, this is a great idea. He’s got to give his fans a worthwhile show those last three weeks of the cancelled show. Meanwhile, there’s actually other shows that aren’t going to be canceled. Lke God forbid, we put this return on Collision or on Dynamite or on Worlds End.
Alvarez continued to detail how creative decisions are handled backstage, implying that Tony Khan’s preferences ultimately outweigh staff input:
“I swear to god this is true, you could have had 200 people lined up outside Tony Khan’s door last night, one by one, all 200 of them could have gone in there and said, ‘This idea is stupid.’ Do you wanna know what’d happen at the end of the night? He’d have still done it because that’s what happens. People argue things with him every single week, and at the end of the day, he does whatever he wants.”
Storm’s return has sparked debate among fans and talent alike, with many feeling her comeback could have made a bigger impact on a higher-profile show like Dynamite, Collision, or the upcoming Worlds End event. Whether the decision pays off in the long term remains to be seen.
