So…here we are, three weeks away from GRAND SLAM: AUSTRALIA and the long-awaited (re)match between “The Glamour”, or “The Women from Hell” depending on your predilection, AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May and Toni Storm. Except this isn’t the Toni Storm who was battered and bloodied by Mariah after the 2024 Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament, nor the one who meandered off into the streets of Wembley after her loss to Mariah at ALL IN: LONDON 2024. That was “Timeless”, and this woman standing before us today, the one who pinned Julia Hart to earn that title match on February 15th, well she may be named Toni Storm, and they may have some of the same maneuvers inside the wrestling ring, but that’s about where things end.
This doesn’t even seem like the same woman who walked onto the AEW stage back on the March 30, 2022 edition of DYNAMITE. The Toni Storm we’ve witnessed since WORLDS END 2024 has felt like a novice, someone in awe of everything she’s experienced since (re)debuting in All Elite Wrestling. Every person Toni’s encountered she’s treated like a first-time meeting, and with every event she’s seemed almost overwhelmed by the magnitude of what AEW brings to the table. Even with someone such as Deonna Purrazzo, a woman she had a well-established connection with long before AEW, Toni introduced herself like they’d never met before and was befuddled about Deonna and Taya Valkyrie’s knowledge of the tattoo they once shared.
So what does that all mean for this “first” meeting between Toni Storm and Mariah May set for tonight on COLLISION? As seen in the interview conducted by Tony Schiavone during last week’s COLLISION, when Schiavone got anywhere near the topic of their past together, Storm veered off into “TONI TIME” and on DYNAMITE Harley Cameron interrupted Storm’s interview with Renee Paquette before the topic could even get addressed.
It all begs the question about what we will all witness unfold tonight on COLLISION: HOMECOMING 2025 when Mariah May meets Toni Storm ahead of their championship clash at GRAND SLAM: AUSTRALIA. Is all time spent together truly lost for Toni Storm? Is there any glimmer of memory flitting about inside her mind? And just how will the Women’s Champion treat this situation? Does she believe her betrayal of “Timeless” Toni Storm has evaporated from the recollections of this Toni Storm she’s set to fight in three weeks time? It’s going to be quite the interesting situation inside Daily’s Place tonight…
FOUR WAY FIGHT… Deonna Purrazzo vs. Queen Aminata vs. Serena Deeb vs. Yuka Sakazaki
TBS Champion Mercedes Moné has been on a roll since debuting at DYNAMITE: BIG BUSINESS last year and stepping into the ring for the first time in a year at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2024 to face then-TBS Champion Willow Nightingale. “The CEO” defeated Willow that night to claim the TBS Title, and in the 244 days since she’s successfully defended her championship on 12 occasions against 10 different challengers. Over the course of that time she’s also added the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship and the RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Championship to her trophy case; it’s hard to argue that any one in All Elite Wrestling had a better 2024 and she certainly started her 2025 off with a bang with that RevPro victory.
However it is only January, and tonight on COLLISION four women will clash with aspirations of spoiling this month for “The CEO” before it comes to an end! Queen Aminata, Yuka Sakazaki, Deonna Purrazzo, and Serena Deeb will meet in a Four-Way fight with a shot at the TBS Championship come Wednesday night in Huntsville at stake! Of the four, only Queen Aminata previously challenged Mercedes for the title, while the other three have never stepped into the squared circle with Moné nor have any of them ever contended for the TBS Championship before. Having participated in the initial title tournament three-plus years ago, Deeb is the only one that has even come close, but she was knocked out of contention by Hikaru Shida in the First Round.
So suffice to say there’s a lot at stake for the four competitors stepping into the squared circle tonight inside Daily’s Place! Who will earn themselves a ticket to Huntsville next week for a meeting with “The CEO”?