Toni Storm was pulled from her No Holds Barred match against Marina Shafir on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite from Fresno, California, due to a legitimate injury, according to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Radio.
Just ten minutes before Dynamite went on the air, AEW posted a clip on social media showing Storm lying in a pool of blood in the locker room as Mina Shirakawa and Luther attended to her. It was announced at the start of the show that Storm had not been medically cleared to compete. Shirakawa stepped in as her replacement and defeated Shafir with a Storm Zero.
Alvarez confirmed the replacement was not part of a worked angle. “All I know is this was a legitimate replacement, meaning something actually happened to Toni,” Alvarez said. “She clearly seems to have got hurt because she wasn’t cleared for the show. But it wasn’t until the last minute. They advertised this all the way until today. It wasn’t until 10 minutes before the show that I guess they were waiting and waiting and hoping, and then at the last second they were like, not going to happen.”
The timing of the injury is significant, given the direction AEW appeared to be heading following Storm’s involvement at Revolution. Ronda Rousey made a surprise appearance at AEW Revolution on March 15, confronting Storm after her victory over Shafir. The encounter set up what appeared to be a program between the two women, either in singles or tag team form, at a future event.
How long Storm will be sidelined is currently unknown. AEW has not provided any update on the nature or severity of her injury. Storm has been one of AEW’s top stars in recent years and held the AEW Women’s World Championship during a lengthy reign before losing the title. We wish her a speedy recovery.
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