New details have emerged regarding Toni Storm’s sudden hiatus from AEW programming, with the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter revealing that Storm is now expected to be out of action until 2027, that her absence upended a planned championship program with Thekla, and that AEW is moving forward with a mystery attacker storyline similar to the iconic Who Shot JR angle from “Dallas.”
The revelation confirms that AEW’s creative plans were significantly disrupted by Storm’s situation. Until the afternoon of the March 18 Dynamite taping in Fresno, California, the company’s plans called for Storm to defeat Shafir in the No Holds Barred match and then transition directly into a championship feud with reigning AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla.
When the situation became apparent on the day of the show, AEW pivoted quickly, laying out the locker room angle in which Mina Shirakawa discovered Storm unconscious and stepped in as her replacement against Shafir.
Dave Meltzer wrote, “Toni Storm has been reported as being out of action until 2027. There are a number of stories floating around but it is obviously something that they want to keep under wraps. It is not an injury situation and it came up on 3/18, the day of the show, as all plans until the afternoon were for Storm to beat Marina Shafir to lead to the start of a Thekla vs. Toni Storm program for the title. When they found out she could not wrestle, they laid out the injury angle and will be doing a tease akin to Who Shot JR? with clues and such and multiple potential assailants.”
Meltzer also noted the contradiction between Storm’s on-screen portrayal and her real-life behavior, writing that Storm did an injury angle on television but then appeared at an autograph signing over the weekend without selling any injury at all.
Tony Khan has refused to publicly address the Storm situation, with Dave Meltzer previously reporting that Khan has made her one of two subjects he will not discuss. The timeline of Storm being out until 2027 represents a minimum absence of well over a year. Storm joined AEW in 2022 and became a top star, having held the AEW Women’s World Championship four times for a combined 640 days.
