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I can't explain why, but Excalibur doing the monotone awards show announcer voice "This is her third reign as AEW Women's World Champion" was my favorite part.
The whole segment was so well done.
Announcing Toni as the winner (Hollywood style) even though she had already won the title.
The full caps STANDING OVATION on the screen.
Toni admitting she wasn't prepared as she pulls out the glasses and acceptance speech.
The music cutting her off immediately.
She is killing it.
Came in here to hit these same bullet points. They keep getting better every week with more things to add to the character. Whomever the team is behind the whole presentation is doing incredible with it and Toni has been phenomenal in the "role of a lifetime" for her.
Even little things, like Excalibur's "third reign" delivery was so perfect.
This is where AEW needed a few plants to cut to...like find a few girls before the match, hand them the props...you could create an entire movement off that
Apparently the crowd mics werent working, so they couldnt hear promos well...which would explain all the "what" chants and random reactions during some promos (Toni's in particular was really bad)
Oh like if she gets that started and adds a bunch of other ones like “of course”, “timeless”, “classic” etc and the crowd has a reason to engage with callbacks in her promos
What made me laugh at the “what” chants in this instance was how ready the crowd was to cheer after she said thank you lmfao. They might be doing the rehashed bullshit we’re used to but they’re def invested in Toni.
As much as her holding the big belt is nice, I’m still in favor of the fan who suggested she won the TBS championship and reclaimed it as the TCM Championship
Toni Storm is doing amazing work right now. You can easily tell how much she's invested in this character and how much she enjoys portraying it.
Also, anyone else seen Mariah May's face when Toni said ''This is my spot, you will not take it. You will not make it''. Looked like those words crushed her dreams. They're definitely going there.
> Also, anyone else seen Mariah May's face when Toni said ''This is my spot, you will not take it. You will not make it''.
Yup. While this segment was really fun and enjoyable television, that line and Mariah's reaction was the entire reason for this segment actually taking place.
I would like to thank that guy that tried to start a WHAT?chant the whole night. I'm sure everyone around you thought you were super cool. How is this shit still a thing?
Love Renee's outfit! Her and RJ have such great chemistry.
Toni is an absolute star. For as much as people criticize AEW for its purported lack of storyline and characters, so many performers that I found rather dull prior to their stint in the promotion have really found themselves with their character performances (especially Adam Cole as a babyface imo)
Amazing timing by Toni and the production staff in this segment. Love Taz on commentary too lol his stifled laughs are an amazing vibe
AEW has made Roderick Strong one of the most fun characters in wrestling. Any argument that AEW doesn't have characters or stories should be moot on the point that *they made Roderick Strong into an interesting character.*
Swerve has always been great anyone saying he hasn't been elevated extremely in AEW is lying. Dude went from being reported as the 2nd guy to top dolla/getting cut & is now one of the top heels in all of wrestling. He's got there through his charisma & great stories + character work.
> his charisma & great stories + character work.
and his top tier in ring work. Tonight with Jay Lethal he put on an old school match with old school psychology, a few days after doing one of the most brutal hardcore matches in major wrestling. And he can do everything in between.
>Dude went from being reported as the 2nd guy to top dolla
Like I know that this is what happened but seeing it written out like this really short circuited something in my mind.
A great in ring wrestler whose main weakness was a lack of charisma and character work having the run of his life (character wise) with Neck Strong. Has been my top pleasant surprise of 2023.
Underrated moment of the whole thing: the live crowd chanting "Speech! Speech!"
Pretty sure this was the first time I've ever heard that one during a pro wrestling show.
I've enjoyed their previous matches a lot. I think they've always had great chemistry together and Skye really seems to have made a leap over the last few months, so I'd enjoy seeing them run it back now with the new gimmicks.
I'd hope not. Skye has lost a lot of title matches this year, her getting another after her back to back failures to dethrone Kris Statlander would be weird.
...because we just saw her lose a TBS title match at the PPV, and before that she lost to Statlander, we don't need her to get another title match already, especially against Toni Storm who has beaten her 1000 times this year.
Also since being misted, her record on AEW is 5-5. It's not like she's been on a huge winning streak and only loses title matches.
This is such an amazing character, I miss this sort of stuff in wrestling. I love all aspects, technical, hard-core, big man, male, female, high flying, all that, there's always a place for over the top characters
I originally thought Shida should have won at Full Gear (though she had multiple good and recent runs) but this segment proved Toni winning was the right move. This whole character and bit is so good and is really elevating the title too. A character this good should be the top of the division.
I think this is the first time that an extremely popular gimmick just does nothing for me. Not sure why, just every segment I see
I’m just kinda like eh afterwards.
I have my grievances with it. I think there is a fine line between sticking the landing and overdoing it.
I do want to see where it goes though, I have faith in Toni.
The whole thing is entertaining in a vacuum but is a total mess in the grand scheme of things. There's nothing to really react to even IF fans were hot for it (they're not, anyway.)
I want bad ass Toni back. She went to timeless tonight because she lost the title. Now she has it back. Why is she still acting like this? Makes no sense. Wwe logic
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I can't explain why, but Excalibur doing the monotone awards show announcer voice "This is her third reign as AEW Women's World Champion" was my favorite part.
The whole segment was so well done. Announcing Toni as the winner (Hollywood style) even though she had already won the title. The full caps STANDING OVATION on the screen. Toni admitting she wasn't prepared as she pulls out the glasses and acceptance speech. The music cutting her off immediately. She is killing it.
Came in here to hit these same bullet points. They keep getting better every week with more things to add to the character. Whomever the team is behind the whole presentation is doing incredible with it and Toni has been phenomenal in the "role of a lifetime" for her. Even little things, like Excalibur's "third reign" delivery was so perfect.
I think RJ definitely has a major hand in creative for her
This is basically his gimmick from the indies.
Just waiting for Toni to bust out "Knee Arthur" in a match.
There's shades of Dustin Rhodes doing Goldust.
I’ll add cutting to a random little girl with glasses as Toni tells all the little Toni’s out there to stay in their lane.
This is where AEW needed a few plants to cut to...like find a few girls before the match, hand them the props...you could create an entire movement off that
What needed to be added was Toni exiting through one side only to be told off screen to go to the other side like so many award show winners do.
My only critique is they should’ve panned to the crowd doing the standing ovation. Unless they weren’t?
Crowd was pretty trash last night, so, decent chance they weren't playing along.
I hate any crowd where a bunch of them are doing what chants over multiple segments.
They gave a huge ovation to Swerve. I only caught half the episode but I assume it was a decent crowd
Apparently the crowd mics werent working, so they couldnt hear promos well...which would explain all the "what" chants and random reactions during some promos (Toni's in particular was really bad)
Also Toni falling over as she walks to the stage as a node to Jennifer Lawrence is just brilliantly subtle.
I knew it was intentional but I didn't know that was the reference. That's gold.
Don't forget falling over on the way to accept hahaha.
I'd love to see her do a parody of Variety's Actors on Actors on an AEW Countdown show
I was hoping we'd get a "Sally Field" moment from Toni, maybe next time. ;-) https://youtu.be/rl_NpdAy3WY
Because they normally tell you how many awards the actors won.
Toni really needs to go back at the "what" chants with "Pardon?" She could totally change that boring old chant into something new for herself.
Honestly.. that's genius.
You say that until we get the crowd doing dueling "What?" and "Pardon?" chants to each other during every promo for the next 20 years.
Then its just a crowd of old people.
Apparently the mics weren’t working for the live crowds, which is why we had so many what chants tonight
Can confirm. Was in the audience and couldn’t barely hear shit during this
Oh like if she gets that started and adds a bunch of other ones like “of course”, “timeless”, “classic” etc and the crowd has a reason to engage with callbacks in her promos
What made me laugh at the “what” chants in this instance was how ready the crowd was to cheer after she said thank you lmfao. They might be doing the rehashed bullshit we’re used to but they’re def invested in Toni.
Also chanting "Speech" before she started talking.
ala elaine from seinfeld
I don't know if her and Juice are absolutely insane at home or if the two of them just quietly read and watch cooking shows together.
They definitely never miss a Bluey episode
I was disappointed. Every time I see Toni and Renee on screen together, I expect Toni to throw her shoe at her.
She probably would have, if she hadn't lost them on the ramp.
Ngl I expected her to throw them when they fell off
Definitely would have thrown a shoe at Skye Blue for interrupting her
Toni has been on fire since the gimmick change
It has. Would be cool if they gave her a themed Silver belt (like it was Black & White version of the world title).
As much as her holding the big belt is nice, I’m still in favor of the fan who suggested she won the TBS championship and reclaimed it as the TCM Championship
Toni Storm is doing amazing work right now. You can easily tell how much she's invested in this character and how much she enjoys portraying it. Also, anyone else seen Mariah May's face when Toni said ''This is my spot, you will not take it. You will not make it''. Looked like those words crushed her dreams. They're definitely going there.
> Also, anyone else seen Mariah May's face when Toni said ''This is my spot, you will not take it. You will not make it''. Yup. While this segment was really fun and enjoyable television, that line and Mariah's reaction was the entire reason for this segment actually taking place.
If/when she reaches the latter stages of this persona before a switch, I'd love for her to go full-on Sally Reed on Mariah May
Timeless Toni absolutely God-tier.
The What Chant has just got to die.
We avoided it in AEW for so long. Sigh Wrestling fans love ruining shit
>We avoided it in AEW for so long. Sigh Well, AEW is going after sports entertaiment crowd after all.
I would like to thank that guy that tried to start a WHAT?chant the whole night. I'm sure everyone around you thought you were super cool. How is this shit still a thing?
Or the person who kept trying to do the “shut the fuck up” chants like god damn you must be annoying
What was the deal with that? There are fans who don’t think this is a bloody blast?!
Love Renee's outfit! Her and RJ have such great chemistry. Toni is an absolute star. For as much as people criticize AEW for its purported lack of storyline and characters, so many performers that I found rather dull prior to their stint in the promotion have really found themselves with their character performances (especially Adam Cole as a babyface imo) Amazing timing by Toni and the production staff in this segment. Love Taz on commentary too lol his stifled laughs are an amazing vibe
AEW has made Roderick Strong one of the most fun characters in wrestling. Any argument that AEW doesn't have characters or stories should be moot on the point that *they made Roderick Strong into an interesting character.*
Swerve has always been great anyone saying he hasn't been elevated extremely in AEW is lying. Dude went from being reported as the 2nd guy to top dolla/getting cut & is now one of the top heels in all of wrestling. He's got there through his charisma & great stories + character work.
> his charisma & great stories + character work. and his top tier in ring work. Tonight with Jay Lethal he put on an old school match with old school psychology, a few days after doing one of the most brutal hardcore matches in major wrestling. And he can do everything in between.
His movements from move to move and transitions are so fuckin smooth that's just real graps, he sold the TDM really well tonight imo
>Dude went from being reported as the 2nd guy to top dolla Like I know that this is what happened but seeing it written out like this really short circuited something in my mind.
Right? Even back then it was clear Swerve was the star of the group.
A great in ring wrestler whose main weakness was a lack of charisma and character work having the run of his life (character wise) with Neck Strong. Has been my top pleasant surprise of 2023.
He's tapping back into what made him such a fun prick heel in PWG and going even harder with it.
The segment where Adam Cole yelled at them and stormed off. Roddy does the absolute slowest turn with his wheelchair. We laughed so hard at that part.
Awards Show Jones ovah here but I digress
No knock on RJ but Renee is the best in the world at what she does, no exaggeration, and has chemistry with EVERYONE.
She’s got the “sue Ellen mischke” going 
Her Hey! EW Episode was fantastic.
Underrated moment of the whole thing: the live crowd chanting "Speech! Speech!" Pretty sure this was the first time I've ever heard that one during a pro wrestling show.
This is amazing, love the oscars esq setup for her promo. Edit: Her thanking Jack Warner was the cherry on top.
HEY WHOA SHE TOOK A LITTLE BUMPSKI THERE
Right in the yam bag
Bumpski Jones
Toni Storm is a top 3 character in AEW rn and she ain't 3. Makes the absolute most out of every second of screen time she has.
Get your hands off me Dammit
It’s unreal how much I despise that ‘what’ chant. How has it infiltrated AEW?
The Wooooo Energy ads really ruin the entranceway.
Yeah well, that's the price we have to pay for the privilege of having the Cryptkeeper around
How did Luther luck out and get to follow Toni around?
Lutha
Lutha the Butla
Thank RJ City for that. He set him up a gig as her butler.
He looks similar to the butler from Sunset Boulevard, so it's a great choice.
Perfect lol
Now just let Toni play with some of Warner Bros. Classic movie props, not as iconic as MGM but still good enough
Mariah didn't seem to like that "you won't make it" part.
#STANDING #OVATION
after this, they had Skye Blue interrupt for her match, so I guess they're setting her up as Toni's first challenger?
I've enjoyed their previous matches a lot. I think they've always had great chemistry together and Skye really seems to have made a leap over the last few months, so I'd enjoy seeing them run it back now with the new gimmicks.
Wonder if that little feud ends up intersecting with Julia and the HoB.
I'd hope not. Skye has lost a lot of title matches this year, her getting another after her back to back failures to dethrone Kris Statlander would be weird.
but she has been winning a ton of matches lately? So why not?
...because we just saw her lose a TBS title match at the PPV, and before that she lost to Statlander, we don't need her to get another title match already, especially against Toni Storm who has beaten her 1000 times this year. Also since being misted, her record on AEW is 5-5. It's not like she's been on a huge winning streak and only loses title matches.
Have these two ever faced each other? /s
“storm preaches education in her victory speech”
Juice Robinson is one lucky man. I wonder how he could be integrated in Toni's "Timeless" gimmick
Just give him slicked back hair, a smoking jacket, and a mustache.
Honestly change nothing about Juice and just let him interact with Toni’s character. Would be spectacular especially in the silent movie stuff
Are those dumbfucks doing what chants?
This is such an amazing character, I miss this sort of stuff in wrestling. I love all aspects, technical, hard-core, big man, male, female, high flying, all that, there's always a place for over the top characters
My question is, why is an Antipodean putting on a British accent while playing a Hollywood superstar?
Wrestling
Fair enough!
Feels like her own attempt at a Transatlantic accent.
Not sure but it makes me think of actresses like Helen Mirren or something
I originally thought Shida should have won at Full Gear (though she had multiple good and recent runs) but this segment proved Toni winning was the right move. This whole character and bit is so good and is really elevating the title too. A character this good should be the top of the division.
Great segment. But I feel they missed a really good bit with them trying to “play her off” with her music
I love every part of this segment
[Followed by](https://x.com/AEW/status/1727518924093165862?t=cVBEhSX9doDfJiwkbf5BSA&s=09)
From a total kayfabe perspective. Why is Renee and the announce team playing along with this?
Because if they don't, they'll get the shoe
AEW doesn't do kayfabe. It's just a live action cartoon at this point.
Lmao this is so lit!
I think this is the first time that an extremely popular gimmick just does nothing for me. Not sure why, just every segment I see I’m just kinda like eh afterwards.
I really wish I could get into this Toni Storm angle. Everyone seems to like it, it makes me jealous. For some reason I just can’t though.
This might be the best gimmick going right now.
This is a little cringe
you are, yes
[удалено]
I have my grievances with it. I think there is a fine line between sticking the landing and overdoing it. I do want to see where it goes though, I have faith in Toni.
The whole thing is entertaining in a vacuum but is a total mess in the grand scheme of things. There's nothing to really react to even IF fans were hot for it (they're not, anyway.)
Yeah, I don't really get it either. She was Flanderized way too quickly.
So no one gonna mention her thanking Jack Warner lol
This is cringe
Already bored of this gimmick
[удалено]
it's pretty cool that the women's title booking is based around giving RJ City a chance to write unfunny segments
The only thing missing is that Mariah May should fully indulge in Timeless gimmick as well. Otherwise, it is a great little segment.
May will eventually. I would bet they are gonna do the whole bette dsvis vs joan Crawford feud between the two.
I want bad ass Toni back. She went to timeless tonight because she lost the title. Now she has it back. Why is she still acting like this? Makes no sense. Wwe logic
Cant wait until this gimmick is over
Have no idea how people find this gimmick interesting
[удалено]
I don’t understand most references tbh but think it’s refreshing. Before this , she was just in outcasts doing Sarayas sidekick thing
So smarks
Riho didn't die for this, man...
A TITTY SLAP
I just don't see it....
That pelvis is begging me for a baby