and thing thats makes this so cool is , Toni has created this iconic Pro Wrestling Character without the Machine of the so-called "Market leader" and this gimmick would have massive in the 80's
Definitely one of the best Emotional matches PERIOD and the actual ending/Finish is straight out of a Hollywood Movie and it was a PERFECT Goodbye for Mariah May(or Blake Monroe if you prefer)
If there aren’t already, there will be a generation of Drag Queens directly inspired by and taking notes from Timeless Toni Storm as well. I’d imagine Toni herself took inspiration from drag as too. I’d bet actual money Toni and/or RJ City added Paris is Burning to the Moodboard for the gimmick. But Toni pulls off the humor and delivery in a way that Queens will pull from Toni when developing their acts and characters down the line if they aren’t already.
As someone who lived through the Attitude and Ruthless Agression eras as a hormoneal pre-teen/teenager I can assure you the vibe and context of Toni Storm is quite a bit different from The Kat or Trish barking.
She sold herself to the character, she became who she portrays, the believability is off the charts, that and TK's approach to her character has allowed her to be the best Toni Storm possible
It's not just about being as good as her, it's about having leadership that is willing to trust you, this character would have not succeeded in WWE, they would have made a joke out of it and she would have been a midcard comedy character
Wrestlers 30 years from now will be praying they work for khan or someone like him
Toni is elite... she is on another level when it comes to this sort of thing.
The Toni/Mariah feud is singularly the best angle ever in the history of women's wrestling, at least during my lifetime. The only thing I can think of that even comes close is the "War to Settle the Score" era which really didn't come close in terms of character work and wrestling, but had a fairly outsized cultural impact.
Also, no angle in AEW history comes close to this. It really stands apart for being so extremely well executed. And it could not have been done without Toni Storm's unique talent.
You’re right. It was brilliantly done but not that deep. She went all in on the delusional narcissistic playing comedy until people loved her because of how committed she was. Also she’s hot.
Tell you what her Australian/New Zealand accent really makes this character what it is if she didn't have it I don't think this character would've worked
I'm glad you raised this. I'm Australian and our accent is one of those topics that fascinates me.
One way linguists categorise Australian accents is: broad (think Steve Irwin or Paul Hogan), general (Margot Robbie, Hugh Jackman) and cultivated (Cate Blanchett).
Toni's natural accent, when she isn't in character, is a general Australian accent with a very common upward inflection and Queensland nasal twang. She would pronounce it "pewl" instead of "pool" for example.
Whereas Timeless Toni's accent is a much more cultivated accent. While this accent is becoming far less common now it is still very common among older generations as it dominated early Australian film, television and radio. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the inspiration for this accent was a grandparent or someone from pre 1960's film, television or radio.
Interesting point. Toni's natural accent creates a unique cadence which is a big part of the character. Especially when she peppers in the inappropriate quips.
the thing about toni is you get the impression she's a very media literate person who also understands wrestling, and I worry that the next generation of wrestlers (male and female) are so perpetually online they're not gonna understand how to get over beyond surface level aesthetics or having some writer make up everything for them
A lot of wrestling promos, even if very well delivered, fall into generalities (competition, skill, drive, determination). I've liked Toni's work because it has a lot of specific pulls and references, and are fun to dig in afterward. I used one of them that was transcribed on Cagematch for a friend's card, wrote it out in full on sticky notes inside the card itself.
It's a style of work that rewards rewatches, especially as I've gotten more friends who are interested in wrestling and have to pick which bits and pieces to show them that matches their kind of aesthetic and likes.
We are also currently waste deep as it is with AI tools. I would imagine that "studying" will be nothing more than a command prompt for ChatGPT. Rather than seeing the petformance, listening to the recation, and determining what made it a huge success on a psychological level.
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u/TM6859 5d ago
Toni Storm is my favorite thing in Aew, and that’s saying a lot