Toni Storm Wins Interim AEW Women's Championship at 2022 AEW All Out
Mike Chiari@@mikechiari
Featured Columnist IVSeptember 5, 2022
Toni Storm defeated Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida and Jamie Hayter in a four-way match at AEW All Out on Sunday to become the interim AEW women's world champion.
All Elite Wrestling @AEWYour <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEW?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEW</a> Interim Women's World Champion is Toni Storm!!!<br><br>Order <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEWAllOut?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEWAllOut</a> LIVE on PPV on major providers, <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BleacherReport</a>, intl <a href="https://twitter.com/FiteTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FiteTV</a>+<a href="https://twitter.com/ppv_com?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ppv_com</a>! <a href="https://t.co/t8WxUmqvLd">pic.twitter.com/t8WxUmqvLd</a>
All Elite Wrestling @AEWBack to back DDTs by Toni Storm! Order <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEWAllOut?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEWAllOut</a> LIVE on PPV on major providers, <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BleacherReport</a>, intl <a href="https://twitter.com/FiteTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FiteTV</a>+<a href="https://twitter.com/ppv_com?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ppv_com</a>! <a href="https://t.co/T2pPqDkiBc">pic.twitter.com/T2pPqDkiBc</a>
Originally, Thunder Rosa was slated to defend the AEW Women's World Championship against tag team partner Toni Storm at All Out, but less than two weeks before the show, she had to be removed from the match due to injury.
Rather than having Rosa relinquish the AEW women's title, the company followed the same formula as it did with then-AEW world champion CM Punk by determining an interim champ to face Rosa at a later date to determine the true champion.
Storm remained in contention for the interim title, while former AEW women's world champions, Baker and Shida, were added to the match, as was Hayter, who lost a title match against Rosa at Battle of the Belts last month.
Had Rosa vs. Storm happened at All Out, it would have been a rematch from Forbidden Door, which saw Rosa defeat Storm to retain in a hard-fought match.
Since Rosa and Storm gained great respect for each other at Forbidden Door, they began teaming together on occasion, naming their alliance ThunderStorm.
They defeated Nyla Rose and Marina Shafir on the July 6 episode of Dynamite and also scored a victory over Rose, Shafir and Emi Sakura in a six-woman tag team match alongside Shida on AEW Dark: Elevation.
ThunderStorm fell to Baker and Hayter on the Aug. 3 edition of Dynamite, ahead of the AEW Women's World Championship match between Rosa and Hayter at Battle of the Belts.
Since Rosa and Storm were in a feud of sorts with Baker and Hayter, it made sense for them to be included in the interim title mix.
Something similar can be said for Shida, who has been friendly with Rosa and Storm and has slowly been getting back up lately after seemingly dropping down the pecking order for several months.
Storm was considered a strong contender to beat Rosa, so it came as little surprise to see her prevail in the four-way replacement match.
By virtue of her win, Storm kept the possibility of a rematch with Rosa in the near future, and she will have the chance to establish herself as someone worthy of being the full-fledged women's world champion while Rosa is out.
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