Bryan Alvarez Provides Update On Toni Storm's Absence From AEW Dynamite
"Timeless" Toni Storm was looking to put an end to her feud with Marina Shafir on the March 18 episode of "AEW Dynamite," with the two women set to compete in a No Holds Barred match, but that never happened. Instead, Storm was taken out backstage before the show and replaced her tag team partner Mina Shirakawa, who proceeded to win the match in honor of her fallen friend. This has led to a lot of talk surrounding Storm's condition, and on a recent episode of "Wrestling Observer Radio," Bryan Alvarez confirmed that Storm is in fact out of action, and Shirakawa taking her place wasn't part of a storyline.
"All I know is that this was a legitimate replacement, meaning something actually happened to Toni," Alvarez said, leading to Dave Meltzer speculating that maybe she got hurt in her match at AEW Revolution against Marina Shafir. "She clearly seems to have gotten hurt because she wasn't cleared for the show, but it wasn't until the last minute. Like they advertised this all the way until [Wednesday], it wasn't until 10 minutes before the show that, I guess that, maybe the doctor like–they were waiting and waiting and hoping and then at the last second they were like 'Not going to happen.'"
Alvarez also speculated that due to Shirakawa beating Shafir on "Dynamite" that Storm might actually be out of action for a long time as it would make more sense for Shafir to win and have Storm confront her afterwards. However, Alvarez made sure to note that theory is just his own opinion and that the amount of time Storm will be out for is currently unknown. Storm being injured would also put her angle with Ronda Rousey on hold, with the former WWE Superstar making her AEW debut after Storm's match with Shafir at Revolution. With that said, Rousey is currently set to make her MMA return against Gina Carano, meaning that any movement in that story would likely be made after that fight.
Please credit "Wrestling Observer Radio" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.