Dave Meltzer Says Toni Storm's Reportedly Lengthy AEW Absence Is Not Due To Injury

"Timeless" Toni Storm was written off television in dramatic fashion last week on "AEW Dynamite," when it was revealed she had been taken out and left bloodied in her dressing room backstage. A bouquet of flowers was laid beside her, and there were plenty of other clues in the room alluding to other women on the roster, seemingly placed to set up a "Whodunnit?" angle.

Fans wondered if Storm had suffered an injury during her match with Marina Shafir the Sunday prior at Revolution, where the "Timeless" one also went face-to-face with former WWE and UFC star Ronda Rousey. Dave Meltzer revealed on Monday's edition of "Wrestling Observer Radio," however, that Storm does not appear to be hurt.

"It appears that she's not going to be wrestling for a long, long time, and this was something that they found out on Wednesday," Meltzer explained. "It was not an injury or anything like that. On Wednesday, she's there, she is set up to wrestle in this match, and they had to do this emergency angle to take her out and put Mina Shirakawa in."

Fightful Select confirmed on Friday that Storm is set to miss the entirety of 2026, at minimum. She was set to go one-on-one with Shafir yet again, this time in a no holds barred match, on Wednesday's "Dynamite," but her Timeless Love Bombs tag partner, Shirakawa, stepped in and scored the victory over "The Problem."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Wrestling Observer Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.