10 Horrendous Promos Awesome Wrestlers Want You To Forget

7. Toni Storm Has A Complete Nightmare

Toni Storm
WWE

Toni Storm is a fantastic pro wrestler who goes sadly under-appreciated by AEW fans.

Because she isn't Jamie Hayter, and held the AEW Women's title when people wanted Jamie Hayer to hold it, her run was tainted despite Toni entering physical, outstanding performances. Her stiff, believable matches, in which she can build to a dramatic near-fall trade-off as well as almost anybody, elevated the women's division to a level it has rarely reached since 2019.

Even in promos, something at which she has never excelled, Storm is more than passable in AEW. Sensibly, she isn't given a live mic to die out there; she mostly cuts promos in intimate pre-tapes that allowed her to get a simple message across in a convincing, heartfelt way.

This is just as well, since it's not advisable to repeat anything like her "shiny shiny" promo.

Talking about how she'd batted away all challengers to her NXT UK title, she said that it came with a lot of pressure. She welcomed that, which was ironic, because this is when the promo fell apart entirely. "Because I love..." she said, trailing off, before digging deep, in a panic, and remembering her '80s-tinged character.

"Because I love...the wild side..."

Which was a bit like her saying "Heart are great. 'Barracuda', eh?"

After filibustering through some word soup, she again tried to get "the shiny shiny" over as a catchphrase and dropped a Mötley Crüe reference, saying that it's staying "Home Sweet Home", before attempting some kind of laugh. Meant to convey that there's nothing anybody could do about it, her bratty laugh instead sounded like she'd just called her parent a bad word before scurrying away upstairs.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!