While it could be argued that lobbing shoes at broadcasters and bullying folk into starring in your deranged silent films aren't the acts of white meat babyfaces, Toni Storm's descent into madness was an instant hit and resulted in her character organically being repositioned as a crowd favourite.
As much was made clear in her former Outcast partner Saraya's AEW Women's Championship defeat - Storm was on hand to stave off Ruby Soho's interference - but the most recent silent movie revealed Luther as Number One contender's new "butler" ahead of her getting a title shot in Tinseltown. In wrestling terms, this is giving her a heater against a face that won't stand a chance of getting a positive reaction at Full Gear.
Situational stuff like this can work, but the biggest disappointment here was that the hot gimmick could have existed without the belt. AEW had the chance to tell multiple stories instead of rushing a popular act immediately back towards the gold and squashing everything together. All of this will test how robust the comedic character is, but was it really time to run that specific gauntlet?
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
