9 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (June 15)

6. Toni Storm Deserves Praise

Toni Storm 2
AEW

Toni Storm has never been confused for a great promo.

Her infamously awful "shiny shiny" promo was so bad and so condemned that it might have been enough to put Storm off from ever approaching a microphone ever again. In AEW - a promotion sensible enough to position her in risk-free scenes that have allowed her to rebuild her confidence - she is a revelation.

Her promo building the Britt Baker match wasn't world class, and likely won't be remembered a month from now - will anything on this show, given Wednesday was the wildest news day in years? - but she spoke to the point, with a winning balance of poise and fire, and played the babyface role perfectly by admitting that she dropped out of school at 15 but was still smart enough to sniff Baker's bullsh*t.

A rare, restrained use of backstage promo time and treating the women's division as something worth promoting.

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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!