Fans HATED Mina Shirakawa's New Theme... So Tony Khan Changed It DURING Dynamite (AEW News)

Tony Khan makes changes on the fly during AEW Dynamite, much to the joy of those on X

by Michael Hamflett
Mina Shirakawa Toni Storm
AEW

Mina Shirakawa's return to All Elite Wrestling on May 14th came with a brand new entrance theme that was immediately scrapped by the time she was set to exit.

Shirakawa was victorious in a four-way eliminator on the show, defeating Toni Storm, AZM and Skye Blue to get a shot at Toni Storm's World Championship at the Double Or Nothing pay-per-view on May 25th. However, it was what got played before and after the match that stole the headlines.

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Arriving with a brand new theme (and matching dance and lyrics Shirakawa had worked on), she was then given her more familiar STARDOM number upon scoring the three over Storm. This was thanks to Tony Khan himself, who confirmed as much on X with direct responses who asked for the theme to be changed back.

It proved to be a fun and easy customer satisfaction win for Khan, and perhaps most notably a key difference in how AEW can and does do these things as opposed to WWE. Music in particular has been a source of frustration for years on the market leader's side, with Def Rebel typically at the heart of fan anger after years of mostly unmemorable or uninspired work. Khan seemingly acknowledging the backlash and fixing something before it was fully broken will undoubtedly create a typical social media culture war about something or other, but in the moment it was a generous change for those that wanted it and a shrewd way of reminding people that things can and do switch up on the fly.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he 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 on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. 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 music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.