AEW: Mariah May on Impact AEW Has Had on Her Life & Heel Turn on Toni Storm, Jim Ross on Kamille Joining AEW & Kamille Reached Out to Him for Advice, More News

Aug 1, 2024

Mariah May Comments on Impact AEW Has Had on Her Life & Heel Turn on Toni Storm

Denise Salcedo held a recent interview with Mariah May. One of the topics discussed included May’s thoughts about the impact AEW has had on her life and wrestling career.

“It’s just made my life, I wouldn’t even say changed. I feel like my life is just complete now. I feel so settled as a person and I have my own apartment and I have this whole life I’m building for myself. It is really difficult, of course I love my family, I miss my family so much. But I did always feel a little bit out of place living [in the UK], and I always felt quite alone because I had this dream, and it was crazy. Even living in Japan, I will always love Japan, I would love to go back there, but even living there didn’t feel 100% right, I was very lonely. Whereas AEW just feels like my home, it just feels like the place I’m supposed to be, the opportunities it’s presented me already and getting to be a part of this storyline, which is so creative, which is what I’ve been so hungry for because I used to do acting. I love that. Of course, I’m very physical in the ring, but I love that whole side of wrestling, and I just feel like I have this amazing family at AEW with all the wrestlers and everyone backstage and all these people who truly care about you and want to see you win and want to work with you on other things. It’s just so nice to be around creative and like-minded people, and to be able to live in America because that was really my dream, and I did the American dream [laughs].”

May also gave her thoughts about her rise as a star in AEW and her recent heel turn on “Timeless” Toni Storm.

“I’m extremely grateful. But I think the lesson here, because so many of the women in our locker room are extremely talented, they look amazing, they bring something different to the table, but I’m definitely the smartest one by a long shot because I was the one that attached myself to the world champion, who was quite clearly losing her mind. I don’t know if anybody has noticed that lately. She is a mess, and nobody kind of saw that opening window. Everybody wanted to do the same old, ‘I’m here, and I’ve arrived, and I want a title shot,’ whereas I knew the real way to defeat Toni Storm isn’t physical warfare, it’s mental warfare. So I became her best friend. I made her fall in love with me. She loved me like I’m her child. I think she might love me more than my own mother, who I’m actually visiting right now, and I turned it all against her.”

May also gave her thoughts about her betrayal of Storm.

“Can you honestly tell me that you didn’t see it coming? I feel like from the moment I stepped in, everybody saw it coming. It was quite obvious what I wanted, but Toni didn’t. In fact, now, I still don’t think she quite understood what happened.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com 1 & 2

Jim Ross Comments on Kamille Joining AEW & Kamille Reaching Out to Him for Advice

As noted before, former NWA talent Kamille made her official surprise debut for AEW on the July 24th AEW Dynamite Blood & Guts 2024 show in Nashville, Tennessee.

A recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast featured co-host Jim Ross giving his thoughts about Kamille joining AEW and revealed that Kamille reached out to him for some advice for her new career in the company.

“They got plans for her. She’s got a great look. I’ve been texting with her in the last month a few times. She’s reached out, just for advice and things of that nature. My advice to all the talent is pretty much all the same. Don’t be late. Be prepared, mentally and physically, for your role that particular night. Look at every opportunity as just that, an opportunity to get exposure. She got good exposure on Wednesday night, I thought, and she dresses up that roster because she’s got such a good look, so athletic. So I think that’s nice addition. I think that’s a good hire.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

AEW News & Notes

Bryan Danielson filed a trademark for “Yes! Yes! Yes!” on July 29th for wrestling and entertainment-related purposes to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This is the same name as Danielson’s “Yes!” chant that was popularized during his time in WWE under the ring name of Daniel Bryan.

As noted before, this past Saturday’s AEW Battle of the Belts XI show in Arlington, Texas featured Dustin Rhodes & The Von Erichs defeating The Undisputed Kingdom to be crowned the new ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions. Marshall Von Erich recently reflected on Twitter about winning the titles with Rhodes. Von Erich stated “Thank you @TonyKhan for believing in us. This is only the beginning and we’re gonna show you that you were right for taking a chance on three Texans that love to fight. The #VonErichRhodes era starts now! @RossVonErich @dustinrhodes“

In a recent interview with Ringside Collectables, Brody King gave his thoughts about his blood feud with Darby Allin in AEW. King stated “I feel like my blood feud with Darby Allin is never-ending until one of us is literally in the ground. He has the tattooed on his chest, ‘Nothing’s over til you’re underground, and I don’t think that feud will ever be over.’ [Smiles] It’s more than a title for me if I can put him six feet too. I have his headstone tattooed on my leg.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent episode of the What Happened When with Tony Schiavone podcast, co-host Tony Schiavone gave his thoughts about Jeff Jarrett’s current run in AEW. Schiavone stated “I have no idea what direction they’re gonna go with Jeff Jarrett here. But I think they have found something really good. He’s a veteran, and I really liked the way they presented him during the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, and I just hope they continue to use him as a veteran that everybody loves.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

As noted before, Daniel Garcia’s contract with AEW is currently set to expire this Fall. Garcia has been out of action for AEW since the July 3rd AEW Dynamite Beach Break 2024 show due to a storyline cervical injuries. In a recent interview with the AEW Close Up show, Matt Menard provided an update on Garcia’s “injury” situation. Menard stated “This time has been stolen from him. What, it’s been two, three weeks now since Max did whatever he did. We don’t know when Daniel’s gonna come back. He lost all the strength in the left side of his body. [His body] has been through so much, and doctors are very careful. We do not know when Daniel’s going to come back. I just hope he makes a full recovery. It’s sad.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent separate interview with the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Matt Menard gave his thoughts about his work as a commentator for AEW Rampage. Menard stated “It’s been awesome, it’s been awesome to know that you got that spot there every Friday night at 10 pm. I’m working with Schiavone and Excalibur depending on when we tape that show, sometimes we’ll tape on Saturday night the prior week. When that happens, the team will change but it’s been awesome. I always had a passion for commentary and announcing since I was kid so to be able to do that now on a full-time basis, it’s the absolute best.” Menard also gave his thoughts about the inspiration for him to become a wrestling commentator. Menard stated “Just watching sports I think. There’s something about an announcer or commentator who can take a moment and make it memorable and make it last and just burn it into your memory. Growing up watching hockey in Canada every Saturday night, there’s an announcer named Bob Cole, who unfortunately just passed away three or four months ago. He just had such a voice, I can hear it right now and I can do an impression but I’ll spare you. My old friend El Generico could do one hell of a Bob Cole impression. It’s the same thing with Jim Ross, everyone can do a JR impression. I think there’s something to that, it just cements it, it just hammers it home the moment that’s happening in front of you. It just gets hammered home by the announcer.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW recently announced the full card for this Friday’s AEW Rampage show:

MxM Collection (Mace Madden & Mansoor) vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen)
Nyla Rose vs. Harley Cameron
Wheeler Yuta vs. The Butcher
Bryan Keith vs. mystery opponent
Brian Cage vs. mystery opponent