Tony Khan says Mariah May has become one of the ‘biggest stars in wrestling’

Tony Khan spoke in detail about AEW’s storyline with Mariah May and Toni Storm during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated.

The AEW president revealed that he first contacted May with the idea after Double or Nothing 2023, while May was still with Stardom.

“I reached out and said I had this idea for her in AEW, and that it was a long-term plan,” said Khan. “She responded to me that night, and that’s how it all started.”

Khan continued to say that there was some backlash to how May was initially portrayed when she came to AEW, as it was very different from what she had been doing in Stardom.

“I saw something in her, and I asked her to do something very different when she came to AEW,” Khan continued. “There was even some backlash at the beginning when people were pushing back that she came into AEW as this big fan of Toni Storm, which was very different from what she was doing in Stardom. Now we’re going to learn how and why she did all this, and how she became one of the biggest stars in wrestling in less than a year in AEW.”

Last week’s episode of Dynamite ended with a significant development in the story. After winning the Owen Hart Cup, May turned on Storm, bloodied her up with a shoe, and then stood tall over her as the show ended. May’s tournament win means she will challenge Storm for the AEW Women’s World Championship at All In.

Before contacting May, Khan says he discussed the idea with Bryan Danielson.

“Bryan Danielson and I were flying home from Double or Nothing, and we were talking about wrestling and what stuck out to us, and Bryan asked, ‘Have you seen Mariah?’” said Khan. “I said I had, and that I was amazed at how, very quickly, she’d become one of the top stars in Stardom. We both agreed she was very polished and charismatic. That’s when I asked Bryan if he’d seen All About Eve and Sunset Boulevard.”

Both films are from the 1950s and deal with aspiring Hollywood stars conspiring to replace their mentors in the spotlight.

“I went to Toni Storm and suggested these movies–All About Eve and Sunset Boulevard–because she had that larger-than-life persona like Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard and Bette Davis in All About Eve,” said Khan. “That is ‘Timeless’ Toni Storm. She’s that starlet, with that presence–backstage, in the ring, out of the ring–of one of those rare old Hollywood stars. This is the role Toni was born to play, and she is absolutely incredible at it.”

Khan also credits RJ City with having helped with creative for the angle, noting that he was the only person in the office who had seen the movies.

“My right hand in all of this is RJ,” said Khan. “He was the only person in the office who’d seen All About Eve and Sunset Boulevard, and he understood old Hollywood and the old movies. He’s been so valuable and tremendous throughout this process. He has a great aptitude for wrestling, and he was also able to use these movies for inspiration.”

Storm and May’s angle will continue tonight on Dynamite. AEW is advertising that May will address her actions from last week on the show.