Tony Khan discusses Mariah May's rise to stardom.
Mariah May signed with AEW and debuted in November 2023. Since then, she has been involved in a dynamic storyline with AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm. May's run in AEW reached new highs on the July 10th episode of AEW Dynamite, as she won the Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament and brutally turned on Storm after the match.
Speaking with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Tony Khan recalled the process of bringing May to AEW, which started with a conversation in May 2023.
“I reached out and said I had this idea for her in AEW, and that it was a long-term plan. She responded to me that night, and that’s how it all started," Khan said.
Khan detailed how, before he spoke with May, he talked to Bryan Danielson, who brought the STARDOM standout up to him during a flight home. Khan noted that they both agreed that May was polished and charismatic. From there, Khan's vision of a storyline that tied in "All About Eve" and "Sunset Boulevard" started to become clear.
“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?’ 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," Khan said.
Khan continued by noting how he spoke with Toni Storm about his idea, and he stated that she was born to play her "Timeless" character. He then said that she was absolutely incredible in the role. Khan went on to describe how he saw something in May, and he asked her to do something different when she came to AEW. Despite some initial backlash, Khan stated that May has become one of the biggest stars in wrestling.
“I saw something in her, and I asked her to do something very different when she came to AEW. 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," Khan said.
Click here to see what Mariah May had to say about attacking Toni Storm.
Figthful will have coverage of AEW Dynamite as it airs on July 17th, as well as a post-show podcast on our YouTube channel.
