On November 2's "AEW Collision,"Mariah May proved her previous non-title loss to Anna Jay was a fluke, retaining her Women's World Championship when it mattered. Now many are wondering which woman on the roster will step up to her next. May had previously laid out an intriguing challenge to fellow titleholder Mercedes Mone, but with Mone currently feuding with Kris Statlander, a May/Mone program seems unlikely for now. On"Wrestling Observer Radio,"Dave Meltzer suggested that May's next title defense could come against not one, but two challengers that are due for AEW returns.
"I figure that they're probably doing a three-way with Mina [Shirakawa], Mariah May, and Toni Storm,"Meltzer speculated."Probably at this [Full Gear] pay-per-view. Possibly, if it's not on this one, it'll be on the next one. But that's what it feels like it's going to." AEW hasbeen teasing dissensionbetween May and her former STARDOM tag team partner Shirakawa for a bit. Shirakawa hasn't been seen since "AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam," but her return was confirmed on November 6's "Dynamite" for next week. As for Storm, she's been out of action since dropping the Women's World Championship to May at All In. Storm appears close to returning herself, although there's been no timetable for that. The company has been keeping her name relevant in the form of fake "Where's Toni Storm?" newspapers containing QR codes.
May famously turned on her longtime ally Storm after winning the Owen Hart Cup women's tournament back in July. May previously stated that her biggest challenge was finding someone to "hate as much as Toni Storm."Whether or not she'll get a chance to do that again at Full Gear depends on whether creative decides to go in that direction.
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