Over the entire year of 2024, Mariah May became an integral part of AEW programming as she rose to stardom in the company upon leaping off her STARDOM stint. A standout feud with Toni Storm that lasted for well over a year earned points from the fans and critics, further solidifying her status on the pro-wrestling map. This led many fans to hope that she’d stay with the company on a long-term basis.
It’s during the Wrestlemania 41 season that growing speculation started arising that Mariah May might be headed to WWE. Reports made it clear that she doesn’t care about getting a much lower deal from the WWE since it’s been her dream to be in that company. This is the reason that she wouldn’t re-sign with AEW before her last match against Toni Storm.
According to what Dave Meltzer has to offer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Mariah May let AEW know that she didn’t want to re-sign with the company in early 2025. This is the reason why her matchup with Toni Storm took place at Revolution in an attempt to suitably remove her from the TV storyline context.
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AEW was forced to wrap up Toni Storm – Mariah May feud
Meltzer mentioned how he was surprised the rubber match between Toni Storm and Mariah May went down so soon after the latter dropped the title to Storm at the Grand Slam event. With the feud still building and meant to be going on for longer, AEW learned that she wasn’t staying, as they decided to wrap things up at Revolution,
“I noted many times that I was surprised at doing that match at that time because it was such a hot feud and didn’t need a final blow-off after just three matches. Apparently May made it clear at that time that she was not signing a new deal and so they booked it at that time for that reason.“
The City of Angels hosted a perfect ending to the long-going saga between Toni Storm and Mariah May as the duo locked horns to deliver a brutal No-DQ contest. In one of the co-main-events of AEW Revolution 2025 in Los Angeles, the “Timeless” one defeated her former protégé in The Hollywood Ending – Falls Count Anywhere match to retain the AEW Women’s World Championship.
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