The rise of "Timeless" Toni Storm in AEW has been nothing short of meteoric, but before the 29-year-old could get to that point, she had to pay her dues, not only on the independent scene back home on the Gold Coast of Australia, but in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world, though Storm quickly learned WWE wasn't for her. Storm, whose real name isToni Rossall, became interested in wrestling at a very young age, when the term "WWE Diva" was just beginning to enter the industry's vernacular.
Storm discovered WWE on television when she was just 10 years old living with her mother, when Trish Stratus was dominating the women's division as its champion. The "Timeless" one has said in interviews that she would often get teased in school for being different. While others her age were interested in pop culture and more mainstream sports, Storm was interested in the WWE superstars she would watch on television.
Storm said that she was all in on wrestling well before she would become All Elite. She told ESPN she knew she wanted to be a wrestler herself very early on, and was intrigued by the larger-than-life personalities of WWE. Storm knew one day she wanted to make people as excited as she was while watching wrestling on TV. She's doing just that in AEW now, as a record-breaking four time AEW Women's Champion who has put on some of the best matches in the division, including one currently in talks for match of the year in 2025.
"Timeless" Toni Storm has evolved in many ways throughout her career. From her humble beginnings in the world of professional wrestling on the Gold Coast, to changing her entire wrestling persona from a rock star to an old Hollywood actress, Storm has more than proved herself in all aspects of the business.
Storm began watching WWE on television when she was 10 years old while living on the Gold Coast with her mother following her parents' split when she was only 4. It would take her a few years to be able to get in a ring herself, but when she turned 12, Storm began training at a small, local wrestling school. She made her debut in the ring in front of a small crowd with Impact Pro Wrestling, or IPW, at 13, in October 2009. She was already using the ring name "Storm" at the time. Video of her early matches with IPW still exist online.She won her first title in 2010 with the promotion, the IPW Hardcore Championship.
In her early days on the Gold Coast, as Storm has explained in interviews, including to Fox Sports Australia, that she had to wrestle a lot of intergender matches, due to the fact not many women were training in the area at the time. Since she was wrestling men, Storm toughened up quick between the ropes, even at such a young age.Shesaid that at times, it felt like she had a bunch of "big brothers beating her up." She explained that she maybe wrestled about three girls in her early training days.
As she got older, Storm would wrestle across Australia and New Zealand for promotions including Riot City Wrestling and Melbourne City Wrestling. She eventually convinced her mother to let her go live with her grandmother in the United Kingdom, where there were more opportunities for her in the professional wrestling industry.
At 18 years old, Storm first tried out for WWE in Melbourne. She didn't initially make the cut, and that's when she moved to Liverpool to pursue her dreams. She began training full-time with Dean Allmark, who Storm called one of her "biggest influences" to ESPN. She began developing her rocker look around the time she started wrestling in the UK, crediting her mom for her love of all things from the 1980s.
She made her debut as just "Storm" in Progress Wrestling in April 2015, in a losing effort. Two years later, in May 2017, she'd become the inaugural Progress Women's Champion in a match that marked the first time women had competed in a main event of the promotion.She traveled to Japan in 2016 and started working in Stardom, where she officially signed in October. Storm won the SWA World Championship in July and held on to the belt for a record-setting 612 days. She also won the 2017 Cinderella Tournament and the 5-Star GP that year. Storm would later become the World of Stardom Champion after Mayu Iwatani was injured during their match, prompting an unplanned finish. She would go on to hold the gold for 258 days and was defeated by Kagetsu in June 2018.
Throughout her time on the independent scene, Storm wrestled across many countries and promotions. Others includedPro-Wrestling: EVE, Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Global Force Wrestling, British Empire Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Ulster, and many, many more. Storm had well-honed her craft by the time WWE came calling once again, and this time, she was ready.
WWE announced that Storm would be one of the first four participants in the first Mae Young Classic in the summer of 2017. She defeated the likes of Ayesha Raymond, Lacey Evans, and Piper Niven before her Classic dreams were dashed by Kairi Sane in the semi-finals. Despite the loss, Storm was signed to WWE and was also involved in the United Kingdom Championship Tournament. She became the No. 1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship, but was defeated by defending champion Shayna Baszler.
Storm would get her next big shot in WWE with the second Mae Young Classic the following year. She made it to the final, which took place at the company's historic all-women premium live event Evolution in October 2018. Storm defeated Io Shirai (now known as IYO SKY) to win the tournament. Storm wrestled in the tournament to crown the inaugural "WWE NXT UK" Women's Champion, but lost to Rhea Ripley. She would win her first gold in WWE when she captured the title from "The Eradicator" at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool in January 2019. She held the title for seven months until losing to Kay Lee Ray at TakeOver: Cardiff in August. Her one and only "NXT UK" reign lasted 230 days.
That November, Storm wrestled on NXT's Survivor Series team led by Ripley. In January, she entered her first Royal Rumble at #20, but was eliminated by Baszler.Storm's final "NXT UK" match would take place right before pandemic lockdowns in February 2020 in a losing effort to Kay Lee Ray in an "I Quit" match. She would be gone from the United Kingdom's version of WWE's developmental brand, but wouldn't be away from the company for long.
Storm returned to "WWE NXT," stateside this time, in October 2020 and aligned herself in a heel stable with Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, and Raquel Gonzalez (now Rodriguez) for TakeOver: WarGames. She entered the Royal Rumble once again in 2021, this time in the seventh spot, and was eliminated by Ripley. Storm challenged for the NXT Women's Championship twice, once again Io Shirai in a triple threat involving Mercedes Martinez, and again in a singles match with Shirai, but was unsuccessful both times.
Her main roster debut took place on the blue brand when she popped up on "WWE SmackDown" as a babyface in July 2021. She defeated Zelina Vega in her debut match, but was then defeated by Vega during the first round of the Queen's Crown tournament. Following a performance in which she eliminated two competitors in that year's Survivor Series match, Storm entered an ill-fated feud with Charlotte Flair.
Storm has gone on record to say the feud, which made her request her WWE release at the end of December, made her think about leaving the professional wrestling world forever. Her faceoffs with Flair involved Storm throwing a pie in "The Queen's" face at ringside, and she later revealed that WWE pitched for Flair to rip her shirt off.Storm said in an interview with Renee Paquette following her departure that her main goal in wrestling was to get to WWE's main roster, but when she got there, she realized it wasn't going to work out. She admitted she abruptly quit, though Storm said she left WWE for many reasons.
Once she requested her release, Storm was granted her departure from WWE, without having won gold in the company's main roster. The biggest wrestling company in the world might not have been a fit for her, but she was still on the cusp of stardom.
Storm wouldn't be gone for long, no matter how her end in WWE made her feel. Just a few months after her departure from Vince McMahon's company, Storm would debut on the March 30, 2022 episode of "AEW Dynamite" where she defeated TheBunny to become a competitor in that year's Women's Owen Hart Foundation tournament.
She would be defeated by Britt Baker in the semi-finals, but she would continue to claw her way, through various victories, to the AEW Women's World Championship. At All Out, Storm defeated Baker, Jamie Hayter, and Hikaru Shida in a four-way match to become the interim champion while then-champion Thunder Rosa was out with injury. Her reign would be recognized as a full championship reign, due to Rosa later forfeiting the title, but only after Storm had dropped the gold to Hayter at Full Gear.Storm's first of four runs with the title lasted 76 days.
Storm would then turn heel alongside fellow former WWE star Saraya to form the Outcasts alongside yet another WWE alumnus, Ruby Soho. The trio would declare war on the AEW women's locker room and would use kendo sticks and spray paint to batter and humiliate the other women, many of whom they targeted for being "homegrown" AEW talent.Double or Nothing 2023 became the stage where Storm would capture her second AEW Women's World Championship from Hayter. She would successfully defend against the likes of Willow Nightingale and Taya Valkyrie before she lost the title to Shida on the 200th episode of "AEW Dynamite" at the beginning of August. Her second reign with the gold was even shorter, at just 66 days.
Storm failed to recapture the gold at All In in a four-way match where she was pinned by Saraya. She then turned on the Outcasts at All Out and failed to win the title back once again at Grand Slam.
After Storm lost the AEW Women's World Championship to Shida, she slowly began unraveling emotionally. Her Grand Slam loss to Saraya seem to expedite the process, and Storm started to exhibit some strange, erratic behavior, like she had lost her grip on reality. In September 2023, Storm started to embrace an old Hollywood glamor-style persona of films of old. She changed the way she spoke, her mannerisms and would even cut promos and appear in vignettes, entirely shot in black-and-white.In October 2023, Storm officially debuted as "Timeless" Toni Storm and would soon be accompanied to the ring by her butler, Luther.
Her first feud came against Shida and Storm did everything she could to steal the spotlight from the champion. During the feud, Mariah May, who would become a major part of the "Timeless" story beginnings, would also debut in AEW, as a crazed fan of Storm's. Storm would take May under her wing over the following months as her understudy, a la "All About Eve," and May would go through Storm's various "eras" of her career, including her old rockstar gimmick.
Storm would win her third AEW Women's World Championship, tying Shida's record, at Full Gear when she defeated the Japanese star. The "Timeless" one would go on to defend her gold against the likes of Riho, Deonna Purrazzo, Thunder Rosa, Serena Deeb, and more, with all feuds enhanced with Storm's dramatic, "Timeless" flair.She would then defend the gold against one of May's best friends and Stardom tag team partner, Mina Shirakawa, at Forbidden Door, further enhancing the lore of the "Timeless" character in a love triangle-esque storyline between the three women. May would then go on to win the Owen Hart Foundation tournament, and everything would change once again for "Timeless" Toni Storm.
Right after winning the tournament, defeating Nightingale in the process, May would do the seemingly unthinkable and turn heel on her mentor as they celebrated May's victory. The understudy would let the "Timeless" one know that she was coming after the AEW Women's World Championship at All In that August. The pair would feud in the weeks before the pay-per-view, with the heel of a stiletto shoe being used a weapon, then a bloody symbol of their friendship that had fallen apart.At All In, Storm hesitated to use the high heel against her former protege, allowing May to get the victory. Storm's third reign with the title came to an end at 281 days. Following the loss, Storm would go on a hiatus from AEW, but would compete inStardom and CMLL.
After nearly four months, Storm returned to AEW in December, but as her rocker gimmick. She acted as though it was her first time in AEW and had no memory of being "Timeless," almost as if she suffered amnesia. She acted as though she was just happy to be there and was respectful toward May, who was still champion.Storm dropped the amnesia act after winning a casino gauntlet match and earning a title shot. She became "Timeless" once again, to May's shock, and the pair faced off at Grand Slam Australia. Storm won the title for a record-setting fourth time with a "big package" on May.
The pair would go on to have a critically acclaimed, but bloody bout known as the "Hollywood Ending" match at Revolution 2025. Storm successfully retained her gold over her former "understudy" in what veteran wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer rated a five-star match, and May would leave the company in the months following.
After the bloody gorefest that was the Hollywood Ending match, Storm took a few weeks of from defending her gold to heal up, but was soon right back in the thick of things. In the weeks and pay-per-views following, she would defend against AEW newcomer Megan Bayne at AEW Dynasty and would be victorious once again with a roll-up. She would take on Shirakawa once again at Double or Nothing and would team up with the former Stardom talent once she officially became All Elite. As of this writing, Storm is set to take on the winner of the Women's Owen Hart Memorial Tournament once again, and once again, its set to be a historic AEW doubt. Storm will take on current TBS Champion and fellow former WWE star Mercedes Mone at All In Texas.
As she continues to dominate inside the ring, "Timeless" Toni Storm is also becoming a more mainstream character. Storm appeared in the 2024 film "Queen of the Ring" directed by Ash Avildsen. The film, based on the book"The Queen of the Ring: Sex, Muscles, Diamonds, and the Making of an American Legend," a biography all about Mildred Burke and the beginnings of women's professional wrestling in the United States. Storm played Clara Mortensen, one of Burke's early opponents.
With AEW's continued work alongside Turner Broadcasting Network, where it airs its weekly programming, more AEW stars are making appearances in mainstream media. Recently, Storm, Kenny Omega, and MJF were spotted in promotional photos with the cast of James Gunns' "Superman" ahead of "Dynamite's' 300th episode.
As many fans regard "Timeless" Toni Storm as one of the best characters going in the entirety of professional wrestling today, there's no telling just how far the real-life Toni Rossall will go, but she's come a long way from Australia's Gold Coast.
