A WWE Hall of Famer has spoken out about the match between Toni Storm and Mariah May at AEW Revolution and the bloodshed that took place in the bout.
At Revolution, Storm and May concluded their rivalry with the Hollywood Ending match which had no disqualifications and falls count anywhere. With broken glass, a high-heeled shoe and a lot of blood loss, the match came to an end when Storm hit May with a Storm Zero through a table.
The match greatly divided opinion when all was said and done. While many loved the match, thought it was the perfect end to the rivalry and should have been the main event of the show, others thought the bout went too far and were uncomfortable with seeing the women bleed.
Speaking about the match on the Something to Wrestle podcast, WWE Hall of Famer JBL stated that he was aware of what took place after seeing clips on social media and recalled his own experiences of being in very bloody match:
“I didn’t see the match. I saw the social media clips, and I watched all of them. That’s kind of how I keep up with things. I don’t always watch matches, but I always keep up with the social media clips. When Eddie [Guerrero] and I did it, we needed something big, and it was at the Staples Center also. We needed something big. People say Eddie bladed too deep, no, he didn’t. He had what was called a business blade, and we used to always call it a business blade. It looked like a dagger. We needed something like that, and I don’t know if they did or not.”
Discussing the bloodshed in the match, the Hall of Famer stated that while the moment was shocking, he had no issue with the violence as it gets people talking about AEW:
“I don’t have an issue with it. It’s shocking, it’s gory. Especially when it’s women because you’re not used to that. So people are talking about it. When they’re talking about it, I’m not sure they’re talking about it in a bad way, but they’re talking about it. I think that’s great.
AEW’s had a hard time getting a lot of buzz recently. People have kind of turned on them. They were the darling for a while, and when you’re the internet darling, it’s a catch 22 because just as being the internet darling is great, they can turn on you, and you’re the internet goat at that point and they want to kick you around. That’s kind of what AEW has fallen into. So to me, I think it’s created the buzz that they probably wanted, and I don’t know. I’m the last person to say, but I don’t feel like I had a problem with it.”
Why Didn’t Toni Storm vs. Mariah May Main Event AEW Revolution?
AEW Revolution was main evented by Jon Moxley putting the World Championship on the line against Cope in a match that many felt fell flat and brought the show to a disappointing end, with many adding that other matches could have headlined the event. After the show, Tony Khan explained why Toni Storm vs. Mariah May did not close out the show.
H/t to Fightful.