Tony Khan firmly declares current AEW star as the "greatest actress in Hollywood"

A top star from AEW's women's division has been featured in a recent theatrical release centered around a pioneering female grappler. The talent in discussion, Toni Storm, is a thespian herself in kayfabe - something which Tony Khan seemingly alluded to while discussing her involvement in the aforementioned film during a recent interview.

The Timeless One recently settled her score with Mariah May through their iconic Hollywood Ending War at Revolution 2025. Now, she faces her next major obstacle in the form of the formidable Megan Bayne, who as of late has been establishing her dominance over the AEW women's roster.

Storm also stars as Clara Mortensen in the recently released biographical sports drama Queen of the Ring, chronicling the story of Mildred Burke, a pioneer of women's wrestling who competed in the 1930s and onwards and who did much to promote women's wrestling internationally.

During his recent interview on the Battleground podcast, All Elite CEO Tony Khan shed light on his discussions with director Ash Avildsen about casting Toni Storm in Queen of the Ring, considering her in-ring character's roots in Hollywood and cinema.

“Yes. I talked to Ash [Avildsen] at the beginning, when he was working on this movie. He asked me about casting Toni Storm, and Toni Storm is the greatest actress in Hollywood, so I was very supportive of it. Of course, we have other people in AEW involved in the project, but Toni Storm is the AEW Women’s World Champion. She’s the person I think of when I think of Hollywood and when I think of pro wrestling, and it fit like a glove. So I talked to Ash for about an hour on the phone when he was first working on the movie."

Khan also heaped praise on the reigning AEW Women's World Champion's performance, adding:

"Before he cast Toni in the movie, he reached out to me about it, and I worked around the schedule. Toni needed to take a little time off for filming, and this was a long time ago, and it all worked out just absolutely fantastic. We’re very proud of Toni and her work, and everybody associated with ‘Queen of the Ring’ has done a great job, and they’ve been a great sponsor for us, and Toni’s a great champion and a great actress," he said. [H/T - Fightful]

Queen of the Ring premiered in October last year and was released in theatres earlier this month.

Toni Storm will defend her title at AEW Dynasty

In the main event of this week's AEW Dynamite, Kris Statlander tried to avenge her prior loss to Megan Bayne in a hard-hitting rematch. However, The Megasus prevailed in the bout in a dominant display - which included tossing her opponent at Toni Storm, who had been watching from the commentary desk, towards the end of the match, before dropping Statlander with a decisive Fate's Descent for the win.

The Illustrious One seemingly had had enough of Bayne's provocations, as she stepped into the ring promptly after the bout and started trading blows with her until security separated the two. She then challenged the powerhouse to a Women's World Title match at AEW Dynasty 2025.