Tony Khan reveals he consulted with Bryan Danielson before signing 25-year-old AEW star

Bryan Danielson has proven to be one of the most valuable signings Tony Khan has ever made for AEW. The All Elite President recently revealed that The American Dragon was part of the reason rising star Mariah May was brought into the promotion.

Mariah May has become a major player in the AEW women's division. Despite only signing in November of last year, she's already challenging Women's World Champion Toni Storm at All In next month.

Speaking with Justin Barrasso for Sports Illustrated, Tony Khan revealed that the storyline between May and 'Timeless' Toni Storm began to germinate after Double or Nothing in May last year:

"Bryan Danielson and I were flying home from Double or Nothing, and we were talking about wrestling and what stuck out to us, and Bryan asked, 'Have you seen Mariah?'" said Khan. "I said I had, and that I was amazed at how, very quickly, she’d become one of the top stars in Stardom. We both agreed she was very polished and charismatic. That’s when I asked Bryan if he’d seen All About Eve and Sunset Boulevard."

This provided the seed for Toni Storm's transformation into a classic Hollywood starlet, a role she's exceeded in. But it was Mariah May's integration into the storyline that brought both women to the forefront of All Elite TV:

"I saw something in her, and I asked her to do something very different when she came to AEW," said Khan. "There was even some backlash at the beginning when people were pushing back that she came into AEW as this big fan of Toni Storm, which was very different from what she was doing in Stardom. Now we’re going to learn how and why she did all this, and how she became one of the biggest stars in wrestling in less than a year in AEW."

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Mariah May will address her betrayal on AEW Dynamite tonight

All Elite Wrestling is celebrating a major milestone tonight with its 250th episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite. The show is set to be packed with major matches and segments as the company continues its build to All In 2024, and fans are anticipating Mariah May's explanation after her shocking betrayal of Toni Storm last week.

May took out her mentor and beat her bloody with a shoe to close last Wednesday's Dynamite. In the same interview with Sports Illustrated, Tony Khan provided a tease for tonight:

"Tonight, she’ll speak for the first time since this betrayal," said Khan. "We’ll hear what’s in Mariah’s heart, and I think people are going to be amazed at what they learn."

May won the women's branch of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, thus gaining a shot at Toni Storm's AEW Women's World Championship at All In. Whether she will continue attacking her former mentor after revealing her true self remains to be seen.