‘Timeless’ Toni Storm is once again AEW Women’s World Champion, though her victory came with the help of some not-so-clean tactics. Storm recaptured the title at AEW Full Gear where she took on Hikaru Shida, who ended Storm’s last reign with the belt three months ago on the 200th episode of AEW Dynamite.
While the match was fairly evenly contested between the two women, Storm ultimately gained the advantage in its closing moments. She managed to hide a small silver tray into the back of her trunks and, after managing to stun Shida in the corner, hit the champion with a running hip attack assisted by the tray to secure the pinfall victory.
Storm celebrated the win alongisde her butler Luther and newly-acquired admirier Mariah May who had been watching the match on a monitor backstage. May handed Storm a bouquet of flowers as the new champion celebrated her win with flair before the trio exited the arena.
This marks Storm’s third reign with the AEW Women’s World Championship, tying her with Shida for the most reigns of anyone with the title. The 28-year-old’s first reign began back at All Out 2022 where she defeated Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter and Shida to win the then-vacant belt before losing it just two months later to Hayter at Full Gear.
Elsewhere on Full Gear, the show’s main event underwent a sudden change due to AEW World Champion MJF suffering an apparent injury during his Buy-In defense of the ROH World Tag Team Championship.