Jamie Hayter says Toni Storm carried All Elite Wrestling’s women’s division for three years, and the former champion believes Storm’s absence opens the door for a wider shakeup. Hayter will step into the ring Sunday night at AEW as the promotion moves through a packed spring and summer pay-per-view schedule that ends with All In London at Wembley Stadium on August 30.
Storm, a four-time AEW Women’s World Champion, is reportedly out of action until sometime in 2027, leaving the division without the wrestler who helped define it during her run at the top. Hayter, who was there at the beginning of Storm’s shift from rock star Toni to the “Timeless” character, said Storm did something no one else could have done and described her as the division itself during that stretch.
“I think Toni did such a fantastic job and no one else could have done that,” Hayter said. “She really did carry this division for those three years, and she was the division I feel like.”
That praise lands in a division AEW President Tony Khan has spent years trying to deepen. Storm’s absence does not erase the work AEW has done behind her, but it does remove the anchor around which much of the women’s scene has revolved. Hayter said that is both a challenge and a chance.
“Of course, this is an opportunity for myself and for everybody else,” she said. “It's a chance to kind of mix up the roster a bit more. Maybe put people in the mix that haven't been for a while.”
The timing matters because AEW is heading into a crucial run of shows before Wembley Stadium, where All In London closes the company’s summer schedule on August 30. With Storm sidelined and the division shifting, the roster now has room to look different than it did during her championship run.
Hayter and Storm may not have had the warmest relationship on screen, but Hayter’s comments show how central Storm has been to the division’s identity. The next question is whether AEW can turn that gap into something more competitive before Wembley arrives.
