Ex-WWE Talent Rips Toni Storm For Burning A Bridge With WWE, The Beast Mortos To Team With Real-Life Girlfriend Mercedes Mone?, Bayley vs. Mercedes Mone Rematch

— Former WWE Women’s Champion Lisa Marie Varon (Victoria) has spoken out against AEW Women’s World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm for her recent comments about being an “AEW Lifer” and shutting the door on a WWE return.

Storm recently shared on a podcast that while she understands WWE’s business model, she doesn’t believe she fits within their system.

Appearing on “The Velvet Ropes” podcast, Varon cautioned Storm against taking shots at another company to boost her current one.

Storm, who departed WWE in late 2021 before joining AEW the following year, is set to defend her AEW Women’s World Championship at AEW All Out 2025 in a Fatal 4-Way match against Jamie Hayter, Kris Statlander, and Thekla.

You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:

On Toni Storm: “First of all, I love Toni Storm. I love her look, Marilyn. Super sweet when you see her at a meet and greet, very thankful. And yeah, I love her, but you never bury a company. You know, we all learn this saying that ‘maybe that’s not the place for me,’ but every company changes every year. You never know when you’re going to go back or when they’re going to demand Toni Storm to make a comeback to WWE.”

On why you shouldn’t bash any wrestling company: “You don’t want to bash any company, and I’ve learned that lesson. I’ve done that before and shame on me, but I think you get very like in your head going, ‘I need to say what I am feeling right now.’ But social media is not the platform to go if I’m angry at a moment. You know what? Let me think about it tomorrow if I feel the same way, you know because social media is so easy to go on a rampage and you’re going to go the next day, ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’”

On being subjected to “cancel culture” and getting pulled from a booking as a result: “I got canceled on a October 19 show, and it was on Twitter, and a friend of mine called me and said, ‘Hey, I just want to see if you’re okay,’ and then she goes, ‘Oh, they canceled you for a certain reason.’ And I was like, ‘what?’ And I never experienced, this is just recent, to experience so much hate, and we got to rise above.”

On struggling not to response to the online hate: “Everybody knows that it was very… I was struggling so hard not to say anything, but I’m the better person. I should not care about what somebody else thinks of me. They don’t know me.”

— AEW wrestler The Beast Mortos took to social media earlier today to answer fan questions, and one fan asked about the possibility of him teaming up with his real-life girlfriend, AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone, in a mixed tag team match. The fan wrote, “#AskTheBeast mixed tag match with Madam CEO when?” Mortos was quick to respond, saying, “I’d love to.”

Despite their relationship, Mortos and Mone have yet to team up or share the ring in AEW. Mone is set to defend her TBS Championship this weekend at AEW All Out 2025, where she faces former champion Riho.

As for Mortos, he’ll take on Mascara Dorada tonight on AEW Dynamite: September to Remember in an AEW Unified Championship Eliminator Tournament match. The winner will advance to a Triple Threat match at All Out against reigning champion Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita.

AEW All Out 2025 takes place Saturday, September 20, live from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and will air live on pay-per-view.

I’d love to

— the beast mortos (@BeastMortos) September 17, 2025

— Speaking of Mercedes Mone, she has revealed that she hopes to share the ring with longtime friend and rival Bayley one final time before hanging up her boots.

Mone took to Twitter to say, “It’s my dream to have one more with her before I retire, but if it doesn’t happen, I’m so happy with the matches we did have.”

Before that dream can come true, Mone is set to defend her TBS Championship against former AEW Women’s World Champion Riho this Saturday at AEW All Out 2025 in Toronto.

It’s my dream to have one more with her before I retire but if it doesn’t happen I’m so happy with the matches we did have.

— Mercedes Moné Varnado (@MercedesVarnado) September 17, 2025

— During a recent interview with Forbes, TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher reflected on his rise in professional wrestling, crediting former tag team partner Mark Davis for motivating him to push beyond his limits and elevate his career.

You can check out some highlights from the interview below:

On Mark Davis: “Mark Davis and I started teaming around 2017, and a lot of our success came together when we traveled the world. When you span the globe for five years with one person, you naturally get pretty close with them, so that’s been very cool.”

On how they started teaming together when he was 18: “I was 18 years old when we started teaming. I didn’t know who I was as a person yet, let alone a wrestler, so having my best friend there with me for all that stuff, it was so helpful in many ways. I’m not sure if I would have had the same success that I did by myself at that time, and without a doubt, I would not be where I am today without him. He’s meant so much to me. And then there are all the injuries he’s suffered. As a friend, seeing it is very hard. It’s difficult because I want the success that I’ve had for him. I care so deeply about him, so I want him to experience that. But from speaking to him, he kind of sees my successes as his successes in a way which is really cool, which makes me feel good about it, that I can almost do this thing for both of us. That’s not to say he won’t come back and absolutely kill it when he’s back from his injuries. It’s cool, though, that I can take a part of him with me into everything I do. I wouldn’t be the wrestler I am today without him, so hopefully that can show as well.”

On how much of his heel and babyface work is by instinct and taking inspiration from other wrestlers: “My whole career, I’ve tried to be inspired by other people that I watched as a kid and thought, oh man, they’re so cool. I’ve tried to take pieces of that throughout my career, but you get to a certain point where it’s more important to carve your own path and to start doing your own things. With this most recent run, where I shaved my head, I call myself ‘The Protostar.’ Since then, I’ve relied less from others for inspiration and trust my own instincts more, which you can see in the ring. Now, I’m really just feeling it when I’m out there. I’m at a place where I’m confident in the ring. And so, when I get this feeling of, ‘Oh, I should do this,’ there’s no hesitation behind it.”