Smart WWE business reportedly prevented major legend from appearing in AEW

A WWE legend will likely not be appearing in All Elite Wrestling anytime soon. AEW has established itself as WWE's rival promotion in the United States.

Last year following a successful title defense against Riho at World's End 2023, AEW Women's Champion Toni Storm called out Wendi Richter during the press conference following the event. Storm is currently portraying a 'Timeless' character and is often presented in black and white on AEW television. Richter is 63 years old and has not competed in a match since 2005.

According to a new report from Fightful Select, a confrontation between the two stars is unlikely to happen in All Elite Wrestling. The report noted that while Richter was considered for an appearance in the promotion, it was eventually discovered that she was still under a WWE legend's contract, thus preventing her from appearing at AEW.

Timeless Toni Storm has put together an impressive reign as AEW Women's Champion so far. She will defend her title against Serena Deeb at AEW Double or Nothing 2024 next Sunday night.

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Former WWE star Toni Storm on how the pandemic impacted her career

Toni Storm spent some time in WWE before asking for her release in March 2022. She debuted for All Elite Wrestling on the March 30, 2022, edition of Dynamite and has become a star for the Jacksonville-based promotion.

Speaking with Sportskeeda Wrestling in 2021 in an exclusive interview, Storm commented on how the pandemic impacted her wrestling career. She said that it was the most time she had ever spent outside of a wrestling ring and noted that she normally would have still been training if she wasn't injured. Storm shared that her ring conditioning suffered and the pandemic ruined her motivation.

"I got in there and, I'm not going to lie, it was hard. That ring cardio was something completely different. It was a huge shock to the system. I'm just glad that I am back up to where I was. It's taken a lot of work getting back to that. The pandemics hit and it's hard to... it ruined a lot of my motivation. Because I had no idea of what was going to happen. When am I going to wrestle again? When am I going to get out there? It just completely shook me," Storm admitted.

You can check out her comments in the video below:

Toni Storm teamed with Sasha Banks, now known as Mercedes Moné in AEW, in her final televised match in WWE. The unlikely duo defeated Charlotte Flair and Shotzi on the December 17, 2021 edition of SmackDown.