"That would be epic" - WWE Hall of Famer recalls idea pitched to Tony Khan about popular AEW star's gimmick
It has been three years since the birth of AEW. The promotion's president, Tony Khan, has signed several talents and has a loaded roster. One of the star players on the roster is former Women's champion Thunder Rosa. WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley recently revealed that he had pitched an idea for Rosa to Tony.
The former AEW Women's Champion made her debut for the promotion in 2020. She was instantly added to the Women's title picture. She first challenged Hikaru Shida for the title at AEW All Out 2020 in a losing effort.
Rosa later began a feud with the then Women's Champion Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. At the St. Patrick's Day Slam edition of Dynamite, Rosa dethroned Baker in a brutal steel cage match to win her first title in the promotion.
On the latest episode of Foley is Pod podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer shared the news that he initially contacted Tony Khan and pitched the idea to change Rosa’s name and get another name for her. He asked if the AEW President had applied to get the rights for the name "Thunderstruck".
“'Hey, have you ever thought of procuring the rights of Thunderstruck for Thunder Rosa?' I just thought, man, that would be epic to get the whole crowd chanting. He thanked me for it, wished me well, and away I went. Good guy. I met Tony years and years ago. Great guy,” Mick Foley said. [H/T Wrestling News.co]
NEW #AEW Women’s World Champion @thunderrosa22! https://t.co/dFKiwiIdUR
Tony Khan was forced to make last minute changes to the AEW Women's title picture
Thunder Rosa had sucessfully defended her title on several occasions. Unfortunately, on the August 24th episode of AEW Dynamite, Rosa revealed that she was severely injured and thus will not be able to defend the title anymore and thus relinquished the title. So Tony Khan needed to make a last-minute decision to book a fatal four-way match for the title at the All Out pay-per-view.
BREAKING NEWS: #AEW Women's World Champion Thunder Rosa announces that she is injured and cannot defend the championship.
Tune in NOW to #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS https://t.co/fxX6z7yW0b
When Tony Khan was asked about this during a press conference, the AEW President mentioned that Rosa is one of the best. He further added that the reason for this change was because he found out about the injury just minutes before the show. Thus, a fatal four-way match was booked to determine the interim champion.
Thunder Rosa's tag team partner Toni Storm won the match and has held on to the title tightly.
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