TONI STORM’S mother sold hot dogs at wrestling shows in order to secure her daughter’s in-ring education.
But the New Zealand-born Aussie rewarded her mum’s hard work by capturing WWE glory on female wrestling’s most historic evening.
Storm, 23, pinned Io Shirai in the final of the Mae Young Classic at the Nassau Coliseum.
In front of 10,000 fans, Storm beat Shirai after hitting her Strong Zero finisher to win the tournament.
WWE bosses Triple H and Stephanie McMahon congratulated the Gold Coast star after the fight.
The Mae Young Classic has 32 competitors at the start, whittling it down in an elimination tournament until there is just one winner.
“To be honest, I have no idea what my life is right now, I don’t know what’s happening, all I know is my dream is coming true,” Storm said after the fight.
“I’m on this show with all these incredible people who inspired me to do this and I just won the 2018 Mae Young Classic. It’s just surreal and I don’t know what my life is.”
She admitted to still pinching herself to check if it’s all a reality as she prepared to perform at the first-ever all-female pay-per-view at WWE Evolution.
Speaking exclusively to SunSport before the event, Storm said: “It’s so big I can hardly believe I’m here, I feel like my head is going to explode.
“When I was ten I was a huge fan of the Hardy Boys, Mickie James and Trish and I was like ‘I want to be like that’,” she said.
“I remember there was a moment with my mum when she said to me ‘you’re going to be like those bloody wrestlers’ and I thought to myself ‘you know what mum, yes I am!’ And that’s what I did.”
Storm became one of the biggest stars on the British wrestling scene after originally only planning on coming to England for a short stint of training.
Her talents soon caught the eye of Triple H and WWE and she is now part of the newly-launched NXT UK brand.
But her rise to success did not come without sacrifice — and she will be ever thankful to her mum for helping her dreams become a reality.
“She was reluctant about me wanting to become a wrestler at the start as I was very young, but after a lot of nagging she let me when I was 13,” she said.
“My mum was on her own with me and my little sister so we didn’t have much.
“So because she couldn’t afford the fees, what she’d do is go to each show and help sell hot dogs and drinks and for that they agreed to train me for free. Then when I was old enough I hopped on a plane to the UK.
“It was meant to be three months but I’ve ended up staying and I’m still there. Now I feel like a bit of an honorary Brit.
“Going out to the ring is like walking off a cliff but you’re still there and alive. It’s such a thrill and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
This story first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.
