AEW Told Mariah May to Stop Kissing Mina Shirakawa on Television

AEW has been pushing boundaries since its inception. Tony Khan promised a pro wrestling company that would present matches with blood and guts, along with more swearing than any other pro wrestling company on television. However, a line was recently drawn, sparked by Mariah May and her old friend, Mina Shirakawa, sharing a kiss.

Mariah May responded to criticism of an AEW moment from when she was much closer to Toni Storm than she is now. The recent moment that seemed to irritate a certain segment of fans occurred after Toni Storm faced Mina Shirakawa at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on June 30, 2024. May had previously kissed Shirakawa.

May discussed kissing Shirakawa on AEW television during an appearance on the Wrestling with Freddie podcast, revealing that she was asked to cut it out before they went out and pulled off another impromptu act of PDA.

“It was not pitched. We just did it. Mina and I are extremely close. We’ve always been very close in Stardom. We just did it.”

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“The next time around, they were like, ‘Hey, can you guys stop kissing?’ I think there’s a bit of an archaic view on it and people seem to think we have no autonomy over our bodies. It’s my choice who I kiss. It’s my choice what I do. If I’m not comfortable doing something, I would always say so.”

“I remember seeing, you know, the usual suspects, being like, ‘Oh my God. This is setting women’s wrestling back so much.’”

“It’s like, first of all, no one made us do it. We chose to do it. That’s just how we show affection to each other and we always have in our friendship. Like I said, if I don’t want to do something, I won’t, but myself, Mina, and Toni are three extremely decorated women’s wrestlers who, off our own backs, have become very successful all over the world, and so to try and tell us we’re setting women’s wrestling back was pretty crazy to me.

“The numbers don’t lie. I think myself, Toni, and Mina got the best-rated segments for about eight weeks in a row, and as we should.”

Storm retained the AEW Women’s World Championship over her opponent at Forbidden Door, with Mariah May joining them in the ring after the match. Post-match, Storm, May, and Shirakawa got close, leading to an on-screen triple kiss. Unfortunately, Storm and May are no longer as close, with AEW All In seeing The Glamour challenging for the AEW Women’s World Championship.

Shirakawa reacted to May betraying Storm on the July 10 episode of AEW Dynamite, revealing she “can’t sort out [her] feelings.” We’ll have to see what’s next for their story, as Mina has appeared on AEW television since Forbidden Door.

What’s your take on Mariah May’s revelation about kissing on screen? Should they have been allowed to continue? Let us know in the comments section!