"Sad and cringe to watch," "Silence in the crowd shook me" - Fans brutally troll WWE for seemingly copying popular AEW gimmick

AEW and WWE have been engaged in a fierce hiring war over the past couple of years. The global sports entertainment juggernaut has recently had the upper hand in signing wrestlers from the Jacksonville-based promotion. Not only do they sign the talent, but the company also sometimes carries over their previous gimmick. Ironically, fans have accused Mariah May of duplicating Toni Storm's gimmick.

Mariah, now known as Blake Monroe, debuted in NXT days after departing AEW. During her time in the company, she was involved in storylines with Toni Storm the majority of the time. The Timeless Star makes explicit references every now and then, especially about her upcoming opponents.

During Blake's recent appearance on NXT, she made an explicit comment about the women's locker room. While it was a clever line, many in the audience failed to understand it and barely had any reaction to it.

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Multiple fans instantly claimed that WWE had assigned her to rip off the AEW Women's World Champion's Timeless gimmick. Many fans also claimed that this type of character only worked because of Toni Storm.

Take a look at some of the reactions below:

Fans react to WWE copying Toni Storm's gimmick

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JBL believes WWE should change Blake Monroe's name

The global sports entertainment juggernaut changed Mariah May's name to Blake Monroe. There have been mixed reactions to the brand-new name.

While speaking on Something To Wrestle, JBL suggested that the company consider changing Blake's name, as it is similar to a former adult star and could potentially create issues later.

"I think—yeah, I think I'd change [Blake Monroe's name] it. I think I'd just, 'You know what, deep six that. We had a name, we thought it worked. And turns out that name was used, and people are going to bring–WWE fans are two things—they're brutal and they're smart," he said.

It remains to be seen whether the Stamford-based promotion will make any changes to Blake's gimmick following recent backlash from fans.

Edited by Rahul Madurawe