For one they never should've had Toni win that gauntlet match to earn the title in the first place. Who gives a fukk if its the "rookie" version of Toni Storm if she can still win matches on her own merit just like "Timeless" would? Let alone against all the other women in the division no less
If they were gonna have her revert back to a rookie, Toni should've lost matches and looked like an actual rookie and as a result you give Mariah an actual reason to look at "rookie" Toni as someone she'd actually let her guard down for. Then when someone worthy wins a title shot, Mariah can do the cowardly thing and award rookie Toni a title shot despite the fact she's been losing matches and getting outsmarted left and right, thinking she'd have an easy night of work against someone who has lost their mind
Then you do the big reveal DURING the title match where Toni strips to her old attire and hits the signature poses to show the crowd she was in on it all along, the place would've gone nuts and it all would've made logical sense.
Instead you have her getting her ass kicked and just going "Ha ha ha this was my plan all along!" on a show watched by 250K people