The path to the top of AEW’s women’s division has been a bumpy one for Kris Statlander.
Signed by the company in 2019 only three years into her pro wrestling career, the 30-year-old Long Island native faced her first major setback in the summer of 2020, tearing her left ACL during a tag match. The injury would sideline her for nearly 10 months.
Then, a little over a year later, Statlander shredded her right knee, tearing both the ACL and meniscus while landing a big boot in an AEW Dark match. Having been down that road before and knowing what to expect in recovery, Statlander says she adopted a different mindset the second time around.
“During the second one, I was more ambitious to come back the same as I was before I was ever injured, to come back better than ever, so to speak,” Statlander told TSN.ca. “I was a lot more motivated the second time because I already dealt with it once and I was like, ‘I know I can get through this’ and ‘I know I can be the performer I want to be still.’ So it was a lot more work to be better and not just make it to the other side.”
You can catch AEW Dynamite headlined by Kris Statlander defending the AEW Women’s World Championship LIVE on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on TSN2, the TSN App, and TSN.ca.
Returning nine months later, Statlander claimed her first gold in the company, winning the TBS Championship, AEW’s secondary women’s title, at the May 2023 Double or Nothing pay-per-view. Her reign would last for 174 days. This past September, Statlander won the AEW Women’s World Championship in Toronto at All Out. In doing so, she became the first woman in company history to hold both singles championships.
In a deep women’s division filled with both new and veteran talent, Statlander says she takes pride in achieving the feat as an AEW original.
“It’s something very special to be able to show that you can be on top no matter where you get your start from,” Statlander said. “I definitely hold the title a little closer to my heart every day, knowing that I get to be that person.”
Now the face of the women’s division, Statlander isn’t bothered by any new expectations that come with being on top, like additional media responsibilities.
“I feel like any time you wake up in the morning and step into the office, so to speak, this is kinda what’s expected of you,” Statlander said. “And even when I wasn’t a champion, I was always willing to showcase the division and be a face for it. But there’s always pressure no matter what you do because of the fact that we are a television company and we broadcast to the world. It’s important that we all do our part to showcase what amazing people and talent that we have.”
After successful defences over former world champions Toni Storm and Jamie Hayter and a well-received program with Mercedes Mone, Statlander now finds herself in the middle of a blood feud with former STARDOM star Thekla that will culminate on Wednesday night’s Dynamite in a strap match.
A violent spectacle between the two women is nothing new as Statlander and Thekla faced off in a brutal Blood & Guts match in November in which both women left bruised and bloody following 45 minutes of mayhem.
“One thing about wrestling is that we’re all kinda twisted in the head a little bit,” Statlander said of plunder matches. “And being able to get a kind of visceral reaction out of people kinda brings joy to us. So I think that makes us sadists or masochists, I don’t remember which one is which, but we’re kind of a weird group of people who choose to do this to ourselves. The pain is only temporary, but the moments you can create out of it last forever. And also, I love scars. I love a battle wound showing that you put in the work and you put your body through something and you made something worth it. So I don’t have to be like ‘Oh, man. This is gonna suck!’ because I welcome it, I enjoy it and I strive to be that person who can endure the pain and show people they can be stronger than they think they are.”
The key to performing in matches of that sort, Statlander says, is to stay in the moment and not get into your own head.
“There’s so many times I’m about to do something in a match where in my head, I’m like, ‘Alright, then. Let’s do it!’” Statlander explains. “I try not to overthink it and it’s like ‘Well, let’s go. Here we are.’ So it’s kinda just like you try to not forget about it, but you try not to make a big deal out of it. And you kinda just have to go. The second you hesitate, that’s when mistakes can happen and this is a playing field where mistakes can be very dangerous. You just have to trust yourself, trust your abilities and know that you wouldn’t do something if you didn’t know how to do it.”
With the calibre of wrestling in the AEW women’s division continuing to grow, Statlander says that fans don’t necessarily get to see the work being put in regularly by those in the division to constantly improve themselves. Statlander singles out one wrestler as somebody whose work ethic is particularly inspiring.
“There are so many people who show up on a weekly basis, who come to TV, maybe not have a whole lot to do, but still want to get in the ring and still train,” Statlander said. “A lot of us go and train before the shows even if we have something to do that night. I don’t ever wanna give out a whole lotta names because I feel like sometimes if I don’t mention people, then it’s like, ‘Oh, wow. They all hate this person,’ but one of my very good friends, Harley Cameron, she’s been trying so hard and she works so hard and she’s traveling all the time and also doing media all the time. She’s still one of the newer people in the company, but she’s done so, so much to up her game. I’m so proud of her and I’m so happy to see all of her success and she continues to work harder than anybody else, really. She’s so motivated to keep going and put on the best performance no matter what.”
Despite an incredible amount of good pro wrestling on offer across the industry at present, Statlander finds it disheartening that a certain segment of the fanbase loves to pit companies and performers against each other when there is no actual animosity existing between the parties.
“No one hates wrestling more than wrestling fans… I think it’s a shame that some people get so upset thinking that we don’t like each other or that people don’t want to see wrestling succeed,” Statlander said. “Because I just want wrestling to succeed. I want things to be executed well. I want everybody to have fun and enjoy their lives because we go out there and travel and we put our bodies through so much and people get so invested in our personal lives and all these other things and it’s just so unnecessary when all we’re trying to do is put on a good show for these people.”
After Wednesday night’s Dynamite in Ontario, Calif., AEW heads to Sydney for Grand Slam Australia where Maxwell Jacob Friedman puts his AEW World Championship on the line against Brody King.
You can catch Grand Slam Australia on Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on USA Network.
