Kris Statlander discusses the AEW women’s division ahead of All Out.
This Saturday, at AEW All Out, Kris Statlander will challenge for the AEW Women’s World Championship. The match will be the 30-year-old’s first shot at the title in over four years, last competing for it when Britt Baker was champion in 2021, and many viewers feel as if a shot at the title has been a long time coming for the star. Now, Statlander has looked ahead to her upcoming pay-per-view match, as well as discussing what she wants to see come next for the company’s women’s division.
In a new interview with The Takedown On SI, Kris Statlander acknowledged those online who’ve been wanting her to vie for the AEW Women’s World Championship more often, but said she had to prove herself worthy of contending for the top gold again.
“I do see a lot of people defending me online about how I haven’t had a world title [opportunity] in a very long time. But in my defense, I failed a lot of title shots very early on. So not really worthy. And I got injured twice. And then I had the TBS title. It’s not like I never accomplished anything, but yeah, I failed a lot of title shots very early on in my career with AEW. I understand why I had to prove that I was worthy of being a title contender again. It took a long time. It took a lot of recovery from surgeries. It took a lot of proving myself as a TBS champion and proving myself as a team player, and also not necessarily as a team player, but proving my worth as a general contender and a competitor that I deserve a title shot again.”
-Kris Statlander
Speaking more generally, Statlander discussed how people are more invested in AEW’s women’s division that ever before, and expressed interest in seeing more street fights, tag team titles, and even Blood And Guts.
“I want to see more things that people get so invested in that they want to see us at the top of the card every single night. And that’s not necessarily just a ‘Put us in the main event’ type thing. I think people need to draw passion from themselves into their performances, and I think we are getting to that point where people are caring so much about what they’re putting out there that things are getting more heated. Things are getting more exciting. People are more invested in the women’s division than they ever have been before. And [I want] more big blow-off matches and more street fights. Why not? The girls love to go nuts. The girls love going crazy. More street fights, tag titles, blood and guts, maybe mixed tag stuff more often, stuff like that. I agree with all of those things.”
-Kris Statlander
The former TBS Champion then discussed where she feels her character truly is in 2025, admitting that she’s still a little undefined. Still, Statlander says she feels something big on the horizon, and calls this her ‘reformation year’.
“It’s hard because I know that I am in such an odd place with my development as a character where I’m not in a complete perfect form of who I can be, but I still have tidbits of my past. I’m a little bit undefined right now, and I think that’s okay because I think there’s something big on the horizon coming where I can finally finalize into who I need to be. I think the majority of 2025 is workshopping my way and chipping away at all the things that failed me before to get me to where I need to be. I think this is my reformation year.”
-Kris Statlander
Elsewhere in the interview, Statlander discussed not having the opportunity to venture into the UK or Japan before getting signed to AEW. As part of her recent growth, fans have been able to see her appear at Pro Wrestling EVE in London, where she currently reigns as the EVE International Champion.
With All Out just under a week away, Statlander will have to contend with Jamie Hayter, Thekla and Women’s World Champion Toni Storm in Toronto.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Kris Statlander as soon as we hear more.
