Kris Statlander has reflected on the “weird” circumstances surrounding her AEW Women’s World Championship win.
At AEW All Out in September 2025, Kris Statlander ended Toni Storm’s fourth AEW Women’s World Title reign in a Four Way match that also featured Jamie Hayter and Thekla. Storm challenged Statlander for the title again at WrestleDream the following month, but was unsuccessful in regaining the gold.
In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Statlander admitted that winning her first Women’s World Title came at a strange time in her career as she was already involved in multiple other storylines on AEW TV.
“I guess I kind of agree. I feel like you shouldn’t always necessarily need to brand yourself as a champion in order to be worthy of having this memorable career, so to speak. I feel like actually winning the championship kind of came at a really weird time for me.
“It almost didn’t feel like it was the right time, because the way Toni Storm went about making the match was like, ‘You, you, you, let’s go do it,’ and we’re like, ‘okay,’ so it’s kind of like taking advantage of an opportunity.
“Meanwhile, I was still getting harassed by the Deathriders and trying to sneak my way out of dealing with them. And then the up and down situation with Willow, and then me and Harley were kind of a thing. It was like a really, really weird time where I was very unsure of what I wanted to do and what path I wanted to take.
“Now I’m in this opportunity to win this belt. I’ve never gotten a chance to win, and I haven’t wrestled four in years at this point, so it’s like, I’m not gonna not take the opportunity, just because in my mind, things are all over the place.”
Kris Statlander Struggled To Cement Herself During AEW Women’s World Title Reign
Kris Statlander went on to hold the title for 144 days and successfully defended it against the likes of Mercedes Mone, Jamie Hayter, and Mina Shirakawa. Despite the success of her reign, the Cosmic Killer said it felt like an uphill battle to establish herself.
“But at the same time, it felt really weird. It was just kind of like, well, I guess we’re here, so okay, and now it’s just kind of been an uphill battle trying to cement myself and find myself, while also putting myself and showing everyone who I am as the World Champion. So it’s been a really odd time.”
Kris Statlander lost the title to Thekla on February 11th in a brutal Strap Match on Dynamite thanks to interference from the Sisters of Sin. The former champion has continued her feud with the group in the weeks since, and teamed up with the returning Thunder Rosa to defeat Julia Hart and Sky Blue on the February 28th edition of Collision.
H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.
