Willow Nightingale Addresses 'Bittersweet' AEW Feud With Kris Statlander

After her TBS Championship loss to Mercedes Mone at Double or Nothing, Willow Nightingale was betrayed by Kris Statlander despite having been friends and tag team partners for several months on AEW television, and now the current CMLL World Women's Champion has opened up about her recent feud with her former friend. During "Close Up with Renee Paquette" on AEW's YouTube channel, Nightingale reflected on her relationship with Statlander, explaining that being turned on by one of her best friends still hurts, and wondering just how long Statlander had been resentful of her.

"It's pretty bittersweet, because you always think the biggest moments of my career like 'oh we're going to be in front of this crazy crowd in like this historic, giant building' and you think you're going to do it with your friend and like sure, I was envisioning sharing big special moments with Stat but not this way. So it is a little disorienting, and also she must've been aware that she had these weird feelings that were stirring up and in her head she just kind of was playing me along ... it hurts, like I'm a very kind loving person and bubbly, and I think that's what people like connect to me for ... violence and aggression is one of our first languages and it's a very useful way to express yourself." 

Statlander and Nightingale's most recent match together was on the July 31 "AEW Dynamite," where Statlander was victorious in a CMLL World Women's Title Eliminator bout. At All In on Sunday, Nightingale teams up with Tomohiro Ishii to battle Statlander and Stokely Hathaway in mixed tag action.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Close Up with Renee Paquette" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.