Kris Statlander Talks Being First Woman To Hold AEW World Title & TBS Championship

This past weekend at AEW All Out, Kris Statlander surprisingly defeated Toni Storm, Jamie Hayter and Thekla in a Four Way Match to become the new AEW Women's World Champion. In addition to winning her first world title, Statlander made history on Saturday by becoming the first woman in company history to capture both the AEW Women's World Championship and the TBS Championship. Following her victory, Statlander commented on her latest achievement at the All Out Post Show Media Scrum, explaining that she feels validated by winning the title after having lost countless opportunities to do so because of the injuries she's endured over the last few years.

"It's been sort of a very up and down journey for me and I feel like there were so many opportunities that maybe I could have had the chance to be the first at early on, but I was derailed by my knee injury. So, I kept like, 'Oh, maybe I'll come back and maybe I'll be the first person to do this.' And then, I get injured and then time passes by and other people step up and take that position for you ... to finally have something to my name to be like I'm the first ever to do this, it just makes all those injuries, all the hard times, all the ups and downs so worth it because I worked so unbelievably hard to be in this position that I'm at today. And finally just to have that title means more than I could ever imagine."

In June 2020, Statlander tore her left ACL, which kept her sidelined for 10 months. However, after making a full recovery, she tore her right ACL in 2022 and would be out of action for a full year before returning at AEW Double Or Nothing 2023 and defeating Jade Cargill for the TBS Championship.

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