Kris Statlander Reveals Origins Of Her Alien Persona, Talks AEW Fans' Mixed Reactions To It
AEW star and "The Galaxy's Greatest Alien" Kris Statlander joined Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman on The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast where she discussed her alien gimmick as well as the fan reaction to it. Hausman asked Statlander if she was surprised at the fans' positive reaction to her in AEW.
"Yes, and it's always a surprise to me when people appreciate what I can do and what I'm able to do so quickly," Statlander said. "And it's something I've experienced a lot on the independents being able to debut in so many new places and everything and do different styles of matches all the time, and that year, there were some weekends I was doing six shows or wrestling six days a week.
"And it was insane, and it still just takes me back when people are just so amazed and just love me right away because I don't feel like I'm doing anything special sometimes. I feel like it's just me going out there just being myself and just trying my hardest. So it's always so weird to me when people are just over over the moon about about me as a wrestler, and then there's also the fans that are just like, 'oh, the alien thing is stupid,' but when I started doing the alien thing, it's the first thing that made me feel like I was really me in the ring.
"And it made me feel so much more comfortable. If the alien changes it does, if it doesn't, sorry. It helped me get to where I am today. I feel like it has not done me any disservices, doing this alien stuff."
Statlander has said before that her alien gimmick does not come from a love of science fiction, noting that she is neither a Star Wars fan or a Star Trek fan. Hausman asked if it comes from an interest in the paranormal and UFOs.
"I wouldn't say paranormal and UFOs. I am such a big fan of just space, and it's just such a mind-blowing concept," Statlander explained. "It just is forever and no one knows where it came from. No one knows where it starts or ends. There's so much mystery behind it, and it just fascinates me. And I've always loved just general science as well growing up. I got this space tattoo. So I'm committed."
Statlander continued recalling enjoying her field trips to her high school's planetarium. She noted the vastness and mysterious of space and how it is similar to her talking about how many people say she is "one of the most awkward people they've ever met."
"It's just something that I've always really loved to just sit and think about," Statlander stated. "I love looking at the stars and trying to see where constellations are. When I was in grade school, my high school had a planetarium in it. At, elementary school, sometimes you would take field trips to the high school to go to the planetarium, and I just remember that being my favorite thing ever for some reason. If you really want to make your brain hurt, just think about space and try and figure it out. I feel like sometimes, that's how I am. If you try to figure out what I'm all about... because I don't even know sometimes. It's just so random and odd.
"People say I'm one of the most awkward people they've ever met, and I'm very friendly, but I get it. I just do weird things all the time, and you can ask anybody that's been in the locker room with me. It's just the way I act, for some reason, it's just so strange, and I'll just do weird things. I got this obsession with just curling my lip like this, and I'll just do that all the time for no reason. It's so fun. When people give you a compliment, and you're like, I don't want to accept it. You're just like, thanks.
"It's just that weird charm where you're just like, I don't know what's going on with this person, but it's cool with me. I feel like that's the embodiment of what I am sometimes. And I feel like when you meet someone like that, you're just like, are you sure you're from here? Are you sure you're not from somewhere else like space? I feel like that's kind of how people will try and make sense of it in their heads. You got to be either on drugs or from somewhere else to be acting like this and drugs scare me.
Statlander is currently serving as a judge on "The Masked Wrestler". The show is similar to "The Masked Singer" where eight masked wrestler will compete in a tournament with Statlander and her fellow judges guessing who the wrestlers are based on their wrestling style. Statlander explained the environment the wrestlers are competing under.
"If you think about it, like with regular wrestling, sometimes you're meeting someone for the first time and you have to figure out your chemistry with this other person in the ring, but you can study their style and everything," Statlander noted. "But when they're masked and you're talking to each other, you don't know what to expect because it's all just mystery. I didn't have to do it because my leg is messed up real bad right now.
"If you're a talented enough wrestler, you should be able to get by just fine, but the thing is that with this, because we did all of the tapings in one day, so all these poor wrestlers, we were in hot room. No AC. Zero ventilation. We had one fan going in there in these full body suits, and the two people that are in the finals, they had to wrestle, I think, three times in that one day. So I felt terrible for them, but they're already busting their butts trying to figure out who their opponent is and trying to see if there's going to be any little tricks or anything or even trying to catch a person's specific style.
Kris Statlander serves as one of three judges for the debut season of The Masked Wrestler. #MaskedWrestler streams every Wednesday night at 10/9c on IWTV.live. You can follow Kris on Twitter @callmekrisstat.
Kris' full interview aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.