Kris Statlander Says 2025 Has Been Her 'Reformation Year' (Exclusive)

When asked about her last challenge for the world title taking place in 2020, Kris Statlander acknowledged her past shortcomings and used the passage of time as preparation.

"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," she said.

She continued, "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."

"This one may have come about in a little bit of an obscure way just due to the nature of Toni Storm's behavior. But I'm not going to let another opportunity, this is, like you said, first time in four years, I don't think I can let this opportunity slip away from me this time."Kris Statlander to The Takedown On SI

Kris Statlander & AEW's growth are synonymous with each other

Statlander was the first female graduate of Create A Pro Wrestling in New York and was signed by AEW in 2019, merely three years into her wrestling career. In many ways, she's been able to grow alongside the company, which is something she takes a lot of pride in. She shared how it felt to participate in the Women's Casino Gauntlet match at All In Texas earlier this summer.

"It's so exciting, especially when we stick to more niche and smaller venues for our local TV shows, that when we do get to do these pay-per-views, they're such big, grand, extravagant events. It really shows on such a wide scale how important AEW is to so many people," the former TBS champion said. "It just shows that AEW is so much bigger than anyone wants to accept that it is. And it's so important to so many more people than they want to accept that it is."

"And even though you know everyone's like, 'Oh, the crowds are whatever,' people are there. People are showing up. We're showing up. People constantly show up. And then when it comes to our big shows, there's an astounding amount of people there every single time. So it just shows that AEW is so much bigger than anyone wants to accept that it is.

"And it's so important to so many more people than they want to accept that it is. Being a part of this women's division and being a part of something where, especially the girls, we're just so driven to make a statement...and prove that we can do anything."

Making waves around the world

In addition to her development in AEW, Statlander has been testing the waters overseas in recent months, currently holding the EVE International Championship she won from Anita Vaughn in England's Pro Wrestling EVE promotion.

"I went into it [Pro Wrestling EVE] with the idea of getting to do the international travels that I never got the chance to do before I got signed. Because very fortunately, I got signed about three years into my wrestling career. I never really had the time or the chance to get any of those international U.K. tours or a tour in Japan or anything like that. Not that there weren't potential opportunities there. It just never panned out.

"Now I'm at a time in my career where I have the ability to be selective with what I agree to do. I have come so far and perfected my craft in a way where now I'm at a level where not only can I go, but I can still learn from whoever I go with, wherever I am in the world. I'm not quite sure if I would have been as prepared as I am now to do this if I did this when I first started."

Eyes on the future

Her international wrestling goals aren't the only bullet points on Statlander's to-do list. She has big dreams for the AEW women's division, many of which she's hopeful will happen sooner than later.

"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."

In closing, we asked Kris Statlander after undergoing so many changes in AEW since 2019, who does she consider herself to be in 2025? She answered that this year has been one for her personal "reformation."

"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," she said. " 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."

Part two of The Takedown On SI's interview with Kris Statlander will be out later this week.