TBS Champion Kris Statlander looks back on the several months she missed due to an injury.
In August 2022, Statlander went down with a torn ACL, which marked her second major injury during her AEW career. She made a surprise return at AEW Double or Nothing 2023 and dethroned TBS Champion Jade Cargill. Since then, Statlander has established herself as a fighting champion, as she retained the gold against Nyla Rose on the following episode of AEW Dynamite.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Statlander was asked to describe what she learned during her time away from the ring. (H/t Fightful for the transcription)
“There’s a lot of things that you learn when you’re out with such an extensive injury,” Statlander said. “You learn a lot about yourself and how much wrestling means to you, and how much it sucks when something that you love gets taken away from you. But then you also kind of learn to take a step back and watch as a fan, and you see how people react to things, and you see how everything is happening as a whole, and you try to find a way to work back into things and see where you fit.
“Wrestling always evolves and changes, and you kind of look to see how you can make yourself fit into where the product will be when you return. It was a lot more internal soul-searching that you learn about with an injury as opposed to just more moves or anything. You gotta start over and make sure that just you can still do what you used to do once you recover from an injury.”
Statlander will defend the TBS Championship against Anna Jay A.S. on the June 7 episode of AEW Dynamite. WrestleZone will have coverage of the show as it airs.
