Kris Statlander's victory over Jade Cargill was not a spur-of-the-moment booking decision.
At AEW Double or Nothing, Kris Statlander returned to action after missing more than eight months due to injury. That night, she answered Cargill's open challenge for a TBS Championship Match. Statlander was able to capitalize on a beat-up Cargill, who had just finished defeating Taya Valkyrie, ending Jade's undefeated run and capturing the title.
Appearing on Haus of Wrestling, Statlander revealed that there were talks of her winning the belt a few months before she even returned.
"There was talks about it a few months before I fully returned, but I always never believe that things are going to happen until I walk out there and it happens. So I was kind of just, even the night before, I was like, 'We'll see if this happens because things can change.' That's how it is. It wasn't that I don't trust people. It's just that, you know, things happen so much. Things need to be changed and you can never really, it's more just you don't want to set yourself up for disappointment. There wasn't anything like, 'Oh, we're not sure if you're the one that's going to do it,' it was more just, you know, 'We'll see what the definitive plans are when we get there.' But I do remember when I first heard the idea, I was kind of like, 'Okay, if that's what you want.' It was a very, very cool thing to know that a lot of people trusted me to be that one, and I just hope that in that moment that I did return and that everything I continued to do while I have the title lives up to and exceeds expectations," she said.
Statlander recently spoke about her time away from AEW and what she learned during that period. Click here to read more.
She also commented on the rumored brand split in AEW and whether there are a sufficient number of womens wrestlers on the roster to fill two brands. Click here to learn more.
If you use the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.