At AEW All In: Texas earlier this year,Kris Statlander finally defeated "Timeless" Toni Storm to capture the AEW Women's Championship, making her the first woman in the promotion to have held both the aforementioned title and the TBS Championship. However, looking back at the fight to the top during an interview on "Close Up with Renee Paquette," Statlander claimed that AEW's environment helped her focus on what mattered.
"It's kind of 'do or die' most of the time, so I feel it kind of helps me lock in a little bit," she explained, adding that there are many people in the locker room who you can learn from and have succeeded in different ways. "I think, knowing what has happened before when I've gone down paths of other people trying to tell me what to do, and having that experience has led me to where I'm at now."
Statlander also admitted that it took her a long time to get to where she is in AEW, but claimed that the day of her victory over Storm was a calm day.
"I had been preparing for this moment for so long...I knew what I was ready to accomplish," she recalled. "Earlier this year, I really wasn't doing anything too much worthy of being a competitor for the championship."
Statlander then added that because of this, she felt the need to work even harder to prove that she was worth giving a chance to.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Close Up with Renee Paquette" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
