Kris Statlander debuted for AEW in November 2019 and was signed by the company one month later. Before signing with AEW, Statlander had become one of the top competitors on the independent scene and was trained at Create-A-Pro Wrestling.
Statlander has become one of the top stars in the company, winning the AEW TBS Championship from Jade Cargill at AEW Double or Nothing.
Speaking on Under The Ring, Statlander gave MJF credit for helping her get signed to the company.
"It all kind of happened so suddenly. I was at this point in my independent career where I was having six matches a week and wrestling four or five days a week and I was very tired, but busy and excited. I got the email to come do a dark match and be an extra. It was in Nashville. 'That's kind of a far distance, but if they're bringing me in, sure, absolutely. I'm not going to say no.' I showed up, I did some of the training with the girls, and I feel pretty early in the day they started discussing possibly bringing me in and I was like, 'I haven't even had my match yet. Don't you want to see me wrestle first?' In my opinion, I would want to see how a person works before bringing them into a company. I know that I had some people recommend me and looking out for me. I hate to give him credit, but I know MJF was probably the biggest one. I do have a lot to owe him, unfortunately, but he's been there for me a lot as a friend. If he hadn't recommended me as someone to bring in, I probably wouldn't have gotten that opportunity so early on. It probably would have happened eventually, I would hope it would have. It kind of happened out of nowhere. The first day I was there, 'we're going to bring you in.' 'Alright, let's do it,'" said Statlander.
MJF also holds gold in AEW as the reigning AEW World Champion.
Elsewhere during the interview, Statlander reflected on her match with Jade Cargill. You can find her full comments by clicking here.
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