New AEW TBS Champion Kris Statlander recently appeared on Busted Open Radio for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling. During the discussion, when she was told she would be the one to defeat Jade Cargill for the TBS Championship:
“I was nervous and I wasn’t sure if I was the one that deserved to be the one to do it. It’s not just because of how much they’ve built her up, it’s just that she has such incredible star power. She has such a presence to her. People want to see her. I was putting pressure on myself thinking like, how am I going to live up to the type of person and the type of star that she is? She’s undefeated. She’s brought so many outside eyes to wrestling. She’s done so much.”
“It’s going to take a while to realize that I don’t have to be the next Jade. I just have to be Kris Statlander and I’ve got to make my title reign be mine. I can still go out and do events and do things that she did, but I’m not going to be Jade. No one’s going to be Jade. Jade is the first ever TBS champion, she’s the longest reigning champion in AEW history, and I think those are two incredible accolades that no one else in the world is going to have. It’s a lot of pressure just proving that I am the one that was able to step up, and I can step up, and I will. Even though I’ve taken all this time off because of being injured, I can step right back into the scene and be a champion that people deserve and that people want to see.”
“It’s been just about a week since I’ve been back and I’ve already technically wrestled four matches and I am so tired, but it’s everything that I’ve wanted it to be and I’m just so thankful everyone has trusted me.”
You can check out the complete show below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
