Kris Statlander made her triumphant return to action two weeks ago at AEW: Double or Nothing. Following Jade Cargill’s successful TBS title defense against Taya Valkyrie, the dominant female champion declared that she was not done and issued an open challenge to anyone in the back. Enter Statlander, the former space alien brought the fans to their feet when her music hit, and a few minutes later the crowd was even more electric following her surprise win.
Prior to her comeback, Statlander was away from the ring for nearly a year dealing with her second ACL tear in a three-year period. In a Haus of Wrestling exclusive interview, the new TBS Champion discussed the pain she endured while recovering from the injury but noted it wasn’t as bad as her first ACL tear rehab since she had already been through the process. She is feeling great now and is ready for action, but that has not stopped others from wondering if she’s going to have to change her style to stave off another injury.
“I am doing everything that I can to not have to change all of my move sets and offense and stuff like that,” she said.
“I’m doing everything that I can to be as normal, if you will, as possible, and when it came to getting back into the ring and testing out that, I was still able to do everything. I think it was more just ‘Do I trust myself?’ and my body still knows how to do this.
“So far, everything that I’ve done feels great. I know people are paranoid about me still doing a Tombstone and doing the 450 but the 450 is a very easy move for me to do and I don’t land on my knees, I just knocked the wind out of myself landing on the person, every time, anyway, so that’s fine. My knees are fine with that one. I do not worry about the Tombstone but I do understand other people’s concerns for me with that one.”
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