At Double Or Nothing 2023, we would see two new champions crowned in AEW. Toni Storm defeated Jamie Hayter to win her second AEW Women’s World Championship, while Kris Statlander would end the historic reign of Jade Cargill to become the second ever TBS Champion.
It was a last minute match for fans, with Cargill calling for a second match on the PPV and being trampled by Statlander – but this moment was planned months in advance.
Kris Statlander Knew About The Title Change A Few Months Before It Happened
Speaking with Haus of Wrestling, Kris Statlander would reveal that this title change was planned months in advance.
“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,”
A Fighting Champion
Since winning the belt, Statlander has made two successful defenses. Both Nyla Rose & Anna Jay have fallen to the new champion, and Taya Valkyrie is positioned as her next opponent.
Valkyrie was the first opponent of Cargill at Double Or Nothing 2023 – and feels she did most of the work that Statlander would end up benefiting from.
Are you a fan of Kris Statlander as TBS Champion? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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