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Kris Statlander says wrestlers of her generation don’t often enough accept productive critiques of their work.
“Sometimes with us being younger and stupid… they don’t always make the best decisions,” Statlander told Newsday this week. “Everybody’s going to have their own way to go about these things. For me, personally, I will welcome any advice from anyone that takes the time out of their day to help me out.”
There have been indications over the years from veterans who work in AEW and ex-wrestlers who watch AEW a level of frustration with younger AEW wrestlers’ approach to their matches and promos. Frustrations include wrestlers going for quick crowd pops or social media buzz at the expense of a bigger picture of where they fit in on the card and roster or what would draw more money and ratings, not to mention what would preserve their physical well-being a long-term health.
Statlander talked about her approach. “No matter what is going on backstage, or what people think is going on backstage, or any sort of rumor going on, my personal goal … is to make sure that at the end of the day, I do what I can to put on a great show. And that’s all that I can do,” Statlander said. “And I wish people that like to feed into any sort of drama or rumors could just kind of look at wrestling at a surface level and just feel like this is entertainment … I wish that some people would just not care so much about other stuff that doesn’t matter when it comes to the overall product.”
Statlander was the last wrestler in AEW to face Jade Cargill, who has since departed for WWE. “Me being the second-ever TBS title (holder) means nothing without Jade having her undefeated streak and being an unstoppable monster,” Statlander said. “Whatever she chooses to do, I know that she’s going to do great at it. And she’s going to be a star, no matter what.”
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