28-year-old AEW Star credits MJF for getting them signed

A 28-year-old star recently credited the AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman for getting them a call-up to All Elite Wrestling. The star in question is Kris Statlander.

Statlander made her debut in the Jacksonville-based promotion in late 2019, and currently, she is the reigning TBS Champion. The Galaxy's Greatest Alien won the title in May at Double or Nothing pay-per-view after ending Jade Cargill's 60-match undefeated streak.

Speaking on the latest edition of Under The Ring podcast, Kris Statlander recalled getting an email to do a dark match for AEW in Nashville. The 28-year-old said the discussions about the possibility of her joining the Jacksonville-based company began even before her bout.

"I feel like, pretty early in the day, they started discussing possibly bringing me in and I was like, 'I haven't even had my match yet.’ Like, if anything, I was just like, 'Don't you want to see me wrestle first?' In my opinion, I want to see how a person works before I bring them into a company. I know that I had some people recommend me and looking out for me," Statlander said. [H/T WrestlingNews]

Statlander added that the AEW World Champion MJF played a massive role in getting her the opportunity to work in the company by recommending her. The TBS Champion believes she would have made it to All Elite Wrestling even without the recommendation, but it would not have happened that early in her career.

"I hate to give him credit, but I know MJF was probably the biggest one, so I do have a lot to owe him, unfortunately, but he's been there for me a lot as a friend. I think if he hadn't recommended me as someone to bring in, I probably wouldn't have gotten that opportunity so early on. I'm sure it probably would have happened eventually. I would hope it would have at least but, yeah, it just kind of just happened out of nowhere. The first day that I was there, it was kind of like, ‘Were gonna bring you in’, and I was like, ‘All right, let's do it,'" added Statlander. [H/T WrestlingNews]

Kris Statlander defended the AEW TBS Championship twice in a week

Last week, the TBS Champion successfully defended her title twice during Rampage and Collision against different opponents.

On Friday Night Rampage, Statlander successfully defeated her title against Jade Cargill. The match was reported to be Cargill's last under her AEW contract, and the 31-year-old is rumored to join WWE soon.

The following night on AEW Collision, Kris Statlander retained the TBS title against Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D., after a competitive match.