Tag: Kris Statlander

Dakota Kai (Now “Charlie”) vs. Kris Statlander Set for Pro-Wrestling: EVE’s Wrestle Queendom 8

Former WWE standout Dakota Kai is officially stepping back into the ring next year — and her return comes with a brand-new name and a huge championship opportunity.

Kai, released by WWE in May, has been announced for Pro-Wrestling: EVE’s biggest event of the year, Wrestle Queendom 8, taking place March 8, 2026, at the O2 in London. The news was revealed by Will Ospreay, who is currently part of EVE’s creative team.

Going forward, Kai will compete under the ring name Charlie, and her first assignment is massive: she’ll challenge Kris Statlander for the EVE International Championship. It will also mark the first-ever singles meeting between the two.

Despite plenty of chatter linking Kai to AEW after her release, the former two-time NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion hasn’t signed with or appeared for any promotion since leaving WWE. Her last non-WWE-affiliated match came all the way back in 2017 for PROGRESS.

Statlander, meanwhile, has been a busy dual champion. She captured the EVE International Title from Anita Vaughan in July and has already racked up two defenses — against Nina Samuels in September and in a four-way against Vaughan, Alex Windsor and Yuu in November. On top of her UK gold, Statlander also holds the AEW Women’s World Championship, making this showdown even more intriguing.

Wrestle Queendom 8 now has a marquee matchup locked in:
Charlie vs. Kris Statlander — first time ever — for the EVE International Championship.

Kris Statlander Provides Update On Her Injury

Kris Statlander expects to miss at least six to eight months of action after undergoing surgery to fix a torn ACL.

In her first interview post-injury, Statlander touched upon how her knee landed awkwardly after she struck Sierra with a running kick on a recent episode of “AEW Dark.”

“I did a big boot which I don’t really do that often, but I decided to do it that day,” Statlander recalled on AEW’s Road to West Virginia YouTube special. “When I landed, my knee buckled on me. After getting an MRI, [it was revealed] I had a completely torn ACL. My lateral meniscus is torn, and there is lateral impaction fractures in my tibia and femoral heads, so tiny little cracks that are more of a bruise, but still [I] technically have a broken leg.”

“I’ve had a similar injury with my left leg, so my good knee went bad,” Statlander continued. “But what’s weird is that with the first one, I was in so much pain and couldn’t walk. But with this one, I didn’t really have as much pain. It was uncomfortable at first but after about 24-36 hours, I was able to walk around on it fine. Little to no swelling. So, we were really hoping for the best, and it turned out to be the worse.”

Despite the MRI revealing the worse possible outcome, Statlander is determined to bounce back “bigger, more powerful, and more than a woman” at some point in 2023.

Statlander, who missed nearly a year due to an ACL tear in 2020, hopes to call upon her past experience in her current recovery.

“So, recovery time is about 6-8 months,” Statlander confirmed. “Once we had the MRI, we were hoping it’d just be a meniscus tear; that would have kept me out for 3 months at the most. But now that we know the ACL is torn, it could be 6-8 months. Hopefully closer to 6, considering I know what I have to do. I’ve done this before.

“I came back biger and stronger the last time, and I’m going to use this opportunity to do that one more time — because fall down two times, get up three,” Statlander said with a thumbs up gesture. “I’m just trying to stay positive, gotta make the jokes — it’s the only way to do it.”

In conclusion, Statlander thanked her fan base for supporting through adversity.

“Whenever my return is, I’m really looking forward to being able to feel in the crowd,” Statlander stressed. “So, thank you all for supporting me.”

Statlander was reportedly in line for a huge push prior to her injury. She was on a winning streak for nearly four months, and seemed prime to challenge Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship. Many believe her AEW career went on a different trajectory after she dumped her previous “Galaxy’s Greatest Alien” character for the “More than a Woman” persona, a change that Statlander herself felt was necessary.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Hikaru Shida Removed From AEW’s Owen Hart Tournament, Replacement Announced

A segment taped ahead of time for this week’s Rampage revealed Shida is injured and can’t compete in the cup.

There has also been a slight shake-up in AEW‘s Owen Hart tournament on the women’s side of things, one that won’t be announced officially until this week’s Rampage airs.

As is usually the case in AEW, this week’s Rampage was taped ahead of time. That means spoilers are out there, and among them is the reveal that Hikaru Shida will no longer be a part of the tournament. As reported by PWInsider, Tony Schiavone has taped a segment with Jade Cargill and The Baddies, one of whom is Red Velvet, Shida’s first round opponent.

During that segment, Schiavone will reveal Shida is still suffering from injuries sustained during her Street Fight against Serena Deeb two weeks ago. Velvet will now have to take on Kris Statlander in her first round match on next week’s Rampage. Statlander never had the chance to compete in a qualifying match but will have the opportunity to compete in the tournament and progress should she beat Velvet next week.

Whether Shida is actually injured or not remains unclear. Shida is currently in Japan, and even though her last official match was the street fight in AEW, the former AEW Women’s Champion boasted that she had wrestled almost three hours worth of matches in just three days. If that’s where she sustained an injury, if she really does have one, that likely won’t sit well with AEW.

The men’s and the women’s tournaments will continue over the coming weeks, both culminating at Double Or Nothing. Owen’s widow Martha Hart will be at the event to present both winners with trophies. There are also still two Joker spots to fill. Mystery opponents who will compete in the men’s and women’s tournaments.

Source: TheSportster

Kris Statlander And Trent Return From Injury On AEW Dynamite

Kris Statlander and Trent returned from injury on tonight’s AEW Dynamite.

The main event of tonight’s show was an Arcade Anarchy Match featuring Miro and Kip Sabian vs. Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor. Part-way through the match, Penelope Ford got involved, but was quickly put down when Kris Statlander popped out of an arcade machine and attacked her.

Statlander has been out of action since last June with an ACL tear.

Near the end of the match, a familiar van approached Daily’s Place with Trent jumping out of it. After getting a kiss from his mom, Sue, Trent joined the fight and went right at Miro — the man who put him on the shelf. Trent has been away since December due to a partially torn pec.

Taylor powerslammed Sabian off the stage and through some tables to pick up the pinfall victory for his team.

After the match. Cassidy, Taylor, Trent and Statlander came together for a big hug.