It started as an open challenge laid out by Kris Statlander, a way for her to focus on herself after being rebuked by Willow Nightingale in her attempt to mend fences. It didn’t take long for someone to respond to the opportunity presented by the former TBS Champion, and it came from one of Stat’s main foes in here All Elite Wrestling:
Kris Statlander and Penelope Ford have gone one-on-one three times in AEW’s history; way back at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2020, on the April 28, 2021 DYNAMITE, and most recently at CHRISTMAS COLLISION this past December. All three of this matches were won by Statlander, but they aren’t the full scope of the fight between these two competitors. Factor in a pair of Four-Way bouts in 2020 in which both competed, though neither won, as well as tags and trios in which they faced off, and these two women have been at odds eight times in AEW alone, saying nothing of their handful of encounters before AEW’s existence.
Suffice to say this fight is about more than just tonight, and about the future of two women who’ve been a part of AEW as long as there has been an AEW.
So the question is, will this mark a 5th consecutive singles victory for Kris Statlander over Penelope Ford, or will “The Superbad Girl” finally get that elusive win over Stat she’s been chasing for the last five years?