They’re coming back.
After making their Springfield debut last September, AEW: Collision returns to the MassMutual Center on Saturday, April 12 for another round of action-packed wrestling.
Showtime is 7:30 p.m. and the event is being broadcast live on TNT.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW)’s star-studded roster, which AEW notes may change, includes “The Rated R Superstar” Cope, Christian Cage, Jon Moxley, “Timeless” Toni Storm, Hangman Adam Page, Swerve Strickland, Mercedes Mone, Adam Cole, Jack Perry, Mariah May, Orange Cassidy, Kazuchika Okada, Mark Briscoe, and many others, including former AEW TBS Champion Kris Statlander.
For much of her early career – she is one of the AEW Women’s Division original stars debuting in 2019 at age 24 – Statlander was aligned with the Best Friends stable, featuring AEW original and former International Champion Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero. She held the TBS Championship for 174 days, with successful defenses against a variety of top AEW stars including Ruby Soho, Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Willow Nightingale, Nyla Rose and more.
Tickets, ranging in price from $28 to $450, are available online at massmutualcenter.com.
Statlander wrestled some time from being in the ring to answer a few questions for The Republican.
Q: How would you describe what fans will see in Springfield this weekend?
A: Fans will see a lot of excitement in the ring and that is the beauty of our live shows – you never know who you are going to get, who might show up, and what will happen. That is what makes wrestling and AEW, in particular, so exciting and a fun experience. I always say being there live and in person is such a great way to experience wresting for the first time, 100th time, or 10,000th time. Everyone in the building is a part of the show one way or another, and I think it’s just going to be fun all around for everyone just as it usually is.
Q: What brought you to wrestling as a career, and eventually to AEW?
A: I started out as a stunt performer and trained in stage combat, then I found wrestling and started managing a team. I realized that I wanted to be in on the action and started wrestling, eventually finding my way to AEW and apparently, I’m really good at wrestling.
Q Do you have a signature move?
A: Yes, it’s the single leg cradle tombstone which I call ‘night fever.’ I came up with it and it works every time and never fails me. And once I hit it in the ring, then I win the match.
Q: Who is your greatest adversary?
A: Myself. I don’t have many friends on my side, but one thing I do know is that I always have my own back.
Q: So, you don’t have anyone you can count on?
A: There are some people who are nice to me. I’ve been teaming up a lot with Thunder Rosa and I feel as if I might be on the good side of Toni Storm who is the AEW Women’s World Champion.
Q: In recent weeks, you have been teaming with Thunder Rosa in a feud with Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford. What started the feud, and how will it continue in Springfield?
A: Megan came in all big bad and tough and she has been beating me up a lot. She formed an alliance with a former enemy of mine, Penelope Ford. And I just can’t have my enemies being my friends. So, I’m trying to hurt them for hurting me now. And there is a chance this feud might go all the way to Springfield because I still have some checks to cash with them.
Q: You have overcome ACL tears in both legs, and after your second injury returned triumphantly to win the AEW TBS Championship against the then-undefeated champ Jade Cargill. Wrestling can be dangerous, and it can’t be fun getting hurt.
A: No, it’s not fun. I think we all get that it’s part of the risk that something very dangerous can happen. But I think that is part of the fun in competing in a sport like this…. that we are always out there risking our lives, risking our health and well-being. However, being able to perform on such a high level for so many people and giving them the emotional rush that we feel when you are in the ring is the payback. And you almost forget that getting injured is a very real possibility.
Q; What do you want to achieve before retiring from wrestling?
A: I feel that it is an easy answer to say to win every single title and to wrestle all over the world. But my biggest goal is to lessen the gap between how people perceive women’s and men’s wrestling and to leave wrestling better than it was, that is my ultimate goal.
Tickets to AEW: Collision at the MassMutual Center begin at $28 and can be purchased online at massmutualcenter.com
