The rivalry between Storm and Statlander kicked off at AEW All Out, where the latter dethroned the former as AEW Women’s Champion by pinning her in a four-way title match. Given Storm’s popularity and vibrancy as an in-ring character, Statlander admittedly wasn’t, and still isn’t, certain if the fans would embrace her as the holder of the world title after that. Nevertheless, she continued to put forth her greatest efforts in the role.

“I still don’t think that they accept me as their champion,” Statlander said. “And I get it because Toni is so incredible and sure of herself. She’s the best for a reason. She was so synonymous with the title for so long for a reason and I kind of came up out of nowhere. She gave a few of us an unexpected shot and we were like, ‘Alright, let’s do it,’ and I don’t think people were ready for it to be an out of nowhere type of thing. That’s okay. That’s how life works sometimes. Life is unpredictable. I’m just doing my best to give the title as good of a reign as I can because I’m not Toni Storm. I’ll never be her. But I am me and the best that I can do is give you my best.”

In their rematch for the title at AEW WrestleDream, Statlander overcame a momentary loss of consciousness to pin Storm yet again, this time by locking her in a head scissors submission, then driving her into the mat with a Saturday Night Fever. From there, Storm pivoted to a program with the Death Riders’ Marina Shafir, while “The Cosmic Killer” racked up more successful title defenses against Mercedes Mone, Jamie Hayter, and Thekla. The latter later unseated Statlander in their second AEW Women’s Championship faceoff in February.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Ring The Belle” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.