10 Most Improved Wrestlers Of 2023

Since landing in AEW at the end of 2019, Kris Statlander had always been steady and showed plentiful potential, but that potential was never fully maximised due to the two major ACL injuries suffered barely two years apart. Also, truthfully, it did seem like there was always a certain ceiling to Stat's admittedly fun Galaxy's Greatest Alien schtick.

Booping people on the nose is entertaining and will always get a pop, but would it necessarily have you in genuine contention for championship gold? Possibly not. Returning to action with a new, more serious, focused persona at Double or Nothing back in May, Statlander handed Jade Cargill her first ever loss and took the TBS Title.

That match in and of itself was less than one minute and didn't exactly scream babyface behaviour- taking advantage of an already-weakened Cargill fresh off beating Taya Valkyrie - but the New Yorker has become one of the mainstays of AEW programming in the time since then.

Since becoming a no-frills, straight-up ass-kicker, Statlander made for a great fighting champion, is a natural babyface who you can't help but root for, and in terms of match quality has consistently delivered at a high level.