9 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW All Out 2023 (Results & Review)
5. Kris Statlander Vs Ruby Soho
We may not yet have really seen the beginning of what Kris Statlander can do as a well booked Champion in AEW, but we've surely seen the end of The Outcasts thanks to easily the strongest female character act since Britt Baker's 2020 heel turn.
Toni Storm robbing Ruby Soho of the green spray-paint before she could use it on the Champion was a (the?) key beat of a TBS Championship match that hit harder than the typically quiet crowd were willing to acknowledge. Ruby Soho chained together all of her kill shots for a singular nearfall that should have brought the house down. Instead, her (to be absolutely fair, abbreviated) histrionics were for little more than a ripple of appreciation from the crowd. They weren't so much elevating bad material here, and no material at all. But elevate it they did.
Statlander's an ideal shortcut wrestler for Tony Khan, because she's a virtual guarantee of quality in-ring even if Champion and Challenger are only fed creative scraps to fight for. Outsmarting the heels was good for her growing credibility as the division's joint top dog, especially in the shadow of a Wembley show she was inexplicably frozen out of.