Kris Statlander Explains Lifting Up Renee Paquette During AEW Backstage Segment

The August 4 episode of "AEW Rampage" featured an amusing backstage interview where TBS Champion Kris Statlander squatted with Renee Paquette on her shoulders during their exchange. During a recent interview with Alicia Atout, Statlander explained how that segment came to be.

"I mean, I had no idea what I was going to do because I was just told to talk about the upcoming match with Mercedes Martinez on 'Collision' the next day," Statlander said. "I feel like I try to be a very serious person when I have my promos, and that's just not who I am. Anyone that knows me knows that it's just not right unless it's super genuine and just wasn't one of those promos that needed to be like, 'This is my whole world, my whole life.' I just needed to do something different and do something that was more me."

She continued, "Obviously, I asked Renee, I said, 'Hey, what do you think about this?' and she was like, 'Alright, let's do it.' Yeah, that was our second take of that promo. We just had to make sure — so I was very tired. I was very, very tired during that second take, but somehow I got through it, and the people went nuts over it, and everyone loved it. I was like, 'Alright, I guess I just have to squat everyone that's interviewing me from now on.'"

Statlander went on to successfully defend the TBS title against Martinez on the August 5 episode of "AEW Collision." Since then, Statlander and Willow Nightingale have been involved in a feud with Martinez and Diamante.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Alicia Atout with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.