Thekla dethrones Kris Statlander as AEW Women’s Champion. Sol Ruca snatches an NXT Women’s Championship match. Killer Kelly chats with WrestleZone, and more.
Thekla Dethrones Kris Statlander On AEW Dynamite
Two weeks ago, Kris Statlander successfully defended the AEW Women’s Championship against Thekla on AEW Dynamite. Upon their rematch, the opposite outcome materialized.
In the main event of this week’s Dynamite, Statlander and Thekla met in a rematch for the AEW Women’s Championship, with the added stipulation of a strap. As such, Statlander and Thekla each unleashed a flurry of offense while connected to the other by a leather strap.
With disqualifications being voided from this match type, Thekla’s stablemates Julia Hart and Skye Blue eventually seized the opportunity to intervene. Unfortunately for them, it resulted in each of them being lashed with the strap. Meanwhile, Thekla capitalized on Statlander’s preoccupation by spearing her. To follow up, Thekla then tied Statlander’s hands behind her back and stomped her, leaving “Straplander” unable to kick out.
With Thekla’s win, Statlander’s reign as AEW Women’s Champion ended at 143 days. For Thekla, it marked the beginning of her first title reign in AEW as a whole.
Looking ahead, AEW heads to Sydney for Grand Slam Australia. There, Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron will defend the AEW Women’s Tag Team titles against Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford. Elsewhere, “Timeless” Toni Storm and Orange Cassidy will take on Marina Shafir and Wheeler Yuta in a tornado tag match, where the loser of the fall must shave their head.
RELATED: Kris Statlander: Women Bleed Every Month, AEW Blood & Guts Criticism Is Unfair
Sol Ruca Earns NXT Women’s Title Shot
Over in WWE NXT, Sol Ruca now finds herself in line for an NXT Women’s Championship opportunity. The manner in which she got there, however, has resulted in some tension between her and her tag partner, Zaria.
On this week’s edition of WWE NXT, Ruca and Zaria faced Wren Sinclair and Kendal Grey, with the added stipulation that whoever scored the winning pinfall would earn the future title shot. In the closing moments, Grey superkicked Zaria in the corner, which caused Zaria’s arm to collide with Ruca’s hand. Unaware that the referee had ruled Ruca as the legal competitor from that point, Zaria then burst out of the corner to spear Grey and drop Sinclair with an F5. Meanwhile, Ruca planted Grey with a Sol Snatcher.
Much to Zaria’s dismay, the referee then counted Ruca’s pinfall, and not hers, for the victory. With it, Ruca will now challenge Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Championship.
The time and date for Ruca and Jayne’s title match has yet to be announced.
RELATED: WWE NXT’s Sol Ruca Conflicted Over Zaria Situation
Girl Fight Wrestling’s Full Card
This weekend, Girl Fight Wrestling will mark its official return with the Your Lost Valentine event, spearheaded by Girl Fight Champion Billie Starkz.
For this occasion, Starkz, also the new booker and promoter, recruited 15 other talents for an afternoon of all-women’s wrestling in New Albany, Indiana. According to Starkz, the process of putting the card together was a long one, but fortunately, some pre-existing relationships helped ease it.
“I truly am happy that I’ve been such a good person in wrestling. I’ve made great friends,” Starkz told WrestleZone in a new interview. “Honestly, I’ve made such a great group of people in wrestling with the women’s wrestlers. Especially on this first show, they’ve made it amazingly easy for me. Stuff has been great. They are excited to wrestle, excited to put on a great show for people. It’s weird to me because I don’t like being in this position of power. I will say that very much. I feel weird being able to use my wrestling brain to be like, ‘Yeah, you and you would do great together. Have fun, fight each other.’”
Ultimately, Starkz landed on six matches for the show’s final card, including a four-way that will see her defend the Girl Fight Championship. Elsewhere, Starkz’s mentor and ROH Women’s World Champion Athena will take on VertVixen.
The full and final lineup for GFW’s Your Lost Valentine is as follows:
- Laynie Luck & Shazza McKenzie vs. Kenzie Paige & Kylie Paige
- Rachael Ellering vs. Ashlyn Alexander
- Girl Fight Title: Billie Starkz (c) vs. Emily Jaye vs. Lili Ruiz vs. Allie Allbright
- Athena vs. VertVixen
- Killer Kelly vs. Jada Stone
- Rachel Armstrong vs. Maya World
INTERVIEWS
Former TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion Killer Kelly spoke with WrestleZone about her recent departure from TNA, goals for free agency, her partner Myron Reed’s arrival in AEW, Girl Fight Wrestling’s Your Lost Valentine event, her favorite wrestling couples, Gunther’s rise in WWE, and more.
Former AEW Women’s Champion Kris Statlander sat down with Denise Salcedo to talk about how she prepares for her wrestling matches, what her week looks like, what she likes to do for fun when she’s not working plus, her true feelings on her reign as AEW Women’s World Champion, her matches with Mercedes Mone and Toni Storm, and more.
“The Stunner” Emily Jaye chatted with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful about her annual appearances at WrestleCade, the WWE ID program, doing extra work for All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor, how Billie Starkz helped her in the ring, her indie wrestling goals, and more.
Former WWE Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax joined Chris Van Vliet to discuss her return to WWE in 2023, punching Becky Lynch and the backlash that followed, responding to online critics, taking an RKO from Randy Orton in the Royal Rumble, taking a stinkface from Rhea Ripley at a WWE live event, crushing Lyra Valkyria in the ring, and more.
2026 Women’s Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan talked with The Takedown on SI about big victory in Saudi Arabia, forgetting to point at the WrestleMania 42 sign afterward, her recovery from shoulder surgery, why this injury was different from 2023, returning to television at Survivor Series 2025, and more.
RELATED: Killer Kelly Wants To Surprise Everyone In Free Agency
