AEW's Kris Statlander Talks About Her Most 'Underappreciated' Skill

Kris Statlander has worn many hats in AEW, from being the "Galaxy's Greatest Alien"  to "More Than a Woman" to the current AEW TBS Champion, with two straight impressive title defenses over Jade Cargill and Britt Baker over the last week. But Statlander also holds another honor, being the most notable AEW star to use American Sign Language, often signing the phrase "Mama's home" prior to her matches.

In an interview with "Under the Ring," she talked about sign language, which she called her most "underappreciated skill," how she came to use it in wrestling, how she learned more of it as time went on, and her goal in incorporating sign language into her character.

"My biggest thing that made me start doing it was sometimes on the indies, I would hold up this hand ... I think this an 'F' and a 'U,'" Statlander said. "So I would hold those up as I was walking to the ring as a bad guy because I just thought it was funny. No one really understood what I was doing, but I just thought, 'There's a fun little thing if someone did know what it was.' That's really it."

She explained how sign language is underappreciated and hopes to bring some awareness by using it.

"And then I was like, 'I can learn more about it, and I can find other ways to incorporate sign language.' And I'm glad that it's noticed and people really like that I do it. It's also a very underappreciated, and not used enough skill and language. So I think it's cool to kind of bring a little bit more awareness to it, and I hope it encourages some people to at least learn how to fingerspell and learn the alphabet," said the TBS Champion.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Under the Ring" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription