Thekla Beats Kris Statlander to Retain AEW Women's World Title at Revolution 2026

Thekla beat Kris Statlander in a two-out-of-three falls match to retain the AEW Women's World Championship at Revolution on Sunday.

The rivalry between Thekla and Statlander began in January when Statlander was in the midst of her first reign as AEW women's world champion.

Statlander defeated Thekla to retain the title on the Jan. 28 episode of Dynamite, but just two weeks later, Thekla received a rematch and the bout was taken to the next level with a strap match stipulation.

Given that there are no rules in a strap match, it came as little surprise when Thekla's Triangle of Madness stablemates Skye Blue and Julia Hart involved themselves in the match.

Their interference was too much for Statlander to overcome, as Thekla became AEW women's world champion for the first time, and Statlander's reign ended at 144 days.

Thekla's first title defense occurred on the March 4 edition of Dynamite when she faced off with Thunder Rosa. Thekla won the match, but attempts by her, Blue and Hart to add insult to injury were thwarted.

Statlander showed up to run off the Triangle of Madness, signaling the continuation of her feud with Thekla.

That same night, Statlander challenged The Toxic Spider to a two-out-of-three falls match for the title, and AEW president Tony Khan later made it official for Revolution.

Beating Statlander once is a major accomplishment in and of itself, and the prospect of having to do it twice meant Thekla's young title reign was in danger of coming to an end.

Despite that, Thekla came out on top at Revolution, and Statlander may now have to go to the back of the line with regard to title contention.