AEW's 'Double or Nothing' has a Long Island accent
AEW's Kris Statlander Credit: All Elite Wrestling/Lee South
Kris Statlander believes Long Island’s reputation for quality schools extends beyond the traditional classroom.
Heading toward All Elite Wrestling’s sold-out Double or Nothing pay-per-view event in Queens, the West Islip native points to the fact that the card is filled with Nassau and Suffolk natives as evidence that Long Island is doing something right when it comes to training future generations of pro wrestlers.
“Long Island has taken over AEW quite a bit,” said Statlander, a former AEW world champion who is challenging for the women’s tag team championship at Sunday’s show. “It’s such a great thing, because I feel like it's not expected to be the place that produces wrestlers like, Florida or Chicago even or Canada. There’s certain places that get so much recognition … And it's nice that Long Island has kind of been put on the map in that way.”
Among the other Long Islanders to be featured at Double or Nothing:
Chris Jericho, who lived in Manhasset as a child as his father, Ted Irvine, played for the New York Rangers in the 1970s, Plainview native Maxwell Jacob Friedman, or MJF, who is challenging Darby Allin for his third AEW world title in Sunday’s main event, and perhaps Long Island’s most famous pro wrestler, East Setauket’s Mick Foley, who will help host the show.
North Valley Stream’s Willow Nightingale also was slated to be on the show but pulled out due to injury.
Statlander said she’s “honored to represent” Long Island on the show, which is being held in a venue that has never before hosted a pro wrestling event — the 14,000-seat Louie Armstrong Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows..
“Hopefully we get to put on a really good show and we get to come back to that place and we leave a good mark and make it another wrestling venue,” Statlander said.
Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.
Long Island's Own
