Britt Baker was suspended and fined by AEW’s disciplinary committee following a backstage incident on the July 17th episode of Dynamite involving MJF and his girlfriend, Alicia Atout.
Baker’s legitimate suspension explains why she was absent from Dynamite last week.
Baker allegedly used foul language towards Atout, resulting in a confrontation between herself and MJF. Following an internal investigation, AEW chose not to suspend MJF because the HR department interpreted his actions as a defense of Atout and thus did not deem it worthy of disciplinary action.
On a recent edition of his “Hall of Fame” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T discussed the controversy involving Baker, MJF, and Atout, noting that AEW should implement stronger deterrent measures for such backstage incidents.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the reported drama with Britt Baker, MJF, and Alicia Atout: “I didn’t know if that was work or if they were…..because the damn thing is this, so many people get suspended in AEW. They don’t get fired. They just get suspended. What is the deal with the suspension thing? They need to start finding some people to stop making some example. You get suspended. That mean you coming back? I got suspended in school every month.”
On how AEW should’ve handled the situation: “Suspensions can work, I think. But my thing is this: they’re gonna have to start firing some people sooner. That’s one thing I haven’t heard as far as AEW. I’ve heard a couple of people got let go, but I haven’t heard anybody that has been, just say, fired.”
On CM Punk being the only person to be fired by AEW over backstage drama: “Punk would be the only one. And that right there says a lot. That says a whole lot, as was CM Punk being the one guy that got fired, the most popular, you know, stars that they had in the company to get fired. Then again, I don’t know what the situation was. I don’t know what the situation was between him and Tony Khan other than what we’ve heard and what we’ve seen, you know, it’s right, the Wembley tape.”
On AEW needing to get a handle on these types of things: “I don’t know a whole lot about that, but, like I say, they’re going to have to start doing something sooner or later to show a little bit more authority than just if this is not a work as far as Britt Baker and MJF. MJF is….he’s one of the guys. Britt Baker has been literally the sole female star at AEW that has really been promoted as a mega star. I could be wrong.”