During a recent interview with talkSPORT, Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. commented on her Lights Out match with Thunder Rosa, how they put it together, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On laying out the Lights Out match with Thunder Rosa: “I was really, really nervous because I wanted it to be something super memorable. I wanted it to be something that everybody would talk about for many, many years to come and that’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself, especially in today’s wrestling. Everything has been done, we’re doing everything every night of the week, so you really have to dig down deep and think outside of the box to come out with something that will stand out.”
“Not to mention the pressure that the women’s division was and is under, we’re always under fire. So this was a way to really give everybody the middle finger that keeps complaining about us. That was a goal. I really like to shut the haters up and I think that we did.”
On convincing Tony Khan to agree to some of the more dangerous spots: “Well, Tony cares. He wants me to be able to get up and go to the dental office the next day so there were some things where I had to sit in his office and convince him, but I’m pretty charming, I have an irresistible charm, you know [laughs]. So we were both thrilled with how it turned out, everyone was happy with it.”
On if the match turned out like she imagined: “When the match was happening I remember thinking ‘wow, this hurts so bad,’ I hope people are going to appreciate this! But you never know, you can think it’s going one way and the reaction after is completely different. I had a feeling like ‘this is really special’ but you don’t know until you know. I had a feeling it would be a good reaction but I didn’t know it was going to be what it was. Wrestlers across the industry, wrestlers I’ve looked up to reached out and were like ‘holy s***, that was amazing. You guys killed it.’ It was such a good feeling. Because wrestlers are ego-maniacs and there’s no better feeling than getting the nod of approval from your peers. And for fans to reach out and say how excited they were to see women in this spot and how badass we were, that’s something too I’ll never forget.”
On her biggest influences in AEW: “Everybody has helped me to the moon and back and then some. Tony Khan will always be probably the biggest influence in the success of the Britt Baker story because he really, really had a lot of faith and trust in me from day one. When I was not sure I could handle the stress or the pressure, he always saw something in me and that’s something I’ll be forever grateful for. He trusts me when I have an idea or a vision. He’s in charge, so he’ll have his tweaks and whatnot, but he’s very trusting of the process.
“In-ring, I’ve been working heavily with Jerry Lynn. He’s one of the best, I love working with Jerry. Chris Jericho is always going to be a mentor to me in every way possible. He’s so good with characters, helping with my promos and match psychology and Kenny [Omega], he’s been my guy from day one. He’s always had such a heavy, heavy devotion to the women’s division and it’s success. Kenny is somebody that I can always go to when I’m really stressed out or doubting myself. He’s such a great pep talk, but it’s a realistic pep talk. He’s not just going to tell you what you need to hear, he’s going to be honest about it and in the best way possible. The best pep talker ever is Kenny Omega. And he’s one of my favourite wrestlers ever. I was in dental school sitting in the back row watching Kenny Omega matches in New Japan when I should have been paying attention to my classes. So getting to working with him is really cool. He’s a mentor and a really good friend now.”
