Britt Baker is one of the most successful women’s wrestlers in the world, but it was a long journey to the AEW Women’s World Championship.
If you haven’t heard, she’s also a dentist. Baker somehow maintains two successful careers. This is a testament to her work ethic and determination. As it turns out, her dental school education kept her from fulfilling her dream of joining WWE.
On the latest episode of the Talk is Jericho podcast, Baker spoke to Chris Jericho about her hopes of signing with WWE several years ago
Baker had a tryout with the company and was in the same class as Lacey Evans. She felt confident WWE would offer her a contract, but her dental school education knocked those plans off course.
At the time of her WWE tryout, Canyon Ceman was a top executive in the talent development division. Baker described him as “the gatekeeper” who brought independent wrestlers on board to the company’s developmental system.
“He pulled me aside at the end of the tryout,” Baker recalls. “And he was like, ‘You know, you’ve just started dental school. As a father, I have a hard time pulling you from a professional degree.’ My heart dropped.”
Baker says she would have left dental school in a heartbeat if it meant she could join WWE. Looking back, she owes Ceman “the world” for not offering her a contract at the time.
“I would have left dental school in a heartbeat to go to WWE,” she said. “Because I was young, dumb, and I was like, ‘I’m going to be NXT Women’s Champion,’ like that would have got me far, right? He stayed in touch with me every few months after that. Like, ‘Let me know when you finish dental school, send me your matches.’ He always kept up with me.”
Ceman was released by WWE last year after nearly a decade with the company.
Britt Baker went on to join All Elite Wrestling in 2019. She captured the AEW Women’s World Championship at last year at Double or Nothing and is considered one of the most popular stars in the indsutry.
Baker defends the AEW Women’s champion against Thunder Rosa next weekend at AEW Revolution.
