Tony Khan on Britt Baker’s Rise in 2021, Coming Into Her Own as a Heel

Tony Khan weighed in on Britt Baker’s rise to the top in 2021 and more in a new interview. Khan spoke with Sports Illustrated looking at AEW’s 2021 and you can see some highlights below:

On Baker finding her groove as a heel: “Sometimes you get to know a person in real life and you see an element of their personality they should be presenting in wrestling. Kenny [Omega] thought Britt would be better as a heel, and I agreed. She got a lot of great coaching from people like Kenny, Cody and Chris Jericho, but she also committed to it. During the Jericho Cruise, we talked about doing a promo where she belittled Tony Schiavone for working at Starbucks. We thought that would generate a lot of heat, and that was the start of it.

“Not everyone gave Britt a chance at first as a heel when she was developing. I remember all the criticism she received, so it’s an important lesson not to give up on a young, determined wrestler. She was clearly getting better every week, and she kept getting better and better. She focused on her character, and I made it a priority to expand her presence on the show. She found such great chemistry with Reba, and it’s been really fun to see her grow into this role as a top champion and villain.”

On Baker’s ’s rise in 2021: “Her wrestling in 2021 took a huge step forward, too. She had some great, great matches, and I’m really looking forward to her match against Riho at Battle of the Belts, which a live special we’re holding on TNT on Jan. 8. Britt has great matches when she’s defending the title. She had the great match last month against Riho. The pay-per-view match against Tay Conti is the best match in Tay’s career. Ruby Soho at ‘Grand Slam,’ the title match against Hikaru Shida. And the ‘Lights Out’ match against Thunder Rosa is one of the greatest in AEW.”