Revealed: The Mastermind Behind Britt Baker's AEW Heel Turn
Who came up with the turn the transformed Britt Baker from failed babyface to AEW uber heel?
All Elite Wrestling villain Britt Baker has revealed Kenny Omega as the person behind the 2020 turn that saw her go from failed babyface franchise player to one of the most obnoxious and effective heels in the company.
Speaking during a recent appearance on the Sunday Night's Main Event podcast, Baker said the following (h/t Fighter Fans' Jake Skudder for the transcriptions:-
“It was Kenny Omega, Kenny ‘The Cleaner. He had the idea of turning me heel. I remember I was in the ring one day just training, he came up and talked to me about it. He’s like ‘what do you think about being a heel? We don’t really have any heels and, you know, maybe this would work. And I just remember saying ‘I’m down to do anything’ and I will always try anything. But at that point in my wrestling career I had never been a heel, [not even] once in my life. So, just like my whole experience of AEW? I was just kind of getting thrown into the fire, let’s go, let’s see if it works. And it did.”
The turn, which formally went down during Dynamite's Jericho Cruise episode in January 2020, was an immediate, transformative success. Baker's disconnected babyface act was stripped away as she relentlessly bullied the endlessly sympathetic Tony Schiavone, with her positioning opposite natural underdogs like Yuka Sakazaki ensuring her character was just as potent between the ropes as it was on the microphone.
An ill-timed injury should have derailed Baker's hype train in May, but Britt stayed relevant with excellent weekly skits opposite Schiavone, Big Swole, and more, having taken Reba on as a personal assistant. Now, she's about to wrestle Thunder Rosa at the Beach Break special on 3 February.