WWE encouraged Dr. Britt Baker to finish her dental degree

Here’s another story to add to the ‘what if’ file of professional wrestling. In an alternate world, Dr. Britt Baker DMD would have just been plain old professional wrestler Britt Baker. In reality, WWE encouraged Baker to complete her dental degree, and the rest is history.

Baker explained the story as a guest on the Nick Cannon talk show.

Nick Cannon: And you actually considered quitting like dental school and all that stuff to actually just do wrestling full time. What made you change your mind and say both is the way to go?

Dr. Britt Baker DMD: It was actually, it was fate. So, I had a tryout with the WWE, and it was in like my second year of dental school. And I was young and dumb and ready to give up every degree I ever had to be a professional wrestler. And they actually told me, they said, “No, we want you to finish your degree.” And at the time like that was a knife to the heart. That was the worst words I could’ve ever heard. But now, I’m so thankful, because, not only that, it led me to a different direction. I wrestle for AEW, I’m the women’s champion, and I’m a dentist.

During the show, Baker hit Skye Blue with a fisherman neckbreaker then taught a headlock and hammerlock to Cannon. She also put the host into the Lockjaw submission.

It’s funny how that shaped Baker’s career. By WWE doing the right thing with prudent advice, they actually helped their biggest competitor. Of course, there is no way WWE would have known that at the time.

This story also makes it feel like destiny that Thunder Rosa is Baker’s biggest rival in AEW. Thunder Rosa had a similar scenario where she was ready to sign with WWE, but her flight was canceled by a hurricane. Thunder Rosa changed her mind. Both women ended up in AEW to become superstars and bloody up our screens in the popular Lights Out match to main event Dynamite.

Let’s give a hand to WWE for their role in Baker’s rise of the DMD era.