Why could she not enter the ring properly but do a moonsault.AEW are making an absolute mess of their women’s division.And don’t get me started about Big Smile not being big.
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If this is your complaint, you either A: didn’t pay any attention, or B: are simply looking for a reason to hate.
Maybe I’m reading to much into this, but; we were made aware that Reba/Rebel can actually wrestle. Britt Baker wouldn’t care to know about that, so she wouldn’t know that. That would mean Reba intentionally threw the match, and will probably maybe turn on Britt Baker at the ppv
All I know is, Reba is hot. The bumping into the ring part was dumb though.
I chuckled. It reminded me when Emma was trying to pull herself up from outside the ring via the top rope and with every passing week she was becoming a bit better at it.
Big swole is huge?
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I watched AEW for the first time in forever yesterday - and this was really a glaringly bad moment of television in a show that was altogether pretty good. I’m honestly not sure where the disconnect is between the booking for the men and the booking for the women. It feels like someone more out of touch with wrestling like Brandi may have more oversight. I honestly don’t know. Could be Kenny for all I know, but it’s noticeably bad.
It felt like WWE. Why would Britt Baker send an “inexperienced wrestler” as Big Swole’s opponent if she doesn’t want to face her? Why did Taz bring up Reba has experience when the story is she doesn’t? I don’t know. Felt insulting to the viewer. WWE has made me truly hate comedic wrestling, so I’m sure there’s some bias, but this was not nuanced and intelligent programming.
Swole looks like she’ll be legit one day. Britt is entertaining. But as a whole, that division is just so weak. And I know some of their stars are stuck overseas, but it feels like it’s intentionally not getting attention and airtime compared to the men - as if they are insecure about the people they hired. There’s plenty of seasoned and talented women all over the world and I hope AEW begins to either seriously get behind a few of their women on Dynamite, or hire people they are more confident in presenting to their national audience.
I thought the match did what it needed to do (which was progress the Britt-Swole fued). Could they have dailed back on the comedy a bit? Sure…But I think it worked for the most part.
Britt HAD to chose Reba/Rebel b/c she’s spent months running down the locker room. Why would anyone of substance want to help this chick? So it falls to Rebel who in-storyline hasn’t wrestled in years. I think she went overboard with the “I forgot how to wrestle” schtick…But she should’ve been a lil’ rusty.
It could’ve been better, but I think it was fine for what it was. Britt is by far one of the most-improved performers in the business, and Swole is a star waiting to happen! The AEW women’s division still needs a lot of work, but it’s come a long way from where it was on Day 1. 
I thought it was pretty lame but at least it was short. Taz shouldn’t have said anything about her having any wrestling experience because in AEW continuity she’s just a makeup person who Baker hired.
Baker and Swole were both good though and I think both are going to be big pieces moving forward
Firstly - huge fan of your content and guest appearances!
To respond, I think it worked in the sense it didn’t go long. So I respect they kept it short and sweet. But, I think the problem remains in that, Reba is playing the role of inexperienced wrestler, while Taz is speaking about how she’s had hundreds of matches. There needs to be a bit more synergy. And while I’m sure it was an honest mixup, as someone who’s not followed the product intently, I was confused. I can’t imagine it was just me.
As for her choosing Reba, I get your point in that she has no friends in the locker room. But, it wasn’t necessarily presented that way. I may have missed something - but I don’t recall that being a point on commentary. And Britt didn’t convey any signs of desperation either, as she tried to find someone. I think there may have been better options. One example off the top, she leans into being a rich DMD/Pro Wrestler and hires someone more formidable for a one-off. Then you build Swole as more legit than having her beat someone who in storyline can’t wrestle. Just my opinion though.
I haven’t really consistently followed the growth of the division. So I’m glad to hear it’s coming along. Like I mentioned, Britt is highly entertaining and my first impression of Swole was she’s got legit star power. I do wish the division as a whole got more time and attention on TNT. Some of their talent are currently inaccessible, but a few more vets with some cred to help the greener talent along I believe would a long way.
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Yep,not liking something makes me to a hater,welcome to 2020.Britt Baker has great personality,lousey in the ring,Swole is not big and is pretty meh,Statlander is an alien!?!,ok,Rhio,talented but looks as threatening as a puddle,Nyla can’t fault other than she has been booked shit,Brandi is overpowered,Penelope Ford,sloppy but has it,Rebel may or may not know what’s she’s doing,The bunny was a bunny is not a bunny but may still be a bunny.
This is not the division we were promised,don’t hate it just feel let down.
Given that in character Dr. Baker is a bit detached from reality, I had assumed that she was under the impression that since Reba/Rebel had wrestled that she was a good wrestler.
That Reba is bad was the point of the short segment - that Dr. Baker really is in a world of her own.
For me the skit did what it was supposed to do. It was never presented as, nor did I receive it as, something that was supposed to be a good wrestling match.
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Wait. So Britt, in her own reality, is under the impression Reba is a good wrestler because she has a history of wrestling? Although the gimmick is she’s an inexperienced wrestler who’s just trying to get a foot-in-the-door by working with Britt?
I’m confused. And like I said before, Taz mentioned she has a history around the world and Reba is moving like she has no idea what she’s doing (intentionally to sell the gimmick). Yes, it is delusional for Baker to believe Reba has a chance, but it’s never backed up by her talking up Reba’s history. Delusional heels can also be smart. Why not bring someone in from the outside with a name (maybe the NWA?), put that person over as a threat, then have Swole win the match to cement herself as legit? Then Britt looks calculated for actually creating an obstacle to avoid her match with Swole. You could hype it one week, then have the match the following week.
I understand what they were going for. Britt threw Reba in there for kicks, Reba is acting like she’s never been in a ring, Swole wins quickly. But the presentation wasn’t consistent. I know Swole is green, but that’s why you bring in a vet for a one off for her to strongly go over. In my opinion. I just strongly believe this division would benefit from some technically sound vets (even on per date deals) to get some of these women over. A Gail Kim, a Victoria, someone with a name (I’m not ultra familiar with the 2020 crop of available women) but would now be in the business of helping younger talent. The whole thing just felt sloppy. Nobody left looking good (although Swole’s presence is legit).
No, that is not Reba’s gimmick. Reba is in character the make-up person (which she does in real life.) In character Reba is also Dr. Baker’s general assistant.
Taz may have thrown off some viewers, as if we’re supposed to have believed that Reba is a good wrestler.
The gimmick is all Baker’s. She is delusional, out of touch with reality. She thinks Big Swole is nothing, and that Reba has to be something because she works for Baker.
Because I haven’t followed closely - I appreciate the clarification on who Reba is. I mean, it feels similar enough. She’s the makeup person and Britt’s assistant. At the end of the day, she’ll eventually snap and the two will feud. Got that part.
And, I get where you’re coming from now, but disagree that’s the correct way to present this. As I said, you can be delusional and calculated. The debate isn’t in that I don’t understand the idea. But long-terms, is it right to make Baker so delusional that she thinks Reba will do well just because she works for her?
That’s entirely subjective. I would say the better route is to go along the EC3/Spud path, where it is clear the naive assistant was being used and manipulated, while the star was always in control and knew how to manipulate the situation. EC3 would send Spud in when he absolutely had to, but when it really mattered, he had a heavy. If Britt goes so far into her own world to where her character truly believes Reba will get her out of a match with Swole, it veers a bit too much into Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain territory. At least to me.
I get she’s limited by the injury and needs to stay creative. But she’s a smart woman, clearly. You can be lost in your ego and understand that when it matters, it’s time to use the brain a bit. It’d benefit Swole too. Swole beat someone who in storyline doesn’t even know how to do this. What’s that accomplish? Give her something to fight for from underneath. And if Baker hires a formidable heavy, it sort of let’s us know that, even though she’s crazy, she really is going all out to avoid a one-on-one with Swole.
Again, that’s subjective. It just feels poorly written to me as is. When Baker begins to regularly wrestle again, it’s going to be important that she is someone to take seriously as a lead heel. Being so lost as to not have a grasp on her assistant’s capabilities makes her seem dumb. Now she’s gotta wrestle this badass woman because she had no foresight to plan or weaken her with someone more suitable.
Yes, I realize I’m delving too deep into this 2 minute segment.
Just a simple comment about not being able to wrestle in heels, or something like that, would have fixed the entire thing.
We’ll find out where all of this is going. Delusions of self-grandeur is a staple for wrestling heels, and perhaps this will be a defining character long-term for the Dr. Britt Baker character.
Baker is still young, and young as a wrestler. She has on-screen talent, so it may be that her career will be more as a manager than as a wrestler.
She’s promoting that she’ll be back at the next big PPV, but with her knee injury I worry that she is being too anxious to come back. I think she is risking further injury.
Then again, maybe she doesn’t see herself in-ring for many more years. She has a DMD so perhaps wrestling is just a side-show until she can get a well established dentistry business going. She’s good enough on the mic that she could work part-time as a talker in wrestler for many decades, while her main career is dentistry.
As for the women’s division on the whole, I think it is clear that without the Japanese and given WWE parked so much talent that a company like AEW has a long road to building their own circle of professional wrestlers who are women. Whether it is financially worthwhile for AEW to do this I don’t know, by which I mean having their own wrestling school aimed at building new talent for their women’s division.
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