Britt Baker Details Struggles She Faced While Sidelined In AEW

Leading into her triumphant return at AEWxNJPW Forbidden Door, wrestling fans found themselves wondering what was going on with Britt Baker, and where the former AEW Women's World Champion was. Those questions were answered days after Baker's returned, and those answers weren't all sunshines and roses, as Baker revealed she was not only out recovering from injuries, but had suffered TIA, or ministroke, last fall, lengthening her recovery time.

Earlier this week, Baker sat down with Renee Paquette for "Close Up" to talk about the long road back. And Baker was upfront about how much of a struggle it was to stay at home from her ailments, particularly when she felt like she was missing out on helping AEW grow, something she had been doing since the promotion's first day.

"[AEW], it's young, but at the same time I've been part of every waking moment of it, until I wasn't," Baker said. "So it was kind of stressful being at home, just watching the company continue to grow without me, cause wrestling waits for no one. You're there or you're not, and it doesn't matter, because wrestling's going to continue without you. 

"That's the harsh reality, but it's rewarding in a sense, because I'll always be part of the foundation, I'll always be the roots of AEW. And it's going to thrive with or without me, but I want to be...I always want to be the reason of its success too. I think anybody would want that."

Despite all of that, Baker admitted that she may have been a little stubborn prior to taking time off, working through injuries instead of letting them heal. She also thinks the time away wound up being a blessing in disguise, as it allowed her character to refresh, and herself to get into the right frame of mine again.

"You want to be the warrior," Baker said. "You want to set the example that 'We're here for AEW. We're here. We're going to do whatever's asked of us or needed of us.' But yeah, my back got really bad there for awhile, where I had to get the injections to be able to even walk in the ring at some point. And then it was...everything at once. I had a torn hip labrum, which again, was from the herniated disks in my back. 

"And my neck, and my wrist...it was just all kind of crumbling together...But yeah, it was time. It was time to let everything heal, and just mentally, emotionally, get in tune with myself again. Because you do kind of lose yourself at some point when...it was...it felt like I was just stale. I was stagnant, with who I am as a performer, and I needed time away to kind of be reinvigorated again and to find myself again."

To quote this article, please credit "Close Up with Renee Paquette" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription