Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. recently spoke with Ian Douglass of Mel’s Magazine for an in-depth interview where she talks at length about balancing her careers as both a pro wrestling star and a practicing dentist.
During the discussion, the women’s wrestling star and highly-regarded AEW performer spoke about when she first decided she wanted to be a pro wrestler, her ultimate goals in the business, if she would ever choose her dentist work over her wrestling career, as well as her desire to cross-over into the mainstream.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the new interview where the winner of the inaugural Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament touches on these topics with her thoughts.
On when she first decided she wanted to be a pro wrestler: “I was at Penn State University, and I got accepted into the dental school at the University of Pittsburgh. So I knew I was moving to Pitt, and I was watching wrestling with one of my friends. They mentioned that Pittsburgh had a big independent wrestling scene, so I did some research — and by ‘research’ I mean that I just whipped out my trusty YouTube app and started searching for “independent wrestling.” I saw that people like C.M. Punk, Bryan Danielson and Seth Rollins — people who were some of my favorite wrestlers — all started by wrestling on the indies. That kind of got the wheels spinning, and it was a reality check for me that anybody could become a wrestler if they try out, work hard, get the right opportunities and if they’re good at it. I found a couple independent wrestling schools in Pittsburgh and called one of them up and told them I wanted to do a tryout to see what goes into being a wrestler. I drove two-and-a-half hours to Pittsburgh to try out because I was still living in State College, and I absolutely loved everything about it. It was so cool. It was the first time that I got to peel back the curtain and see what goes into putting on these spectacular wrestling matches that I’m such a big fan of. They said, ‘Okay! You start next week!’ The problem was I still lived in State College, so for three months, I had to drive back and forth twice a week to get to training. But I loved it, and I wouldn’t have changed anything for the world. I even loved when we had to get to the shows early and set up the ring and take the ring down. I wouldn’t get home until 4 a.m. some nights because I was taking down a wrestling ring, but I loved it. It was the coolest thing ever. I was the only girl training amongst these big guys. One of the promoters used to pick on me all the time and ask me, “How long until you quit?” It was tough love. I think most people thought I really wasn’t going to make it. It was nice to prove them wrong.”
On being an evolved version of Kane’s old “Isaac Yankem DDS” gimmick because she lives her character as a legitimate dentist in addition to being an elite-level pro wrestler: “Yes. Dr. Isaac Yakem was DDS, and I’m Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. Same degree, different letters. I never really had a gimmick or a character that wasn’t me. My name is my name: I’m Britt Baker, and I’m a dentist, so I don’t really know what it is to play something that I’m not. I guess in terms of being a heel or a villain, it’s pushing the limits more than I ordinarily would in terms of smack talk, or just being an ass for lack of a better word. But I have so much fun doing that.”
On how her pro wrestling fame influences her interactions with her patients: “It does get tricky sometimes when more and more fans come into the office because I want to be a professional. I’m a health-care provider and a physician when I’m in the dental office. I’m not there to entertain you; I’m not there to elicit a love or a hate reaction. I want you to trust me as a provider, and not be bamboozled into a gimmick or a character. It’s a really gray area there, and I’m still trying to navigate those waters. If anything, I think being a dentist helps me interact with people and fans more as a wrestler because people usually don’t like to come to the dentist. They don’t like you. You have to really win them over and earn their trust, and that helps with interacting with people in general.”
On whether or not she envisions anything, other than perhaps a serious injury, that would get her to choose one career over the other: “I think that could happen if I fell out of love with one of my careers. I have to be true to myself and be true to what I like doing. I don’t ever want to do something that I don’t have my heart in 100 percent because I wouldn’t be giving it my all, and I wouldn’t be 100-percent Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. If I’m not doing that, I won’t want to do it. I hope that never happens, but if for whatever reason my wrestling schedule really picked up and I had to take some time off, it would break my heart, but I’d do it. I know that I can always come back to dentistry. That’s my forever career; I can do that until I pretty much can’t walk anymore. Wrestling I can’t do forever.”
On her ultimate goals as a dentist and a pro wrestler, and how she wants to cross-over into the mainstream: “One day I want to have my own dental practice that I own and manage, and hopefully someday I can hire another dentist that I can teach, show the ropes to and pass on everything I’ve learned from dental school and being in practice. In the professional wrestling world, I just want to have a lasting legacy — and not just women’s wrestling, but in all of wrestling. If I can, I’d also love to cross over into mainstream media, because I really love professional wrestling, but I also love playing a character. I love acting and everything that goes along with it. I’d love to be a major female name who gets to cross over into Hollywood or mainstream media. But at the same time, I want to be somebody’s favorite wrestler even 15 or 20 years from now. When I’m not wrestling anymore, I still want to be on someone’s list of favorite wrestlers. I don’t want to be someone who was only relevant when they were an in-ring competitor. I want to have those matches, promos and moments that people study years from now.”
Check out more from the new Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. interview with Mel Magazine by visiting MelMagazine.com.
