At All Elite Wrestling’s Fight for the Fallen, which took place this past Saturday, Britt Baker teamed with Riho to challenge Shoko Nakajima and Bea Priestley. This was the second match that took place during “The Buy-in,” the pre-show leading to the main show. During the women’s tag team match in question, Baker suffered a concussion. This was officially confirmed by Baker on social media.
During the match, with Baker as the legal competitor, Nakajima tagged in Priestley. Upon being tagged, Priestley struck Baker in the back of the head with an errant kick. This seemed to be what caused the concussion in question, as the practicing dentist appeared out of sorts afterward. One of the miscues involved Baker attempting to tag in Nakajima, her opponent, as opposed to Riho. Baker recovered relatively quickly, but the spot didn’t go unnoticed by fans.
In brighter news, Baker delivered praise to AEW official Aubrey Edwards, who officiated the tag team match. Not only did Edwards take it upon herself to leave the venue to check on Baker’s status but kept tabs on her every hour.
Hurriedly left the venue to take care of a concussed coworker and checked on her every hour of the night. Next pair is on me Ref Aubrey ♥️ https://t.co/L1t4OT28KE
— Britt Baker (@RealBrittBaker) July 14, 2019
Sutter’s Synopsis: Injuries and professional wrestling, as unfortunate as the situation is, are part and parcel. Whenever someone steps into the ring, they do so with the knowledge that they are putting their bodies on the line for the sake of entertainment. For this reason, it’s difficult to be terribly hard on Baker. I initially thought that her performance at Fight for the Fallen came down to ring rust, as she doesn’t wrestle often due to her work in dentistry. A concussion is still unfortunate, no matter how often one competes.
If there’s one promotion that’s become known for its controversy regarding concussions, it’s All Elite Wrestling. Last month, at Fyter Fest, Cody was legitimately injured following an unprotected chair shot to the head by Shawn Spears. Though the chair in question was “gimmicked,” according to those in charge, it did little to ward off criticism from fans and the media alike. Given what we know now about concussions in wrestling, as well as sports in general, it’s important to prevent them and take necessary action when they occur.
