AEW star Britt Baker has encouraged fans to stick around when female wrestlers are on television. Baker reckons the promotion's women's division has a lot of growing to do and can't without the support of the fans.
The 29-year old recently discussed the struggles AEW's women are up against, urging fans to ensure women's segments aren't the lowest-rated parts of Dynamite. She also brought up the Wednesday night rivalry with NXT, adding fans are asking for more content involving women, which is great, but that they should also keep the TV on when segments featuring women do come up.
"I know there are plans to grow the women's division, but at the same time we need help from the fans at home too," she said in an interview with Uproxx. "We can't have the women's segments being the lowest-rated or the lowest views [on YouTube] each week. Because at the end of the day it's a business, and AEW needs ratings.
"It's no secret we're in a war every Wednesday night with NXT, so we need the ratings up. So for the fans that are so encouraging and saying 'We want more women, we want more women!' that's great, but please don't turn the channel when the women are on TV then! We want everybody to be watching the segments and cheering us on from home," she said.
The pandemic is also to blame
Baker suggested the COVID-19 pandemic has also had a costly impact as most international performers became unavailable when lockdowns were enforced.
"Our women's division got hit hard because of the COVID outbreak," she explained. "Half our roster is international talent, so we immediately didn't have access to any of those women. Then Kris Statlander got hurt, and I got hurt. And there's only so much time on AEW Dynamite to start with."
Source: Uproxx.com