Jamie Hayter sits at the very top of the AEW women’s division after winning the Interim AEW Women’s World Championship at Full Gear. Surprising many by defeating Toni Storm, Hayter proved she’s ready to capitalize on the groundswell of support she’s received from fans over the past few months.
Better still, she got by with a little help from her friends. Britt Baker and Rebel were both there for Hayter when she needed them, negating the idea that she’d have to split with them to win gold.
There’s just one potential problem: Baker undoubtedly wants that title for herself.
During the press conference following Full Gear, Hayter was asked about that very possibility and seemed more than willing to face her own friend to defend her new gold.
“She is the reason I am in AEW, she’s the whole reason I’m here,” Hayter said. “She helped me so much, especially to get where I am today. So having her as a rival for the championship, I completely welcome it.”
There’s a chance that if the two ever did face off, it might not even be with the “interim” term attached. As he did in the days leading up to Full Gear, AEW GM and CEO Tony Khan repeated that he’s still considering whether to take action to make the interim champion the lineal champion. His original plan was to allow AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa the chance to return from injury and then unify the titles, but Rosa has now been out since early August with no set timetable for her return.
You can watch Hayter’s full post-Full Gear press scrum session below, including Khan’s answer about Rosa, courtesy of Denise Salcedo’s YouTube channel.
Of course while Baker is so far saying and doing the right things with regard to Hayter as champion, there’s no guarantee that the doctor will keep a potential rivalry so civil. But at least for now, Hayter believes they can have a great program without their relationship changing, saying she didn’t think “there’s better rivals in the ring that friends.”
“I’m totally open to wrestling her any time, and I would love it,” she said. The she turned to Khan and added, “Please, any time. If she wants it, we can do it.”
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