“They threw me into the fire,” says former AEW champion after major in-ring return

Former AEW Women's World Champion Britt Baker recently spilled the beans on her thought process before her match against Hikaru Shida on the Blood & Guts special episode of Dynamite last week. This was Baker's first in-ring performance since her return.

The D.M.D. went on a hiatus last September due to a back injury followed by a mini-stroke. She returned to television at the recent AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door PPV, where she confronted Mercedes Mone after the latter's win over Stephanie Vaquer in a Winner Takes All Match.

Baker locked horns with Hikaru Shida in a singles match on last week's Dynamite and emerged victorious. In a recent interview with Ringside Collectibles, the 33-year-old revealed how the Tony Khan-led creative team threw her ''into the fire'' by booking her return match against the longest reigning AEW Women's World Champion, Hikaru Shida (372 days). Baker admitted she was nervous before her encounter with Shida.

“So wait, I didn’t just have a return match. They [AEW] threw me into the fire. They said, 'Here, your first match back, you’re gonna wrestle the longest-reigning Women’s Champion ever, [Hikaru] Shida!' So I was so nervous for that match," she said. [H/T: Wrestle Talk]

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Britt Baker was "sore" after her return match on AEW Dynamite

During the same interview, Britt Baker revealed she was in intense pain following her encounter with Hikaru Shida. However, The D.M.D. admitted she enjoyed every ache in her body because she had missed being in the ring during her hiatus.

"And I am so sore today. I woke up, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, my head hurts, my neck hurts, my back!’ But I missed that so much. I missed the aches and pains and everything in between, and I mean, hey, that’s a hell of a win to start. That’s no joke, and every match with [Hikaru] Shida is a battle, so I’m happy I came out on top, and I’m happy I’m standing today. Physically able to stand. It’s great,” she continued. [H/T: Wrestle Talk]

Meanwhile, Baker suffered an attack from Kamille following her victory against Hikaru Shida. Kamille, who made her debut last week, immediately aligned with Mercedes Mone.

The veteran is set to challenge The CEO for the TBS Title at All In 2024. It will be interesting to see how she counters the looming threat of Kamille during her showdown with the erstwhile Sasha Banks at Wembley.