Jim Cornette has given his breakdown of the controversy surrounding Britt Baker and AEW’s latest t-shirt featuring the star with a black eye and bruised face.
On the April 19th episode of Dynamite, Baker was attacked by The Outcasts, while Adam Cole was handcuffed to the ring ropes by Chris Jericho. The beatdown left Baker with a bruised face and a nasty-looking black eye.
The image was later used on a t-shirt but that decision was heavily criticised. A number of fans on social media suggested that the image could be misinterpreted as something that promoted domestic violence, given that “people on the street” won’t understand the context.
Speaking on the Jim Cornette Podcast, the wrestling veteran gave his thoughts on the controversy. Cornette echoed the thoughts of those on social media, commenting that the vast majority of the general public will have no idea who Baker is.
“I’ve never taken a f**king selfie, so to me, a picture of a person with a downcast, moped-faced expression from the neck up looks like a mugshot,” Cornette said.
“She’s neither happy nor performing. It’s a picture of her after she’s had her face caved in.
“Well, some people say it glorifies, well not glorifies, but domestic violence, It’s making light of whatever, domestic violence. No, not domestic violence because what they’re overlooking, and you alluded to it, you caught it, is that the vast majority of people that see this shirt are not gonna know who, and this is not knocking Britt Baker, but come on, folks. Let’s be real in the world. If you’re walking down the f**king street in Cleveland, nobody’s gonna know who Britt Baker is that sees anybody wearing this shirt.”
For her part, Britt Baker recently said that she was “surprised” at the online backlash.
Jim Cornette Critical Of Adam Cole’s AEW Return
During the episode, Cornette also gave his thoughts on Adam Cole’s return to action. Although there has been an overlap in the story between the recently returned star and his wife Baker, Cole has found himself at odds with Chris Jericho.
Cornette said that AEW’s booking of Cole has already killed off the goodwill fans had towards him given the emotional nature of his return, adding that nobody gets over when in a storyline with Jericho.
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