The premiere episode of AEW Rampage on August 13 concluded with Britt Baker successfully defending her AEW Women's Championship against Red Velvet and Jamie Hayter making her return to AEW.
Hayter had not been in AEW since November 2019 due to the pandemic but remained active in Japan and the United Kingdom.
Speaking to Vince Morales of Milwaukee Record, Baker commented on Hayter's return to the company.
"Yeah, so when I wrestled her in England, right away we just clicked and I thought she was a fantastic wrestler. She has a really cool, edgy personality. We’re kind of similar too in our dry, sarcastic humor and we just really clicked. We really got along. They were using her pretty frequently for awhile for AEW, but then with the pandemic, the travel ban, of course, everything kind of was at a standstill. But then when stuff is opening up again, you know, I was kinda nudging Kenny and Tony like “Hey, remember Jamie Hayter? Remember Jamie Hayter?” Because she’s such a fantastic talent and everybody here—literally every single person in AEW—agrees that she’s fantastic and we need her here," she said.
The bout between Baker and Velvet ended up being the highest-rated segment of the show in the key demo.
When asked if there are bragging rights backstage, Baker commented, "Well, that’s definitely not the first time where I’ve had the highest-rated segment. I’ve been doing very well recently, ever since I became champion. We all kind of poke fun at each other, “I had the highest this, I had the highest that,” but it’s all in good fun because at the end of the day we want the whole show to do well. So it doesn’t matter who has the highest rating this week or next week. As long as we’re all doing well, then AEW is doing well."
AEW continues to do well in the eyes of its media partners as Turner/TNT have touted the ratings success of Dynamite and Rampage over the past month as the shows continue to top cable in the 18 to 49 demographic.
Jamie Hayter will face Red Velvet on the August 25 episode of AEW Dynamite.
