It’s been a busy week for Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks. On Monday, the trio announced that Janelope (Joey Janela and Penelope Ford) and Chelsea Green were All In. Today, two more names were announced, as Britt Baker and Jay Lethal, joined the already impressive list of talent slated to take part in the Chicago indy supershow.
Britt Baker
https://twitter.com/RealBrittBaker/status/989169010553114626
Relatively new to professional wrestling, the 27-year-old Britt Baker didn’t make her pro debut until August 2015. Still a student at Penn State University at the time, Baker was studying to become a healthcare professional when she discovered the world of independent wrestling. In an interview she gave with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Baker explained that she called up the Pittsburgh-based International Wrestling Cartel and asked if she could try out.
Baker made the cut and began training in 2014 while still working on her degree. She graduated from Penn State that same year but decided to pursue a degree in dental medicine, enrolling in the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Dental Medicine that fall. Still a dental student, expecting to graduate in less than a year, Baker has worked for Absolute Intense Wrestling, Ring of Honor, WSU, Queens of Combat, SHIMMER, WrestleCircus, Bar Wrestling, and most notably on her resume, as a local jobber against Nia Jax when WWE came to Pittsburgh in July 2016.
Another woman is @ALL_IN_2018 ! @RealBrittBaker joins @ImChelseaGreen @thePenelopeFord @DeonnaPurrazzo and @Tess_Blanchard at #AllIn in September! #WomensWrestling https://t.co/dK8NMhCmIk
— Diva Dirt (@divadirt) April 25, 2018
Known as “Brittsburgh”, Baker currently tags with Green in a team called Fire and Nice. The two came up short in an effort to capture the SHIMMER tag team championships this past summer, losing to Vanessa Kraven, and fellow All-In’er, Tessa Blanchard. Additionally, she is the current holder of the MFPW Girls Championship and Remix Pro Fury Championship, the first-ever winner of the IWC women’s championship and a former winner of the WrestleCircus Big Top Tag Team Championship, which she won with real-life boyfriend, Adam Cole.
Jay Lethal
I'm @all_in_2018 September 1st #ALLin #ohYEA! pic.twitter.com/I9gQoXtWMv
— Jay Lethal (@TheLethalJay) April 25, 2018
Out of Elizabeth, New Jersey, the 32-year-old Jay Lethal is one of the most prominent U.S. based independent wrestlers and has been for quite some time. One of few to never wrestle in a WWE ring, Lethal proclaims himself as the best first-generation wrestler on the planet and he has quite the accolades to back those claims up.
Lethal’s career began with a lucky break as he himself has said. In 2001, at a Jersey All Pro Wrestling show, Lethal was one of four winners of a contest to be trained at the promotion’s wrestling school for free. Originally, Lethal wasn’t going to be picked as he was shy of his 16th birthday but the promotion took a chance on him, and the rest is history.
Lethal wrestled for JAPW until 2009. He won his first career title, the JAPW Television Championship in 2001, and established a yet-to-be broken 11-month reign with the title. While in JAPW, Lethal also won the JAPW Heavyweight Championship twice, the light heavyweight championship, tag team championship, and Jersey City Rumble.
In Ring of Honor, Lethal debuted as Hydro in 2003, as a member of Special K. A year later, back under the Jay Lethal ring name, he became Samoa Joe‘s protege. Lethal left ROH in 2006, but not before winning the ROH Pure Wrestling title. From there, he wrestled for TNA (2005-11), becoming a staple of the X-Division and most notably, engaging in a high-profile feud with Ric Flair and Fortune. While in TNA, Lethal won the tag team championship, the World X Cup, and was a six-time X Division champion.
Can we please get
Jay Lethal vs. Okada— Samoa Joe Lanza (@PodVanDam) April 25, 2018
Returning to ROH, Lethal won the television championship just a few months later. He would hold that title for 231 days. In 2014, he started his second reign, becoming the first man in company history to hold the title twice. Lethal held the belt for 567 days (and had 36 defenses), which more than doubled the two previous longest reigns by Matt Taven and Eddie Edwards. In the midst of this reign, Lethal won his first ROH World Championship, making him a double champion, the first African American to win the world title, and just ROH’s third Triple Crown champion. He held that title for 427 days.
Lethal has wrestled just about everywhere there is, winning titles at ACE, Big Time Wrestling, Family Wrestling Entertainment, International High Powered Wrestling, JAPW, Jersey Championship Wrestling, MWF, National Wrestling Superstars, Politically Incorrect Wrestling, Pro-Wrestling ELITE, ROH, TNA, SWE, United Wrestling Coalition, UCW and Wrestlezone Scotland to name a few. He was also named Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s fifth-best wrestler on the PWI 500 in 2016.
Already confirmed for ALL IN:
- Cody Rhodes, ROH/NJPW
- The Young Bucks, ROH/NJPW
- Kenny Omega, NJPW/ROH
- Hangman Page, ROH/NJPW
- “The Villain” Marty Scurll, ROH/NJPW
- Tessa Blanchard, Impact Wrestling/WrestleCircus/SHIMMER, etc.
- Stephen Amell, “Arrow” TV Series
- Rey Fenix, Lucha Underground/Impact Wrestling
- Pentagon Jr., Lucha Underground/Impact Wrestling
- Kazuchika Okada, NJPW
- Deonna Purrazzo, ROH/WOH
- Chelsea Green, SHIMMER/Impact Wrestling (formerly)
- Joey Janela, CZW/ PWG, etc
- Penelope Ford, CZW/Beyond Wrestling, etc
