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All Elite Wrestling, the nation’s second-largest professional wrestling promotion behind World Wrestling Entertainment, returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium last Wednesday. More than 20,000 fans came out for its “Grand Slam” card.
AEW has established itself as a worthy rival to the WWE because its grapplers are superb athletes and are equally skillful with a microphone. The late Jackson Heights native and legendary insult comic Don Rickles would be envious of the quips AEW talent, especially Plainview native Maxwell Jacob Friedman, conjure.
Some of its wrestlers lead intriguing dual lives. Dr. Brittany Baker is an Orlando dentist who is also one of the most popular “heels” (wrestling parlance for villains) in AEW. I spoke with her on the phone the week before the AEW card at Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Dr. Baker grew up in Punxsutawney, Penn. I joked with her that the groundhog is now the second-most famous celebrity associated with that western Pennsylvania burg. “A lot of people think the Bill Murray movie ‘Groundhog Day,’ was filmed in my hometown but it was actually shot outside of Chicago,” she informed me.
Pittsburgh is the closest large city to Punxsutawney. It has been the home to such wrestling legends as Bruno Sammartino, Kurt Angle and Larry Zbyszko. I asked Dr. Baker if her parents were fans because those wrestlers were western Pennsylvania’s movie stars. “No, they never watched wrestling. In fact, they were horrified I started wrestling school during my first year of dental school at the University of Pittsburgh. They now come to all my matches and cheer.”
Dr. Baker has worked on the teeth of her ring opponents, but HIPAA requirements forbid her from revealing their identities. Although her ring name his Britt Baker, DMD, she is determined not to use dentistry as a plot device for character. She is aware of how Sir Laurence Oliver scared film audiences as a sadistic dentist in the 1976 Dustin Hoffman film “Marathon Man.” “My fans know that wouldn’t ring true,” she said.
She takes oral care very seriously, stressing the importance of flossing to keep gums healthy. “Far more people lose their teeth because of gum issues than from untreated cavities. That is a statistic which surprises a lot of people.”
Dr. Baker admitted she does not always practice what she preaches to patients. “I don’t use a mouthguard when I am wrestling. I really should. I have chipped my teeth in the ring.”
Dr. Baker returns to the Big Apple next week when she will be signing autographs at New York Comic Con at the Javits Center. She will be joined by fellow AEW performer Jack “Jungle Boy” Perry and WWE great Mick Foley.
See the extended version of Sports Beat every week at qchron.com.
In combat sports of a different stripe, kickboxing, which was a staple of broadcast network programming in the 1970s (it was especially popular on ABC’s Saturday afternoon anthology series hosted by Jim McKay, “Wide World of Sports”), is being revived with the advent of the Professional Kickboxing Association.
The PKA just signed its first fighter, Julio Cesar Carlos, who grew up in Jackson Heights and is an alum of McClancy High School. He studied taekwondo when growing up. He also has had an interest in the culinary arts and has worked as a chef in many of New York’s top restaurants. He now lives in Maspeth.
Following their improbable win in Cleveland two weeks ago (of course, any Jets win can be classified as improbable), order was restored last Sunday as the Cincinnati Bengals defeated Gang Green 27-12. The score made the contest sound closer than it really was .
The game had all the earmarks Jets fans have come to expect. There were costly dumb penalties; a pathetic offensive line that did not allow immobile quarterback Joe Flacco much time to set up plays; poor clock management; and a lack of knowledge of where the first down markers were.
It was amazing how many Mets fans were apoplectic after last Saturday’s game in which Jacob deGrom was lit up by the Oakland Athletics. Even the greats have off-days. I remember how a bad Minnesota Twins team teed off on deGrom at Citi Field a few years ago. What really counts is deGrom said he felt physically fine after the game. The Athletics may not be a good team, but they recently split a four-game series with the Yankees. The Flushing faithful cannot be upset their heroes failed to sweep them in Oakland.
Maury Wills, who passed away last week at the age of 89, revolutionized baseball in the 1960s as he made the stolen base as big an offensive weapon as the home run. Along with pitching greats Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, Wills was a major reason the Los Angeles Dodgers were one of the best teams in the National League when I was in elementary school. It is strange he does not have a plaque in Cooperstown.
Collecting baseball cards was a rite of passage for a lot of us baby boomer fans back then. While Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle baseball cards were always hard to find, it was impossible to get a Maury Wills Topps card because he refused to sign a contract with the company. Wills felt the compensation Topps was offering was inadequate for his name and likeness. That was unheard of in an era when free agency did not exist for players and team owners had all the leverage.
It was obviously overshadowed by the news of Roger Federer’s retirement, but Noah Rubin has ended his professional tennis career as well. Rubin was the best male tennis player from the greater New York area in the last decade and was able to make appearances at the US Open in both singles and doubles competition He learned the sport from his grandfather, who lived in Bayside.
In 2019 Noah created a popular digital tennis platform called Behind the Racquet, which has become tennis’s answer to the Players Tribune as professional men’s and women’s players detail the difficulties of life on the tour. Behind the Racquet has signed licensing deals with apparel companies.
life and style
In addition to professional wrestlers, there will be plenty of boldface names in the entertainment industry at New York Comic Con, which gets underway next Thursday. Jamie Lee Curtis will be interviewed about the 45th anniversary of the “Halloween” horror film franchise. Michael J . Fox and Christopher Lloyd will reminisce about the “Back to the Future” film trilogy. Other big names scheduled to appear are actors Drew Barrymore, Rachel Lee Cook and Oscar Isaac, along with director and showrunner Dan Harmon, who was the force behind the terrific NBC comedy series “Community,” and who will be launching a new Fox animated series spoofing life in ancient Greece titled “Krapopolis.”
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