WWE's Booker T makes a bold claim about hour-long matches after MJF vs. Will Ospreay on AEW Dynamite 250
MJF and Will Osprey brought the house down at AEW Dynamite 250. Their AEW International Championship match lasted for a staggering 59 minutes and 58 seconds and the two stars gave it their all in the ring. In the end, Friedman triumphed and became the new champion.
Interestingly, former WWE Superstar and current NXT color commentator, Booker T, stated that hour-long matches did not appeal to him. The 59-year-old recently appeared on his Hall of Fame podcast and opened up about the bout between the two AEW stars. He said that people watching cable television wouldn't be interested in watching long showdowns.
"An hour of broadway on television these days? (...) I don't know. I could be wrong but I don't think people are interested in watching people wrestle for an hour on TV these days. But I could be wrong on that." [From 21:51 to 2:11]
The former World Heavyweight Championship then explained that even though the Tony Khan-led company loyalists wouldn't have a problem watching an hour-long match on cable TV, the general audience wouldn't be intrigued by it. For him, what makes the product entertaining is a mix of fights, vignettes, and promos.
"For me, personally, no vignette, no promos or anything. Just guys in the ring, wrestling, overlaid by the commentators. Me personally, that is not that entertaining to me. Was it a good match? probably was. Was it entertaining to that core audience? probably was. But I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about the base. Growing the audience and making it a whole lot bigger (...) I don't see who wins in a situation like that," said Booker T. [From 23:02 to 23:47]
Check out the video below:
Booker T believes that AEW has lost some of its lustre
In the same podcast mentioned above, Booker T confessed that he does not religiously follow AEW programming and added that their product has lost its charm in the last few months. Furthermore, he stated that partnering with ROH has not helped them at all.
"I don't know, I'm not a big watcher of AEW. I can confess to that. But could be wrong but it doesn't have the same buzz that they had when the product first came on scene. Especially now since the intertwining of ROH. It doesn't seem like ROH has helped that company at all," said Booker T [From 20:52 to 21:19]
Booker T is best known for his time in WCW, WWE, and TNA. He has held prestigious titles such as the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, WWE Intercontinental Championship, TNA Legends Championship, and more.
While using any quotes from this article please credit the Hall of Fame podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling.