"I don't blame him" – Dutch Mantell on 57-year-old retiring after recent WWE match

Dutch Mantell believes Booker T was right to retire from in-ring competition after his recent appearance in the 2023 WWE Men's Royal Rumble Match.

The 57-year-old was the surprise 21st entrant in the 30-man contest. He lasted 42 seconds before being eliminated by eventual runner-up Gunther. Shortly after the event, the two-time WWE Hall of Famer announced that he was "done" as an in-ring performer.

Mantell, fka Zeb Colter in WWE, reacted to the news on his Story Time with Dutch Mantell podcast:

"Well, he needed a send-off. That's a good way to send him off (...) He has a school and I think he does his own shows in Texas. But as far as actively performing in the ring, he's done. I don't blame him." [0:43 – 1:14]

Booker T runs the Reality of Wrestling promotion in Houston, Texas. He also works as a commentator for WWE's NXT developmental brand.

Dutch Mantell explains why retirement is a good idea for some wrestlers

The legendary wrestling booker and manager reviews AEW Rampage and WWE SmackDown on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk show every Friday.

2️⃣1️⃣: @BookerT5x #RoyalRumble https://t.co/L1lye3V2KG

The 73-year-old has noticed that many wrestlers take unnecessary risks in the ring. For this reason, he believes some veteran performers should retire instead of trying to keep up with today's high-tempo generation:

"Some of those bumps they take are ungodly, unbelievable, and if we had done that back in the day, first of all, we wouldn't have made it two years in the business because we would have killed ourselves," Mantell continued. "One thing about concrete; it doesn't work, it won't work with you. When you hit concrete, you've hit a wall." [1:37 – 2:03]

Mantell has not wrestled since 2013. Jack Swagger's former WWE on-screen manager added that wrestling promoters would not be able to book him in another match even if they wanted to.

Do you think Booker T was right to retire? Let us know in the comments section below.

Please credit Story Time with Dutch Mantell and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.