"I went out to the ring cold" - 6-time world champion was surprised to be in the WWE Royal Rumble
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T recently disclosed that he received his invitation to compete in the Royal Rumble just 10 minutes before the match.
Last Saturday, Booker T returned to the ring to participate in the 2023 Men's Royal Rumble match. The current NXT color commentator entered the bout at number 21 and lasted just 42 seconds before getting eliminated by the Intercontinental Champion Gunther.
Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T revealed that he received his invitation to the Royal Rumble just 10 minutes before the match.
"I was sitting at the table at the Kickoff show and I got a text message and it was the invite telling me, 'Book, you're in the Rumble' and me, I'm old school dog, I'm old school. I went down in a Winnebago, right? So something told me, bring your gear, alright? Make sure you're ready just so you don't have to get ready or stay ready and boom, there it was. The text message came through and I said, okay, here we go. Just like when I won the World Title, my first World Title," he said.
The 6-time world champion also claimed that he could have won the Royal Rumble match if he had more time to prepare.
"I had about ten minutes to warm up. So that's what happened. I wasn't warmed up, I went out to the ring cold. I didn't have that gloss, I didn't have the shine on me. I wasn't lathered up, you know what I mean? And ready to go. I didn't get to jump rope for 45 minutes to get the heart rate up, get the blood flowing, get the blood pumping… I would've won that damn Rumble if I would've just been able to prepare properly. That last-minute text message definitely slowed me down a lil bit," he added. (H/T PostWrestling)
Booker T addressed claims that he was not legally eliminated from the WWE Royal Rumble Match. Check out his comments here.
Booker T believes WWE wanted him to fill in for Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio was supposed to enter the Royal Rumble match at number 17. Although his entrance theme was played, the Master of the 619 never showed up. Reports later suggested that Mysterio was pulled from the bout due to injury.
On the same episode of his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T disclosed that he believes WWE invited him to the Royal Rumble match to fill in for Mysterio.
"I think that's what happened. I think Rey went down and I think they had to fill that spot. Who better to call? They said, hey, let's give Book a shot at this. Like I said, I had my gear with me, I'm old school, old school," he explained. (H/T PostWrestling)
Update on Rey Mysterio's condition after missing the 2023 WWE Royal Rumble. Check out the details here.
Please credit the Hall of Fame podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda if you use the above transcription.