Booker T says the reasons some WWE Superstars give for leaving the company "baffles the hell" out of him
Booker T belongs to the older generation of wrestling, one that has long since passed the torch. However, he has kept his presence in the world of wrestling via his school, other projects, and his Hall of Fame podcast - where he made some strong comments towards certain superstars.
In this case, Booker T was talking about the idea that superstars are jumping ship from WWE to go and have dream matches. He used the names of Johnny Gargano and Kyle O'Reilly, the latter of whom recently joined fellow-Undisputed Era members Adam Cole and Bobby Fish in AEW.
He also mentioned Bryan Danielson but said that he doesn't fall into the same category as he is established, has a big bank account, and only has to worry about his legacy.
However, when addressing Gargano and O'Reilly's desire to have great matches outside of WWE, Booker T said that it was a "baffling" reason to leave the company:
"When I hear these guys say 'I want to leave a company, and I can't wait to go and have a match with x and y, I can't wait to have a match with this guy. The match with this guy is going to be a five star match.' When these guys start thinking about the matches more than taking care of their damn family and how much money they can make when they walk away from wrestling because it's not going to last forever - it baffles the hell out of me. It becomes about a damn match. I loved every match I was in, every performance I gave. But none of it surpassed me taking care of my family," said Booker T.
Booker T admitted that such comments made him realize how much the wrestling business has changed - but he doesn't seem to be on board with the concept of wrestling to have great matches:
"When I hear that talk I go 'man this business has really, really changed' to the point where it's making me question things and people. Why are they really doing this at the end of the day? I loved being in the big matches with all of the great stars, but I'm going to tell you right now - I remember more of 'how much did I get paid for that match?' as opposed to 'how many spots did we do in that match?'. I do care, but at the end of the day, I'm thinking, 'If I can go out and perform this way with this guy, I can get paid this much,' not how many matches I can have - I'm just confused," said Booker T.
Ultimately, Booker T's opinion will be considered polarizing by many. For a lot of wrestlers, especially ones who developed in the independent scene, the objective would have either been to get into WWE or have a great match as a professional wrestler.
Is Booker T right about his comments against Johnny Gargano and Kyle O'Reilly?
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It's a tale of two different mindsets. Brock Lesnar, for example, was often criticized for not putting enough effort into most of his matches between 2015 to 2019, the "Suplex City" era phase. However, the other argument was that he is a great businessman who knows how to get the most out of Vince McMahon while also doing less.
Perhaps the number of releases within the company since 2020 have made fans appreciate the likes of Lesnar a lot more. However, he doesn't necessarily represent all pro wrestlers.
Booker T is correct in stating that wrestlers should ultimately look at how much money they can make the most before they have to call it quits - as a wrestler only has a limited career in the ring.
However, one could also argue that the current generation of professional wrestlers is smarter about both health and finances. The average top-level wrestler is usually in great health, and the culture of excessive drinking and partying has long since passed.
Ultimately, Booker T's opinion is exactly that - his opinion. Whether one agrees or not, there are points to be noted from what he said.
Do you agree with the Hall of Famer's comments?
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