Two-time WWE Hall of Famer Booker T had quite a few things to say on his “HOF” Podcast this week.
First, he spoke about a tribute to the late “Sensational” Sherri Martel, who managed Booker T and his brother Stevie Ray during their “Harlem Heat” days back in WCW:
“We have come up with something very, very special for this tournament. This is going to be a tournament like no other. The first of its kind.”
“We’ll be talking about that here in the next few days and posting some stuff as far as the brackets and whatnot, and how it’s all going to play out. But you guys are going to see something very, very special with the Sherri Martel Classic.”
This deals with the promotion founded and owned by Booker T in Houston, Texas called ROW or Reality of Wrestling. Booker would then go on to discuss Cody Rhodes and the night and day difference in crowd reactions towards the end of his AEW run and his WWE return at WrestleMania.
“I heard somebody say we’re living in an internet world now and things just are different than the way it was when I came up. I totally understand that now. Now, you have fans that can coordinate with each other through social media to come into that arena, to take it over, and to cheer for the guy that they like and literally want to get the guys out of there that they don’t like. I really believe there’s a small group of people that do that.”
“But when you get the bandwagon on board, man, it could turn into something. There could have been a core group of people that did not like Cody Rhodes, and everybody else just jumped on the bandwagon. That could have been what it was. I could be wrong. But it shows in WWE, that the fans are happy to see him back and appreciate seeing Cody back. I can’t tell you why he’s getting the big pop over at WWE. Maybe the WWE Universe missed Cody Rhodes and are just happy to see him back. Maybe that’s it.”
Over the last several months Theory, formerly known as Austin Theory, has certainly been pushed by WWE and he appears to be getting over good with the crowd, being an effective heel. Booker would speak on Theory as well.
“This guy’s pretty big. I’m serious. He’s a big kid. He really is, and I can see why the WWE would have plans for someone like Austin Theory.”
“I watched this kid rise from NXT. One thing I noticed about Austin Theory, more than anything, he smiles through his wins, as well as his losses. He’s just going out there to do the work. If the work means doing a job, I’m going to go out here and do it and I’m going to do it better than anybody else on the roster. I’m going to take the Stunner better than anybody has ever taken it. That’s the type of guy I see Austin Theory being.”
“He’s a guy that, you know, let’s just say, a company guy. There’s nothing wrong with that. John Cena was a company guy, a guy that was willing to go out and get the work done no matter whether it was winning or losing. I’m going to go out here and I’m going to get the job done. Whether it’s promoting sales, whatever, I’m going to get the job done. I see a guy like Theory being cut from that same mode. So when he won the U.S. championship, it’s the beginning of the rise of Austin Theory.”
(If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit The Hall Of Fame with Booker T & Brad Gilmore with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.)
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