Home ▸ Drowgoddess ▸ Never Speak Again!

Sorry, peeps, gotta vent. Booker T did an interview with Hit The Ropes Radio on March 17^th. The entire interview can be read at http://hittheropes.blogspot.com/. He speaks at length on his PWA wrestling school and his charity work, specifically the Booker T Fights for the Kids foundation and his Drop Out Recovery program to get high school dropouts to return to the classroom. The “Legends of Wrestling” program scheduled for Wrestlemania weekend is also mentioned. To give credit where it’s due, the man does (or at least tries to do) good things for his community. That much, at least, is admirable. If you’re a longtime Booker T fan, you’ll probably get a chuckle out of it. If you’re a serious TNA fan, you’ll probably want to choke him to death with his Pebbles Flintstone dreadlocks, driving one of Sharmell’s high-heeled shoes through his eye, all “Single White Female”-style, before he expires. Why? Let’s take a look at several points that the originator of the “Legends” Championship had to say.

Hit The Ropes: You’ve been everywhere and won every title, what’s left for you? Who are you looking to face in the ring?

Booker T: To be honest there’s nothing really left as far as championships or anything like that. I’m at that stage of the game where I’m helping the younger guys. If I can do that I’ll be doing my part. Every wrestler, the code in this business, is stepping down and passing the torch. Putting the young guys in position.

That would be wonderful if it were even close to being true. What exactly are you doing to help the “younger guys,” Booker? By many accounts, your backstage behavior is very much the Main Event Mafia sense of entitlement. You are a superstar, and will be treated like one at all times by all people. Didn’t you have a backstage blow-up with Jeff Jarrett over “creative” issues, and he backed off and let you have your way? What kind of example is that setting for guys who lack the power to get their way? Name one person to whom you have passed the torch in TNA. Just one. Then you can pat yourself on the back for being so generous. Robert Roode? He got more over with Beer Money than he ever did by punching Sharmell in the face and feuding with you. AJ Styles? AJ was the top dog in TNA, and probably more respected in more places by more wrestlers than you are, before you ever showed up. Samoa Joe? Christian Cage, when he was there? Who? Who are you helping, and how? When called on it, every veteran claims to be helping the next generation and setting them up to carry the proverbial torch. Few of them actually do it. Booker T is not one of those few when it comes to the talent in TNA. Stop lying. Next bit

HTR: One of the greatest feuds you’ve had was the best of 7 with Chris Benoit. Who’s out there that you would do a new best of 7 with?

BT: Uhh… probably, if I was a good guy, Randy Orton. A guy who can get into the ring and perform at a level that can bring me up to another level. It’s about competing with the best. When I watch the shows, the young wrestlers, he’s one of the guys that stands out. Definitely a technician, just like his dad.

Could you possibly have spit in the face of TNA, and of all the “young guys” who work there whom you claimed to be helping and positioning to carry the torch, any more? You work for TNA, and have been the main focus of the entire program for months, and when asked in a public interview which person you would choose for something like that, you choose a WWE guy? Not only that, but a WWE guy who has already gotten to the top of the food chain (comparatively speaking)? You just made TNA look more second-rate than Samoa Joe’s new look or even the ODB skits could. In the previous segment, you stated that there was nothing left for you to do in terms of championships or facing anyone. Now you’re talking about competing with the best and being in the ring with someone who could bring you up to another level. Which is it? That one statement insults TNA and the guys who have sweated blood to make it work, and continue trying, despite an utter lack of tv and promo time, outright burials in some cases, and stupid gimmicks. You watch the shows regularly enough to know how much Randy Orton stands out, but don’t pay enough attention to the guys in your own company to know who would be a worthy opponent? For shame, Booker T. Even if it is an honest opinion, there’s a place for diplomacy. Veterans and legends need a certain level of diplomacy. However, it gets worse.

HTR:Now you might hate me, but the fans want to know, what’s up with your accent?

BT: It’s something that I play with. Hollywood is always looking, I don’t just think about the wrestling audience. There are a lot of roles that need to be filled. So they’re looking for people that can who can do the scenes as well. Putting myself in a position to do a whole lot more. I’m always thinking about my next career.

HTR: Has anyone approached you about a role yet?

BT: I haven’t got them just yet. I’m going to finish one thing before I step into the next.

I don’t care who says I’m overreacting. I don’t care who thinks I’m an idiot. I don’t care who makes fun of me. Even a vocabulary as extensive as mine fails to adequately describe how outraged and offended this revelation makes me. How dare you? How DARE you use your overabundance of tv time on TNA programming to audition for Hollywood? Where to even start with this? We had to suffer through all those horrendous accents because you thought that Hollywood casting agents or movie executives would be watching TNA programming, and you were showing them what you could do? Have you ever even looked at the ratings for TNA programming? Those sorts of people are most likely NOT watching at all, and probably don’t even know the program exists. As the noble veteran, you said you were helping the young guys, and, by definition, the company, to improve. The entire X-Division (what’s left of it, anyway) doesn’t get the tv time and promo time that you get, and you’re wasting it, trying to be an actor, on TNA’s time? And possibly worst of all, you admit this publicly and will have no trouble continuing to collect a paycheck. Auditioning, for anyone not an A-list Hollywood actor, is a never-ending series of hellish torment and rejection. You spent every minute of free time (not waiting tables, that is) trying to find and get to any form of audition, and rarely does it work out for you. Even with an agent. Such is the way of things. And you can damn well do it on your own time!

Speaking as someone who has cast and directed shows before, allow me to enlighten you on a few things, Booker. Firstly, you will never be Dwayne Johnson. Regardless of the name he uses, the former Rock is extremely handsome, charming, charismatic beyond belief, amazing at any form of improvisation and public speaking, possessed of a fantastic sense of comedic timing, appealing to a broad range of people, believable in a wide range of roles from action star to surprised parent, a fine singer/dancer, and elegant and polished enough to mesh well with the high-ups of any profession. None of these attributes apply to you. None. Secondly, despite what the average person thinks of Hollywood, it’s a pressure cooker. The worst traits in everyone are brought out. Directors and producers don’t think twice about replacing someone who causes them trouble. The Lindsay Lohans of the world and their infinite second chances are few and far between, they just get the most press. Your prima donna act, or general incompetence, will get you blacklisted, and when no one will work with you, that’s that. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, a good director wants an actor on whom he can rely. If TNA can’t count on you to focus on your job enough to do it (because you’re using their tv shows as free audition time), why should a director believe that you’ll take his show any more seriously? People in charge of making movies, tv shows, and live performances happen aren’t going to waste their time on someone who might be focusing more on the “next career” than on the present show. I would never cast you on that one basis alone.

In essence, if Booker T wants to go to Hollywood and try to be an actor, more power to him. Quit wrestling. Quit taking up time on TNA programming. Quit lying about helping the young guys come up. Quit publicly burying the company that pays you. Get an agent, move to L.A., and start trying. Gods know the X-Division could use your tv time!

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