EXCLUSIVE: Highly-decorated former WWE and WCW World Champion Booker T has offered some advice to today’s young crop of wrestlers trying to connect with a wider audience
WWE legend Booker T has criticised the current crop of superstars – because they don’t make him cry. Booker, a champion in WWE, WCW and TNA Wrestling throughout his illustrious career.
He was on many occasions involved in some of the most iconic wrestling moments during the industry’s peak, including legendary battles as part of the Harlem Heat tag team, his rise to becoming WCW’s World Champion, as well as evolving into the iconic King Booker when he won King of the Ring in WWE.
And while the mere intro from his theme song causes arenas filled with fans to rise to their feet – even today as he’s co-commentator on WWE’s NXT brand – he’s now criticised WWE’s burgeoning young talent for lacking one specific skill.
When asked by the Daily Star, via Esport Insider, what’s the biggest change he’s seem in the industry compared to 10/15 years ago, said: “A: Just the way they go out and perform, the way they go out and work. They go out to the ring and it’s not as much feel as it used to be.
“Not as much Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, storytelling in the ring, not just from the vignettes, but talking about in the ring, where you can really feel it. I went to go see Hamilton over the weekend, the play on Broadway and a couple of times throughout the show almost had a tear come out of my eye.
“That’s what wrestling used to be. I used to try to make a tear come out of someone’s eye with my performance. And now these guys are so athletic, they can do anything in the ring, but they don’t focus on the part of really trying to make people feel it.
“We can see it, but they need to try and make people feel it. I think that’s the biggest difference.” The 60-year-old, who won a total of 14 major tag team titles during his career, also talked about a major difference between the highs of his era in the late 90s and early 2000s to the way the business runs today.
And no, it’s not creative ideas or in-ring skill – it’s down to what ends up in your bank account at the end of the month.
Given WWE’s new £5billion deal with Netflix, and a similarly big one in the US with ESPN recently, the money has been flowing into WWE via the coffers of parent company TKO in bucket loads.
Something Booker has clearly noticed, as he said: “Everything gets bigger, it evolves. There’s more money now and the guys are getting bigger contracts.
“Back in my time, we were paid a certain amount but we were told there was an opportunity to make much more, which was really good too.
“We made a lot of money. But the scheduling is a little bit different now as the guys aren’t on the road as much, so they get a chance at having a better future and better retirement than the guys from the past. But it’s changed a lot.”
Booker T appears on WWE’s NXT brand live on Netflix on Wednesday mornings at 1am UK time.
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