Booker T Discusses The Chances Of Seeing Him Return To The WWE At The Royal Rumble, What Led To His TNA Departure, His Response To The Controversy/Rumors About Not Wanting To Put Over Matt Morgan, & The Scenario On How He Could Have Resigned With TNA (And How That Involves Hulk Hogan), If He Was Approached By Either Company To Appear On Monday Night’s Head-To-Head “War,” His Thoughts On Bret “Hitman” Hart’s WWE Return, Hulk Hogan Debuting With TNA, & Much More!
Courtesy: http://www.MondayNightMayhem.com
Former WWE & WCW World Heavyweight Champion/former TNA superstar, Booker T, was the special guest on this week’s live edition (01/04/10) of Monday Night Mayhem (presented by ReelWrestling.com), hosted by The Big Mosh, Blade, & “The Chairman Of The Board” Todd Vincent. You can feel The Mayhem live & in streaming audio every Monday night (at 8PM ET/7PM CT), exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.ITunes.com, www.AudioWrestling.com, www.Facebook.com/MondayNightMayhem, & www.MySpace.com/MondayNightMayhem).
Booker return MNM appearance (as part of Monday Night Mayhem’s “Monday Night Wars: Part Deux?” Special) is now available for free in Windows Streaming Media, or via The Mayhem’s official Podcast on ITunes:
Booker T/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Streaming Audio): http://www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/waxfiles/010410.wax
Booker T/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Podcast On ITunes): www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/jan10/010410.mp3
Here are some of the highlights of Booker’s exclusive interview, provided by The Mayhem’s official correspondent, Paterson From New Jersey:
One of the most decorated superstars in the history of the industry & the man known across the globe as the former five-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Booker T, joined The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network for his first radio interview since departing TNA after the Bound For Glory Pay-Per-View. Many Internet rumors have been swirling to this point that have Booker T making a return to World Wrestling Entertainment in the coming weeks, coming off his two years performing with TNA Wrestling. Booker took the time to address those rumors exclusively on “Your Home Of Wrestling Radio,” as fans around the world are anxious to see what Booker’s next move will be…especially with the potential start of another “Monday Night War.” How close were we to seeing Booker debut with the WWE on Monday night, or surprise the world with a return to TNA to rejoin the company he left in October. “I had no plans of being on either show. Right now, I’m taking a little time off & seeing exactly which way I want to go. Wrestling has been very good to me on both the WWE side & the TNA side, so right now, I’m just taking some time off.”
Booker’s time came to an abrupt end in TNA, and before he left, the company began to go in a younger direction. Despite this, some of TNA’s critics bashing the booking of the program. Booker was asked by The Mayhem Crew about his decision to leave TNA & why he decided it was time. “For me during my two years in TNA, I wrestled probably like three guys, and I think I got a little frustrated. I wanted to be a bigger part of TNA, I wanted to wrestle the Kurt Angle’s, Scott Steiner’s, Sting’s. I’m a professional wrestler. I go out & entertain, and I entertain best in the middle of the ring one on one. I just had a lot of matches that I wasn’t happy with, and I think I got frustrated with the writing more than anything. I think that was maybe my own demise wanting to go out there & do one-on-one matches whe n there was a lot of six man’s, or eight man’s, or ten man’s. I just didn’t feel happy with the way my career was going in that direction.” “The Chairman Of The Board” Todd Vincent asked Booker if he ever went to the writers to give them ideas tried in an attempt to give them input during his time in TNA. “I’ve never been one of those guys to go the writers. I always waited for the writers to do their job, and my job was to go out there & perform. I wasn’t being paid to be part of the writing staff, so I stand back, and hopefully they would use me in the right areas & the right directions, and that is something didn’t happen during my two years there.”
Now with all the surprise debuts in TNA as of late, Booker left the company before the ball began to roll on a lot of these changes taking place. With hindsight being what it is, how successful could have TNA been if he would stayed with all the changes in place now? “I can’t say if TNA would be more successful if I was there or anything like that. And all the names that have been thrown out (on Monday’s iMPACT), and all the new people coming in, Hulk Hogan actually came in a week after I left. Who’s to say that if I known that Hogan was coming in, if I would have stayed or not. Maybe I would have. Hulk Hogan is one of the guys who was an intricate part of Booker T & Stevie Ray becoming one of the most successful tag teams in wrestling by putting Sister Sherri Martel with us. Like I say, this business is a team business. They need good writers, but they need good wrestling minds to go with those writers, and at the end of my TNA run, we didn’t have wrestling minds in the office. It was just Vince Russo writing all the storylines & writing everything for the guys, and I feel like that is not a formula for success.”
With Booker being a free agent, he can pick & choose his next destination, along with the situation he wants to be in. What is Booker T looking for if & when he decides to come back? “To wrestle. As far as TNA, they would have to let me do my thing as far as my wrestling goes. I want to be out there wrestling at the highest level, and that doesn’t mean me going out there belittling anybody, thinking I’m better than anyone else, & trying to win every match. I wrestled AJ Styles, and I was more than happy to go out there & work with him, win or lose. It’s just about me being out there, and displaying my talent, and do my thing like Booker T has done for so many years in the wrestling business.”
The big story that made its way online prior to Booker’s departure from TNA was that Booker did not want to work with “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan & reportedly was not willing to lose to him in a match. Others say that main event guys, like himself, really didn’t try to make TNA big, due to those certain talents not doing house shows. Booker response was quite candid to The Mayhem Nation. “I never complained about going out & doing the house shows or anything like that, as it was reported on the Internet. As far as me & Matt Morgan goes, my issue wasn’t with Matt Morgan. My issue was I never had an angle with Matt Morgan, and it was written in the show that I go out & wrestle Matt Morgan, and he was to beat me in five minutes, and that was something I wasn’t comfortable with. I felt like I had brought so much to the table, and to go out & put my career on the line in five minutes with a guy I never had an angle with. I’m not saying Matt Morgan is guy who shouldn’t be put in that position, but I felt it should have been so much more to make Matt Morgan a bigger star than people remembered him for having a five-minute match with Booker T.”
With the 2010 WWE Royal Rumble coming up & the WWE’s tendency to bring surprises back into the fold in the Royal Rumble Match, could we see Booker as one of the surprise entrants this year? “There’s no numbers for Booker T. Going back to the WWE, I know I woul d have to work a full schedule pretty much 180 days a year. I don’t think that’s something I want to do at this point. A lot of people speculate, but if I was to go back to the WWE, it would probably be from a wrestling announcer standpoint, that’s something I always wanted to do. So I look forward if I ever go back to WWE, it would probably be from a wrestling announcer standpoint. TNA is better for me as far as scheduling goes, but I don’t think I’ll working that hectic schedule anymore.”
With some of the most talented superstars coming up in the business, who would Booker like wrestle if he had the chance? “Kofi Kingston would be one. He is a great talent, and I’ve watched him grow so much. Of course Randy Orton; I would have to get in the ring with him. I can’t say Sheamus, or Drew McIntrye, or any of those guys, I don’t think any of those guys have anything to offer at this point in time. The only person I ever wished to wrestle was Shawn Michaels. A guy I have a lot of respect for, and he is wrestling personified. He is one of if not the best to ever put on boots as far as going out there, and telling a real wrestling story, & making the fans but into it. So he’s a guy I would love to tangle with & see how good I am, and he would be the guy to bring it out of me.” The Mayhem received a question from a listener asking Booker who he would love to wrestle in TNA that he never got a chance to wrestle during his time there. “I really can’t say. I was there help the next crop of guys come up. I wrestled AJ Styles & Samoa Joe, who are the two best TNA has to offer. They have a lot of guys that has to learn a whole lot to come up to the next level, but the guys I really wanted to tangle up with was Kurt Angle & Jeff Jarrett and those guys.”
Booker wished to let everyone that despite his departure from TNA, he is still a fan of TNA Wrestling & the wrestling business as a whole, and wants the business to continue to keep moving & succeeding. He also has a parting shot for his fans & his critics. “Whether they are critics or fans, I truly know that if it weren’t for the fans, Booker T would not have been Booker T. Booker T would not have won all the titles he would have. Booker T would not have made it to the top of the wrestling world if it wasn’t for my fans. I give all the props & praise to my fans as far as the career of Booker T.”
More is contained in this exclusive interview with the former WWE King Of The Ring & the first-ever TNA Legends Champion, Booker T, including whether or not he classifies his time in TNA was a disappointment & whether he was promised anything when signing with the company & during his time there, his thoughts on The Main Event Mafia’s place in the history of factions in professional wrestling, along with his thoughts on Monday night’s “war” between the WWE & TNA (including Bret “The Hitman” Hart’s WWE return & Hulk Hogan’s TNA debut). While celebrating Booker’s second appearance on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network, be sure to log onto his official website (located at http://www.BookerTOnline.com), where you can find the details on how you can give back & donate to Booker T’s phenomenal charity (The Booker T. Fights For Kids Foundation), plus receive all of the lowdown on the Booker T. Pro Wrestling Academy.
To celebrate the new year, head on over to http://www.WrestlingRadioAwards.com, and vote for Monday Night Mayhem in the upcoming 2010 Wrestling Radio Awards. The Mayhem’s record-breaking 23 nominations include the following categories: Show Of The Year (help The Mayhem capture this coveted honor in back-to-back years), People’s Choice (Favorite Show), Male Interview Of The Year (Goldberg, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Legacy’s Ted DiBiase/Cody Rhodes, & “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero), Female Interview Of The Year (Nancy O’Dell, Sharmell, Sojo Bolt, Mia St. John, & Kristanna Loken), & Media Interview Of The Year (Ice-T/Coco, Michael Buffer, Jim Cornette, Bob Zmuda, Jim Florentine, & Chris Bell). WRA 2010 will take place on “Royal Rumble Sunday” (January 31st), with the event will be streamed live starting at 4PM ET. Mayhem Nation: Let’s ensure MNM takes home some of the most-prized hardware in the industry!
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