For better or worse, WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T has never been one to bite his tongue. So now that he’s back behind the commentary desk on Raw (at least for the next six weeks), we can likely expect his opinions on the current product to be amplified a bit — like on the most recent episode of his podcast, Heated Conversations, which he recorded before Raw went on the air Monday night.
Among the topics he covered are his subbing in for David Otunga (“I don’t want to go in there and sound like some white-collar guy”) and his feelings on Charlotte’s eye-popping corkscrew moonsault (“that’s the one move that would be her downfall if not done properly”). But things got really interesting when he discussed Finn Bálor’s recent concussion scare at the hands of current WWE World Championship No. 1 contender Jinder Mahal (which is a real sentence I just typed). Booker elucidates:
“You don’t want to get labeled in this business as being injury prone. Do you know what I mean? ‘This guy, he’s soft!’ Do you know what I mean? You don’t want to get that label… I wasn’t saying [Bálor] specifically, I’m just saying you don’t want that label in this business as far as being soft, a guy that can’t carry the load, a guy that’s not going to be in for the long haul. That’s what this business is about. And it’s about going out there and being able to weather the storm.”
Of course, Bálor isn’t injury-prone as he is just kinda unlucky, as he suffered a torn labrum the same night he was crowned the inaugural WWE Universal Champion. Sometimes, like in the case of Dash Wilder, talent is injured and still wants to perform yet is benched by the powers that be. Still, if you conducted an anonymous survey of current WWE talent, it’s a safe bet many are hiding injuries of various degrees for fear of being taken off TV and being labeled with that very word Booker brings up. (Maybe this is all Big Cass’ fault.)
(h/t Wrestling Inc.)
