During a recent edition of his weekly ‘Hall of Fame’ podcast, 2-time WWE Hall of Famer Booker T spoke about the recent happenings and incidents in Tony Khan’s All Elite Wrestling, including the firing of CM Punk.
Among several other topics, Booker T also addressed the theoretic possibility of Punk returning to his former employer, WWE.
Here’s what the former 5-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion had to say:
“Is CM Punk coming back? No, I don’t think so at all. I don’t see that happening. Go back and look at some of CM Punk’s quotes about WWE over the last 7 – 8 years. Nothing, man. Nothing, nothing positive.
And my thinking was I always said, you never know when you might want to cross that bridge again. You just never know. And to think that that might be the company you’re gonna stay at forever, that’s kinda like wishful thinking.
So, you gotta be smart. And I just don’t think when CM Punk left WWE, I don’t think he was smart about it more than anything. Because I always feel like it’s rolled back. But I think CM Punk may have blown that bridge up.”
Booker T was then asked if he knew about All Out taking place a week after All In.
Here’s what he said:
“No, I didn’t know about it. Didn’t know about any of these matches. It’s like this show is a hotshot. It’s, like, put together here at the last minute. But, you know, I mean, I think with AEW, they’re not thinking about the build-up. They’re just thinking about the matches.
And I think. It’s just one of those companies, I don’t think that’s a recipe for success. I don’t. WCW was more wrestling-oriented than story, but they tried to do a build-up. They did try to, you know, agree with the fans as far as making the fans go on a ride from that perspective as well.
Maybe the story may not have been as good. They may not have been as well put together. I do think they did try it.”
The former Harlem Heat member then discussed the lack of build for the FTR vs. Young Bucks storyline at All In:
“Yeah. People want to see The Young Bucks and FTR. That’s the one match I think people have been clamoring for more than anything. And I think that match could also have much more steam on it. A two-year build-up to where it could have been. It was one of the biggest things people had recently seen in the tag team division.
That’s what I’m talking about. I’m not saying that the fans did not like the match. I’m sure the fans liked the match. But it’s just one of those things where I feel like that. I feel like that company could be cashing in on some of the stuff that’s going on between, you know, the teams they got with so much—toxicity behind it. I think I remember one of them.
What I’m saying is what I’m getting at. I think the story would be very, very memorable if the story had a lot of weight put into the story and, yeah, as opposed to just the match. One thing about this business is that people often remember many matches they watched because those matches made them feel a certain way.
But fans remember that moment feeling a certain way about, you know, say, for instance, the Miz promo; I’ll remember that Miz promo, I think, forever. Yeah, I’m serious. That’s what I’m talking about. I think the match that The Miz and Knight will have will be good. But I’m thinking about the buildup to these matches, and I think that’s where you miss out sometimes on the buildup to those matches.”
Booker T wrestled for Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling from 1993 until the company was bought by Vince McMahon in March 2001, and jumped ship right away, coming into the World Wrestling Federation as the reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion a few months later.
He wrestled for the WWF (renamed WWE in May 2002) until 2007 and then joined Dixie Carter’s Total Nonstop Action! (TNA) till late 2009 and eventually returned to WWE in 2011 as a part time wrestler and color commentator, among other non-wrestling roles.
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