Booker T On Finn Balor Getting Injured Again, Wrestlers Getting The Label Of "Being Soft," Charlotte
On episode 104 of Heated Conversations: Hosted By Booker T, WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T talked about filling in on WWE Monday Night RAW for David Otunga while he is filming a movie over the next several weeks, being concerned about Charlotte Flair's corkscrew moonsault, and former WWE Universal Champion Finn Bálor running the risk of being considered injury prone. The episode was recorded before Monday's RAW.
Booker T, who is essentially replacing Byron Saxton on RAW until Otunga returns, said he is looking forward to calling RAW and introducing a different flavor while Otunga is away.
"I tend to want to be different than the average commentator. I don't want to go in there and sound like some white collar guy that [has] got a Harvard degree or anything like that. I've got to go out there and talk like the people." Booker T continued, "I'm looking forward to going back and bringing some flavor to Monday Night RAW. Well, [Saxton is] a guy straight up from the suburbs. Do you know what I mean? The last time he had been through the hood, he was going 85 to 100 miles per hour. That's a good one ain't it?"
Booker T stated that he is worried about Charlotte doing the corkscrew moonsault, as there were rumors that Charlotte hurt herself in that match. The master of 'The Harlem Hangover' professed that the corkscrew moonsault should be saved for pay-per-views.
"That is the one move that scares me most about Charlotte, is that triple gainer. What do you call it, the moonsault, that corkscrew moonsault. That's the one thing that scares me about her because that's a move like when I used to do 'The Harlem Hangover,' when I was fresh, I could go out there and do it nine out of 10 times and hit it perfectly. But after a 15-minute brawl, I would go up there and I would have to think about it. I was have to anticipate basically where I needed to land. Now, I think with Charlotte, that's the one move that would be her downfall if not done properly. And what I mean [by] properly [is] pay-per-view only, baby. Do you feel me? You've got to make them pay for it. Do you know what I mean? That's pay-per-view only."
Booker T added, "my advice to you now, Charlotte, make sure you know where and when to do all of your big stuff. Do you know what I mean? When you want to debut something big, something new, you do it on TV and then you stop. And you say, 'on pay-per-view you're going to see something big. You're going to see something bigger than that triple gainer.'"
Finally, following Bálor's recent concussion scare, Booker T acknowledged that there comes a point when performers run the risk of being called injury prone or soft.
"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." Booker T clarified, "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."
You can dig that podcast here. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Heated Conversations: Hosted By Booker T with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.