Booker T Goes Off, Explains Why He's 'Disappointed' In AEW's Swerve Strickland

During an appearance on "Vlad TV" one week ago, AEW's Swerve Strickland created a stir when he was presented with past comments from WWE Hall of Famer Booker T, who claimed he had been treated fairly by WWE for over 20 years. Strickland disagreed with Booker's view, pointing out that Booker didn't seem to be treated fairly when then WWE Chairman Vince McMahon said the N-word in Booker's presence during a now infamous 2005 "WWE SmackDown" segment.

This week, on his "Hall of Fame" podcast, Booker revealed he had spoken to Strickland about his remarks at an event in Richmond, Virginia this past weekend. Booker admitted he disappointed in Strickland for a variety of reasons, starting with appearing on a platform Booker claims to have rejected years ago.

"They called me back and they offered me money to go on Vlad TV and I turned it down because I was not going to go on Vlad TV and be exploited," Booker said. "I wasn't going to go on Vlad TV and [have] him make me look like a fool in front of the world...I wasn't going to go on Vlad TV and say anything negative towards any black man that's ever been in this business because I know how hard it is for all of us...

"I told Swerve Strickland to his face how disappointed I am in him as a young brother because all I did for Swerve Strickland, ever, was put him over and put him on a pedestal as being one of the best out there that ever did it; he deserves being the AEW Champion and for him to say something like that about me...I don't know if these guys think racism stopped in 1990 when I got in the business, but it didn't.

Booker also addressed the idea that he wasn't vocal enough about racial issues during his career, denying that was the case. He attributed the lack of quotes from him calling out racism to him leading by example, and creating a culture that allowed talents like Strickland and others to succeed. If he hadn't taken that approach, Booker feels could've jeopardized opportunities for himself, Strickland, and others by being "the angry black man" in WWE.

"You may not hear about a lot of racial issues with Booker T because I handled racial issues headfirst," Booker said. "I opened doors, I broke down barriers for people like Swerve Strickland. Swerve Strickland, perhaps would not even be here if it wasn't for me. I have to apologize for nothing that I've done in this business because I've gone out there and literally represented in the ring [and] out of the ring from day one all the way to this day in 2025. 

"You speak on Vince McMahon and him saying the N-word. You want me to be the angry Black man in the company. You want me to not open doors and make spaces for people like you. That's what you want me to do. Swerve Strickland, I hope you're never gonna be in the movies. I hope you're never gonna be on a movie set because you might hear the N-word and if you got a problem they're gonna tell your ass to get the hell out of because this is a movie!"

In the end, however, the thing that disappoints Booker the most about Strickland's comments comes back to DJ Vlad, who Booker feels was trying to pit Booker and Strickland against each other.

"More importantly I'm disappointed in Swerve Strickland because what I told him, and I'll repeat it... You got played," Booker said. "You got played, bro. You got played. You let that man play you and put you against me and me against you. I don't know how many stories you heard about that on Vlad TV, but there's many of them, there's many stories out there about the black men against the black men because Vlad is pitting them against each other."

At this time, Strickland has yet to respond to Booker's comments, though the same cannot be said for DJ Vlad. Taking to X Tuesday morning, Vlad denied Booker's claim that the latter had refused to appear on "Vlad TV," posting a screenshot of an exchange between him and Booker in 2020 that appears to show Booker agreeing to appear on the show. According to Vlad, the interview didn't come together not because of Booker, but because Vlad himself was late getting to the interview.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Hall of Fame" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription