Booker T Reacts To Bray Wyatt's WWE Release
This past weekend, WWE announced that they had released Bray Wyatt from his contract.
The release caught the entire wrestling world by surprise, with many talents and fans being shocked by his departure. His release has also reportedly made other talents insecure and nervous about their own standing in the company.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T recently commented on Wyatt's release from the company on his Reality of Wrestling radio show. During the livestream Booker discussed whether losing Wyatt would have a big impact on the company.
"It would be hard to say that [releasing] Bray Wyatt is not a big loss," admitted Booker T.
Booker went on to say that he thought the WWE had gotten a lot of mileage out of The Fiend character, and that he expected Bray Wyatt to come back as Bray Wyatt. He then noted that Wyatt will be missed, and that he is unsure whether Wyatt can be replaced, and compared him to a wrestling legend.
"Can he be replaced?" pondered Booker T. "I don't think so. Because, I think Bray Wyatt was one of those guys that was kind of like a throwback. You didn't just look at Bray Wyatt because of his wrestling ability, or anything like that. He's kind of like Jake 'The Snake'. He could talk you into the building, you know? And he could do it just by whispering. That's the way Bray Wyatt was. When Bray Wyatt was doing that, and the talking, and really making a whole lot of sense out of nothing, I was like 'Man, this guy here is different'."
The 5-time WCW Heavyweight champion continued to discuss how special Wyatt was. He then proceeds to once again draw comparisons between Wyatt and another icon of the wrestling industry.
"He's like one of the Mick Foley's of the world," noted Booker T. "They don't come around too often. So, he definitely will be a guy who will be missed, and I don't think he's replaceable. Because, you can't put anyone else in that gimmick or that character, and they do it the way he did it."
The WWE Hall of Famer continued to praise the creative mind of Wyatt, and admitted he thought he was going to be a fixture in WWE for years to come.
"I thought he was going to be around a long time," confessed Booker T. "I didn't see this one coming, I really didn't. . . The creative mind of Bray Wyatt, for me, surpassed anything he ever did inside the squared circle. I just love Bray Wyatt, again, he could talk you into the building without actually having to step one foot inside the squared circle. You say 'Man, I got to go check this guy out.' So, that kind of enigma comes along few and far in-between."
Booker then discussed whether he believes Wyatt is at all worried about his release. He then revealed how he personally felt when he left WWE for the first time back in October of 2007.
"I'm going to tell you right now, I don't think Bray is worried about getting a job or anything," shared Booker T. "I'm sure as soon as the reports came out, his phone was ringing off [the hook]. He probably had to shut everything down for a minute just to get some rest. And also, sometimes finding yourself on the other side, you go 'Wow, I really needed to unplug for a second'. Because, you really sometimes don't know how toxic things are until you step away from it and go, 'I really need a break'.
"I say that because I know when I left WWE the first time, I needed a break. I was like 'Man, I gotta detox, I gotta unplug'. It was like the Matrix. I was seeing all kinds of colors, man! And no one could read it but me! But people said 'Man what are you doing? You're at your height!' I was like, it's time to check out. So, like I said, you never know what you're going to feel until you're in that position. I'm sure right now he's like 'Man, I'm feeling good. [Time to] get some rest'."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Reality of Wrestling with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.