Heated Conversations with Booker T
Episode 178: The Sandman, McGregor vs Khabib, Kavanaugh vs Ford and more
Release Date: September 29th, 2018
Recap by: James Hayes
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Booker and Co-host Brad Gilmore welcome you to the show!
Ahmed Johnson
Right from the beginning, the guys start up with Tony Norris. (Ahmed Johnson)
Brad has been nervous about running into the big man.
Booker advises him, “All you have to do is a walk-run, you’ll get away from him. A power walk.” “He continues, “I haven’t heard a whole lot about Tony Norris, he hasn’t called me or answered my challenge. The challenge is open.” Brad confirms, “It’s a pie eating contest or walk around the block.” Booker has changed his mind. “Nope. It’s a match. We want Tony Norris in a match. Right here at 10000 Emmett F Lowery Expressway.” Brad reminds Booker the last match they had did not set the world on fire. Booker says that’s because Norris said he wanted Booker to look bad. But Booker adds, “It didn’t work.”I look stellar. I remember vividly. I beat him so bad in that match, that afterward he came to me and asked, why I made him look so bad. But, he was blown up. He was gassed to the gills. I was going circles around him.”
(Booker is savage!)
Retirement
“All these guys are coming out of retirement. You got Shawn Michaels coming out, The Undertaker, Triple H. I said, “Why not Booker T?” I say I don’t miss it, but I do. It hurts. I got in the ring and bounced around when no one was in the gym, just me. I said I’m going in here to concur all my fears because every since I got out the ring, every since I wrestled Cody Rhodes I have not been within 30 feet of the ring. I got phobia. I came to the gym to see if I still got it. I took a bump and I was like “Oh my goodness”. When the people are going crazy you don’t feel it. But when you don’t have your boots and tights on, man it hurts. But I tell you I do miss it. I do want my fans to see me wrestle one more time. Because when they turn the light out, it doesn’t come back on ever again. I don’t want to cheat myself. I’m getting myself in good shape. I’ll be posting some pictures of myself in the next few weeks, to let them know Booker is in better shape than all these suckas, we need to sign this boy!”
“You always gotta be ready. Preparation is the only luck you will have in this life.”
McGregor vs. Khabib
Booker says the press conference between the two was wild.
“Conor was drinking, Dana White was drinking.”
He also thinks that Conor is putting on a show to hide his fear.
“Conor McGregor did not seem that confident in that setting. I always say the man that throws the first punch, is the man that has clearly run out of ideas. All the gestures and jumping around, that was a scared man right there. He was trying to do something, that’s the first time we seem him act like… to the extreme, like that.”
Brad counters, ”He did not have a crowd to react to so he didn’t know if it was too much or not. He was just in a room trying to figure it out.” Booker counters his counter, ”There was press there. The press is people. Did you see Donald Trump pop when he was talking to all the leaders around the world? Trump saying all that stupid stuff. It’s no different?”
Brad says he thought Khabib was scared, that he looked out of his element. Booker does not buy it. “Look at all the talk he (McGregor) talked when Nat Diaz beat him down, then after the fight what was he doing? Hugging him.” Brad, “He was trying to sell a fight!” Booker, ”The fight doesn’t need to be sold” Brad responds, “What do you mean the fight don’t need to be sold? What are you talking about?” Booker exclaims, “The fight is already sold. What are we talking about here?” Brad asks, “Why even have a press conference?”
Booker reaffirms his earlier point that Conor looks like a beat man. He says Brad was fooled by Conor. Brad thinks Khabib is scared of Conor because he never reacted at the conference. Booker says Conor is putting on a show as a diversion. “You didn’t see him jump up and try to get on Mayweather like that.” Brad says, “He told Mayweather to his face, that he can’t even read. Then he won rounds on the greatest boxer of all time.” Booker snickers at Brad, then tells him, “You sound like a Republican, just trying to make up stuff when it’s not there.”
Brad laughs in his response to Booker’s below the belt insult.
Bottom line: Booker believes Conor will lose within two rounds. He says, Conor is gonna get beat so bad in the first round, that in the second round he ill ask the ref to stop it.
Brad is tempted to take that bet.
(I thought these guys were going to come to blows.)
UFC 229 happens October 6th, 2018
Sandman Interview
On the line right now is one of The Innovators of Violence, give it up for The Sandman.
Booker: What’s up, Sandy?
Sandman: Heck of a day, getting ready for The Ryder Cup. 2 am in the morning.
Booker: Getting any golf in?
Sandman: It’s been raining so much the North East, the golf course is soaked, everybody wants you to walk. I ain’t walking nowhere.
Booker: You still carrying that 5 iron in the car? You still got it?
Sandman: I sure do. You better believe it. I had these clubs since 1996.
Booker: Remember that time we were in TNA overseas, and we went to that club and they kicked out Charlie Haas because he was under dressed?
They all laugh.
Booker: But, let’s talk about ECW. Let’s talk about times working with Tommy Dreamer, times working with RVD, the Dudleys. You guys became famous working there. What was that ride like?
Sandman: The worst part about it was I was so young, I didn’t start until 89, 90, by 96 we were rolling pretty hard, I didn’t appreciate it enough when it was happening. Guys like Rocco Rock Ted Petty, they told me we were doing something special. Teddy had been around the world, he was like, “This locker room is different than any other locker room on the planet.” I’m like, “What do you mean?” He said, “It’s like family. Wait until you go to another company.” I was like, “I ain’t ever leaving ECW.”
Booker laughs.
Sandman: Of course, Paulie paid me less than somebody else and I was like. “Alright, I’m out of here. I’m going to WCW. I wished I had appreciated it more when we were in the mix.
Booker: People talk about the stories with ECW, I talked to RVD, I talked to The Dudleys. How deep was it? I’ve heard guys out the back door were engaging in rec…
Sandman: Absolutely. There were no rules.
Booker: You say you were young. Sandman has always been one of my favorite characters. You talk about how you did not appreciate. I say Sandman had James Dean qualities. A guy stood out without having to do anything.
Sandman laughs.
Booker: I’m serious. Do you feel like not taking advantage of that, and looking back now, that you could have taken things in a different direction? I see Sandman still doing big stuff, if not perhaps for the recreational. How deep did you get into that?
Sandman: Way deep. Way off the deep edge. I don’t know… I… It’s hard to explain, Book. I’m the kind of person that does not have regrets for anything I’ve done. The only regret I have in professional wrestling is that I did not surf the crowd. I should’ve done that at that One Night Stand. The whole building, they almost pushed me off the balcony. The Security Guard had me by the back of the pants. I almost went over. I should’ve surfed that crowd! That would have been epic!
Booker: Definitely.
Sandman: All that recreational stuff was me before I got into wrestling. I had no reason to change. I did not think I was a WCW or WWE guy until I signed my first WCW contract. I always looked at myself as an ECW guy. I was having too much fun on the ride, there was no reason to look too far down the road.
Booker: There was no crowd like a ECW crowd.
Sandman: They became part of the show. That’s what made it so special.
Brad: That’s what I wanted to ask Sandman, Brad Gilmore here, one of the special things in ECW was the feud where you were blinded. You could not see. And Paul Heyman likes to say you wouldn’t even open the door at your house. You made your wife open the door. How committed to that were you, actually?
Sandman: I don’t know. Paulie said, “The only way this works is if people really believe it.” I owe my career to that guy. I took that angle very seriously.
Booker: How happy are you now? So many guys don’t know how to get off the ride. How happy are you?
Sandman: I get paid to go to these conventions. I get paid to have reunions. I miss being in the locker room with the boys more than anything.
Booker: Sandman is in a good place. Stay happy. Stay blessed. Thank you for coming on.
Sandman: Check out my twitter. https://twitter.com/realsandman?lang=en
Sandman One Night Stand entrance
Brett Kavanaugh vs Christine Blasey Ford
“Who do you believe? I don’t think there should be a statue of limitations. I don’t know if you got to see the testimony. She was very very convincing. And one thing about it is, this is something you carry with you for the rest of your life. Some people don’t realize. They think because it happened 37 years ago… To hold something like that in you for 37 years, that is a prison inside of yourself. It really is. That is a punishment someone on the outside, really cannot see if you have never been in that situation. So, should there be a statue of limitations? I don’t think so. Especially when a man is going to be in a position so high, where he will be able to make decisions for the rest of his life. For the next 30-40 years. Those are lifelong decisions. For a woman like Ford, who has done well for herself, to come out and take the criticism for something like this is huge.”
“Women are stepping up and I give them credit for it.”
Speaking of controversy…
Before The Final Bell
Booker talks about his past issues with The Young Bucks, as well as the Brie Bella/Liv Morgan Incident.
You can click the link at the top to hear it all.
Rating: 7.5 to of 10
Overall Observations:
Fine episode. The highlight was the spirited debate regarding the McGregor vs Khabib fight and the continued ethering of Ahmed Johnson.
For those not hip hop savvy. Ether= A slang expression synonymous with ruthlessness-meaning to harshly humiliate an opponent.
See ya next week!
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