Heated Conversations with Booker T
Episode 193: Booker’s Last Stand, Y2J Signs with AEW, Will Booker be Mayor?
Release Date: January 12th, 2019
Recap By: James Hayes
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Booker T and Co-Host Brad Gilmore welcome you to the show!
Booker is not himself. He’s on edge. He feels antsy. Why? Booker T is coming out of retirement.
(January 12th is the big day, actually, This Last Stand event has already happened, but I’m having a problem finding out who won. Let’s just pretend this is a pre-show.)
Will this be the last time Booker puts on the tights?
Booker says, “You never know when you have to throw hands. Preparation is the only luck you’ll ever have. You gotta be ready. All kind of stuff can happen. You see these young cats, they are disrespectful, ‘Get out the way old man.’ They run up on the old man and then realize that old man got hands. I can only imagine some young guy not knowing who George Foreman is, they wake up one day and go and jump on George’s toes because he’s moving too slow. George is like, ‘What you wanna do, young lad?’ Can you imagine that?”
Booker continues, “George has got to be about 64 right now. (He’s 70) I wouldn’t want to run up on George. He is a professional fighter. His hands have been deemed lethal weapons. He’s kind of like me. I’m a lethal weapon, in certain aspects.”
“I have been hitting the bag. The one thing I’ve done, I’ve questioned myself if I could do it, I pulled the jump rope out. That was always my go to. It was a sanctuary. But also intimidation. I would pull the jump rope out and guys would see my jump rope for 30 minutes to an hour. The guys were like, ‘Man, how does he do it? Because he’s blowing himself up before the match.’ I prepare myself by pushing myself over the edge. I pulled the jump rope out and I started hitting it. Next thing you know I’m up to one hundred that quick. It all came back to me. It was like second nature. I said, ‘I wonder if it’s gonna be that easy when I step back in the ring. Are all of my movements gonna be the same? Will I be able to calculate two steps ahead?’ It’s something you wonder about. But I really think I was born for this. It’s gonna be a great night.”
Brad asks Booker if he was offended when Rex Andrews said he wanted “the old Booker”. And was that the moment when Booker realized he had to “teach him some sense”.
“Well, he made a fatal mistake. And it just goes to show you how young this kid is. Rex Andrew, I hope he learned a valuable lesson when he put his hands down. Bruce Lee said, ‘You bow to your opponent but you keep your eyes on him. You never bow and look down at your feet. That is a mistake.'”
Brad says, “My Father tells this story about when he and his brother got into it. They got into a heated argument, a heated conversation if you will. The brother said, ‘Alright, let’s take this to the garage and put the gloves on. We are gonna settle this like men. My Dad said, ‘Let’s do it!’ They go in the garage they both have the gloves on. His brother goes to touch gloves and my Dad just cold cocks him. Laid him out. Brother got up and said, ‘What was that? I wanted to touch gloves?’ Dad says, ‘This wasn’t sanctioned.’”
The Rest of the Card
“The card is stacked. Jacob Fatu is on the card and he is definitely a monster. He moves like, God rest his soul, Umaga,” Booker says. Brad agrees and Booker then says, “If you are anywhere near Emmett F Lowry Expressway stop off at Booker T World Gym. Come and check this kid out. He is taking on The Fastest Kicks In The South. I’m looking forward to it.”
Brad says, “Bryan Keith, he is smaller but Fastest Kicks in The South, former Television Champ, he’s got some credibility to him, but Jacob Fatu I was so impressed when I saw him here at the World’s Gym a couple weeks ago, how quick, agile, mobile, versatile, hostile.” Booker adds, “Under the expert tutelage of manager Abe Jackson. I got the memo in the mail that he is now to be referred to as Abe Jackson.” Brad says Abe did a good job picking a Hell of a client. Booker says, “Let’s not talk too soon. When you run in there against certain guys… Who did he face?” Brad says some guy named Scott Smith and he couldn’t remember the other guy Fatu faced. Booker almost laughs and says, “Exactly my point. We gotta start vetting these guys… It was the young kid, the little wrestler… What’s his name? Um… You know him.”
Brad says, “That guy.”
“That what I’m saying. He deserves no air time. Let’s get that straight.” Booker says through laughter. Brad agrees that airtime must be earned through ring work.
If you want to see what this Fatu kid can do here is a good example. Check out his finisher!
Brad notes that the TV Champ, Van Harrison will also be in action against a mystery opponent. Booker says it could some guy called “The Samoan Beast” Booker seems pretty excited about this guy. Shall we take a look?
(Not bad. Not bad at all.)
Booker can already see it’s going to be a long night because he’s doing double duty.
“Not only do I have to sit and watch every one of the matches, critique them, make sure everybody does well, but I also got to go out there and throw hands later myself. That’s the ability of being calm, that’s the ability to be able to hold it all in, being able to multi-task.
https://www.realityofwrestling.com/shop/tickets/the-last-stand-section-ppv/
All Elite Wrestling
They had a big press conference with cheerleaders, fog machines, pyro, and belligerent drunken fans. Nevertheless, Brad liked what he saw.
“I was impressed. I really was. I thought that they had their stuff together. Pac was there, Cody, The Young Bucks, of course, the Khan Family which are the new owners of All Elite Wrestling, you had Hangman Page, you had all the usual suspects. The first big show is Double or Nothing, I think it’s May 5th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.”
Booker says starting off in Vegas is big.
Brad informs us that a Starrcast 2 Convention will also happen that weekend.
Booker says, “These guys are coming in hot. I’ve never seen anything like this before. A company is literally BOOM! Pops up. I mean major players. A whole lot of money. TNA was built around a bunch of young guys that were unknowns. People knew about A.J., people knew about Samoa Joe, Roode and what not, but those were guys that were pretty much homegrown talent. These guys are saying, ‘We are starting an organization and we are signing big contracts. Do you want to be a part of it?’ A lot of guys out there are saying, ‘Man, I think I can still go.’ If I’m not mistaken I saw Raven on TNA last week.” (Booker then starts laughing hysterically at his own joke)
After he calms down Brad informs us that All Elite signed Billy Gunn to work as a producer. Booker says Billy Gunn is a great pick. He knows the fundamentals very well.
“He’s a guy that can really teach the generation of today what it means to work the main event spot. It’s hard to tell a lot of these young guys what it feels like, what it’s supposed to feel like if you haven’t been in that position, and Billy Gunn has worked with a lot of the best.”
Brad tells us that Chris Jericho has actually signed a “locked up guaranteed deal”.
“He (Jericho) said yesterday, he was doing an interview with Bubba Dudley on Busted Open Radio, that he would not have signed a contract if there was not a television deal on the table and that when people hear the networks that are being talked about and the deals that are on the table everyone’s going to be like, ‘Oh. Okay.”‘
Booker says, “This is a throwback. This is a Ted Turner moment.”
Here is a clip of Jericho coming out to his… um, music.
Before The Final Bell
Will Booker be Mayor?
I recently saw a report that Booker may consider actually running for Mayor of Houston. I guess he caught whatever Kane contracted which he got from Jesse Ventura. Of course, Ventura got an earlier yet more debilitating case of this potentially deadly virus, and truth be told, it should have been vaccinated to eradication so no other wrestlers would contract it. Why? Because rumor has it Dwayne Johnson (I call him DJ) has been showing early symptoms of carrying the deadliest strain of this disease known to man. This disease could surrender him to the White House, which is already occupied by a celebrity grappler and WWE Hall of Famer. (And look at how that’s going)
Wrestling legend Booker T sets sights on Houston mayoral seat, despite shaky past
I’ll be watching this closely. Come back here for an update.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Overall Observations:
Another short show that is about 45 minutes long. This episode is a bit of a throwaway. No real news and a bit repetitive with regards to Booker building up to his big in-ring return. It feels like we’ve been discussing this for months now and I am eager to see Booker get in the ring so we can find out if still wrestles as good as he looks.
As I said last week the show needs a shot in the arm or something to shake up the routine. This is a forgettable episode and on the lower end of shows that I have listened to.
Skip it.
About James:
See ya next week!
Based out of New York, James Hayes is an independent filmmaker and podcaster, currently working on a true crime series focused on African American crime. When he needs a break from the seriousness of true-crime he turns to pro wrestling. James has 27 years of following the sport. Here is a link to his film credits https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2026980/, as well as His Twitter @JamesHa34395813.
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