Booker T Addresses Report About Safety Issues At His Reality Of Wrestling Promotion
Last week, a report from Fightful emerged, claiming that the Houston, Texas independent promotion Reality of Wrestling, run by WWE's Booker T, failed to properly address an instance of stalking involving talent. The report states that independent wrestler and ROW trainee Raychell Rose was stalked by fellow ROW talent Shawn Reed, with ROW management mishandling the situation in a variety of ways.
The situation allegedly included allowing Reed to return to a ROW event after discussions had already been had about his behavior, with Reed accused of making threats and secretly bringing a gun with him. In December 2022, the issues seemed to come to a head, with Reed being told to leave a ROW event only to encounter several ROW wrestlers, including Rose, at a bar that talent was known for attending after shows. A confrontation between Reed and another ROW wrestler resulted in several arrests.
Following the release of the report on Friday, Booker T addressed the situation on his podcast, "The Hall of Fame." The "WWE NXT" commentator emphasized the importance he places on safety and said that his students have a direct line of contact with him if they run into any problems.
"This story that came out — it is about an incident that happened in December 2022," Booker said. "Sometimes I question ... Fightful — why didn't this story come out a year and three, four months ago? I mean, why didn't it? Because it really wasn't a story, I didn't believe."
Booker T Elaborates On 2022 Incident And Further Safety Precautions
Booker said that he felt the situation was handled appropriately at the time and everyone had moved past it. However, according to Fightful's report, Rose said that she was later fired from ROW after speaking with Booker about the incident in question. Booker said he spoke with Rose about the issues between her and Reed after the ROW event that night, and knowing that Reed was at the bar talent normally goes to, he asked Rose not to visit the bar that night.
"Raychell Rose chose to go to the bar," Booker continued. "What happened after that was totally out of my control."
According to Booker, he and his wife Sharmell Sullivan-Huffman, who together run ROW, "take full responsibility for anything that happens under Reality Of Wrestling's roof." However, the WWE Hall of Famer believes that he and Sullivan-Huffman had no responsibility for the events that unfolded at the bar. Additionally, Booker said that Rose's claim that she was fired over her complaints was impossible because ROW doesn't have employees; instead, she simply wasn't booked.
"The way this thing is written, it's a hit job," Booker said. "I'm willing to answer any and all questions because I'm not running and I'm not hiding from anybody."
Before moving on, Booker emphasized that he treats all the women who perform for ROW as if they were his own daughter. The WWE veteran also revealed that the promotion had since implemented new safety precautions following the incident, stating that they had added both armed security and cameras to the company's facility.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Hall of Fame" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.