Booker T Weighs In On Sasha Banks And Naomi’s WWE Walk Out
Booker T believes that those who support Naomi and Sasha Banks walking out of "WWE Raw" are on a slippery slope.
During his latest "Hall Of Fame" podcast, Booker weighed in on the situation surrounding the former Women's Tag Team Champions, who are currently suspended by WWE. The two women supposedly walked out just before "WWE Raw" last week, despite having a major role in the planned main event match. The company responded by stripping them of their titles and is set to host a tournament to crown new champions in the near future. In the days since, several major names in wrestling having come out in support for Banks and Naomi, including Mickie James and CM Punk, but Booker T is not among them.
"I just think the situation should have been handled differently," he said. "If they wanted to go out and get the job done, and then walk out and say, 'Hey look, whatever you've got planned for us going forward we've got to talk about it,' or, 'We're not in for it,' I get that. But to up and leave the show, for anybody to support that ... it's setting a precedent as far as guys wanting to walk out and leave the show."
Neither Banks nor Naomi has commented publicly on the situation, but that hasn't stopped the story from taking numerous twists and turns over the past week, from WWE's original statement and various punitive actions to reports of creative disagreements to speculation on whether or not the whole thing is a work. Booker T, for his part, says he's "leaning toward it's not," but also wishes the incident hadn't been amplified as much as it has.
"I just think this whole situation could have been avoided in front of the media," he said. "I do think all of this being in the media is just blowing it up to a proportion to where we're looking at it like, we're like hanging on the edge, wondering what's going to happen next."
"What happens next" is indeed the question everyone is asking, especially given that Banks' and Naomi's WWE contracts are reportedly set to expire soon. Speculation is running rampant that the pair are on their way to All Elite Wrestling, and that WWE might freeze their deals to prevent their defection to AEW. After all, with the rise of another major televised wrestling company for the first time since WCW's demise, there is now another place for wrestlers to make money, and many former superstars have turned down WWE contracts in favor of its competitor. Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, Keith Lee, Ruby Soho, and many other former WWE stars are now part of the AEW roster — but as Booker points out, there are no guarantees.
"To be thinking about these guys from a perspective now where they can just jump up and just do anything because AEW is over there, and they can run over there and get a job, well AEW ain't hiring everybody, okay," he said. "I'm not saying that they won't hire Naomi and Sasha, but I'm just saying they're not hiring everybody. There's a lot of people out there right now in this wrestling world that don't have jobs, and AEW easily could have signed them."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the Hall Of Fame podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.