Booker T Calls Current WWE NXT Titleholder ‘A Diamond’

NXT has seen a lot of new talent over the years, specifically since the rebranding of the black and gold version of "NXT' to "NXT 2.0."

While on the "Hall of Fame podcast", six-time World Champion and two-time WWE Hall of Famer Booker T highly praised one of NXT's newest stars and champions.

"I remember when Roxanne was, you know, talking about getting into WWE. I was like, 'This is one we really don't want to mess up because we're watching, you know, like, Lita go into the Hall of Fame 20 years after her career. This is Lita'," Booker said. "[Roxanne] is Lita 20 years from now, going into the Hall of Fame, and I say, 'We cannot mess this one up.'

"It's got to be right, and I appreciate everything WWE is doing with Roxanne because she's a diamond, man. She's a diamond. All she needs is to be in the right place working with the right people and the fans are going to gravitate to her because she has what we call in the business that it factor."

Roxanne Perez has had quite the success since signing to WWE, firstly winning the Women's Breakout Tournament on the June 7th episode of "NXT 2.0." Perez's success would not stop there as she decided to team with real-life friend Cora Jade to attempt to defeat Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne, also known as Toxic Attraction, a group led by NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose, for the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship.

Perez and Jade were successful in their attempt on the July 5th edition of "NXT 2.0", and with this win, Perez became the youngest female in company history to hold a Championship, winning it at 20 years and 242 days old.

Booker discussed his thoughts on the new 2.0 version of "NXT" compared to the previous black and gold version of the brand.

"I thought this is what NXT should've been the whole time," Booker said. "I did not think WWE competing against themselves with a show like NXT, having all of that hype and making those stars compete against SmackDown and Raw stars, I just didn't think that was a good idea. But to be able to create stars like a Mandy Rose, like a Roxanne, like a Bron Breakker — that right there, I think, is what that fetus system should always be about."

Booker T had a hand in Perez's success as she attended the Hall of Famer's wrestling school, Reality of Wrestling, where he trained Perez. Perez signed with the company in February of 2022, with her biggest championship win prior to this taking place at ROH Death Before Dishonor 2021 when she defeated Miranda Alize to win the vacant ROH Women's Championship under the name Rok-C.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Hall of Fame" Podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.