Booker T Says He Has “Mixed Emotions” About Legends Returning To Wrestling

Booker T discussed a wide range of topics on a recent episode of his Hall of Fame podcast. 

During it, Booker T talked about legends coming back to wrestling. 

“I’ve always had mixed emotions about the older guys coming back and performing.  I’ve always said that.  I’ve always been one of the guys that when I walked away from it, I walked away from it.  I just didn’t want to be one of those guys coming back trying to relive that moment.  But, a star like The Rock, who’s the biggest star in Hollywood coming back and doing something, damn it, I’m letting him do whatever the hell he wants to do.  I’m serious.  I’m not even going to joke around or beat around the bush about that.  I’m going to tell you, if I could book the biggest star in Hollywood, and he wasn’t The Rock for WrestleMania, I would do that too.  If I can get the biggest rap artist in Latin America like Bad Bunny to show up and do something, I’m going to do it.  When I look at it, I look at it from those perspectives.  When we’re talking about someone like Goldberg coming back, there’s a lot of these young guys, young internetters, that don’t like seeing an older guy like Goldberg come back, ‘He’s over the hill.  He’s past his time’, but think about all those fans that have paid money to see Goldberg for many years that say, and it is  just like if it was Joe Frazier or Muhammad Ali coming back at 60, they would say, ‘We have to see him.’  It’s one of those deals.  It’s nostalgia.  Nostalgia is something that hopefully never goes away.  Never, ever goes away.”

“I believe in bringing the older talent back, and using them wisely.  I know we used Mick Foley as long as we possibly could just because people love Mick Foley.  They just love everything about the aura of what Mick brought them.  I tell people this, as far as people like Goldberg, people like The Rock, people like Mick Foley, of course we’ve seen those guys in the ring many, many times.  We’ve seen them take many, many bumps over their careers.  The thing is, do they have to go in the ring and take a bump for me to actually want to see them?  No.  These guys, you want to see them whether they are in the ring or not.  Them coming back, there again guys, is for nostalgia purposes.  I think that’s the way you should look at it because one of these days, you are going to be older, and these younger guys are going to be older, and you’re going to be wondering, ‘Man, why do people not want to see these guys anymore, and I love them.’  You don’t understand that right now because you’re not in that position.  Personally, I get it.  I understand that.”

H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription