Booker T Talks Matt Riddle's Altercation With Brock Lesnar At WWE Royal Rumble
WWE NXT Superstar Matt Riddle made headlines during Royal Rumble weekend after reports emerged following a backstage incident with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. Booker T shared his thoughts and gave advice on why talent should stay away from situations like this on The Hall of Fame with Booker T & Brad Gilmore.
"Watch what you say first and foremost, Matt, because guys out there can really make you look like something that you really aren't," Booker advised.
After initial reports surfaced online, this altercation was not surprising because Matt also had a previous run-in with Bill Goldberg at last years WWE SummerSlam. Riddle had also been stating for years that he would retire Lesnar.
Booker T also discussed the backstage protocol of wrestlers letting others know they'd be calling them out on social media.
"You got to know somebody first in order to do something like that," Booker T said. "This ain't the UFC. Where you see these guys talking so much smack to each other back and forth and what not. Now on the other hand, when the Corey Graves thing started. When all of those reports started coming out, I called Corey Graves and said 'Don't say nothing just let it ride. Let's see if you get a few clicks out of this. Let's see if we get a few followers.' And it became something, but we both knew what was up. Everybody else thought Corey and I had a lot of heat already, so if they think we have heat, let's do something with it."
Booker T went on to make a point how back in the day wrestlers easily got fired for similar situations just like this.
"This is professional wrestling," Booker said. "This is not the UFC where it's real, and it's organic to where the fans are buying in to it. But with professional wrestling, it's not like that. You don't come in and go into business for yourself in professional wrestling.
"Be careful what you say even if your are just messing around. Think about what you are going to say because people can take it and edit it and make it sound like what they want it to sound like and trust me that's what you don't want."
Booker advised that wrestlers shouldn't work angles with someone unless the other person is in on it.
"Lesson to be learned: Don't work an angle unless you know the guy," Booker stated. "It's bad for business. That's just the way I feel about it."
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit The Hall Of Fame With Booker T & Brad Gilmore with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.