Booker T Thinks AEW Is Trying To Change The Way Fans Watch Wrestling

On the latest episode of the Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T talked about the unsanctioned steel cage match between Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland at AEW All Out and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On tribalism among WWE and AEW fans: “I was reading it [on Twitter] and like one of the comments, they said, ‘This is why AEW is the alternative to WWE.’ And I say, okay, that’s a great way of putting it, right? That’s a great way of putting it. Because over here, it might be one way. Over here, you might be doing the same thing, but it’s done totally different. It’s just like back in the day when you had WWE, WCW, and then you had ECW who did it totally different from these two groups. Was it popular to the group that watched it, to the demographic that would that it was made up of, as far as the people that came to that? Of course it was. But did it reach the general? Did I want my kids to watch it? It’s that kind of stuff.

“And I think again, that’s why we have to say it is the alternative. It is truly the alternative. But I’m not gonna hate on it or anything like that. I’m not gonna, you know, wake up in the morning and talk about it, and I’m not gonna go to sleep at night talking about it. I mean, it’s just one of those things. It’s just a part of life that we’re living in. And there again, you have the choice to watch it or not.”

On Strickland: “Before I even say anything, hell of a talent. He’s a hell of a talent. The kid’s incredible, he can do anything in the middle of that freaking square circle, extraordinary talent. It’s just something that, you know, maybe he wants to get off his bucket list, going out and having these kind of matches. One thing about these kind of matches, it’s a young man’s game. You better get them out the way quick because I don’t see that being a long-term deal where you can continuously go out and do that kind of stuff and get over.”

On Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland: “Is it my cup of tea? No, it’s not. But there again, there’s an audience for it. Obviously, a lot of the fans in AEW, they get off to that kind of stuff. And I think when you are catering to your people, you’re going to be willing to go out there and do anything. I mean, I think that’s what Tony Khan wants in that company, for these guys to be able to go out there and do things differently than they have done before. And I said that before, I think AEW is trying to change the landscape of the way fans watch professional wrestling. I could be wrong, but that’s what it seems like to me. And the reason I said that the first time was, the way the tag team division worked. Because they didn’t have to make traditional tags, they can come in the ring and they can stay in the ring for and do three or four spots with the guys, and then before they get it — there was just a lot of shenanigans that was going on that I just did not understand from a tag team perspective.

“But was I supposed to understand it? Perhaps not. Was I supposed to understand the six-sided ring in TNA when I was there? No, I didn’t need to because it was for the young guys. It was for that generation. Is AEW for this generation of what they’re trying to cater to? Perhaps. But is it my cup of tea? No. Am I going to let my kids watch, you know, somebody get stuck with a needle? Nah, that’s not — I don’t think I want my kids to see anything as far as hypodermic needles, just because of what I had to see when I was a kid in real life with hypodermic needles. Something that is still embedded in my brain, how many lives it really, really ruined, you know? I mean, so I look at that from a totally different perspective then perhaps they do. They may think it’s cool, ‘It’s just something we’re doing on television.’ But if you’re a parent, it seems like you would think a little bit differently.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Hall of Fame with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.