Booker T Weighs In On Criticism Of Roman Reigns’ 2023 WWE Schedule

On the latest episode of the Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T talked about Roman Reigns only working a handful of shows this year for WWE. Specifically, Reigns has only wrestled 11 matches. You can check out some highlights below:

On the stat: “People are going to find something to complain about all the time. I think one of the biggest complaints was that the guys work too much. One of the biggest complaints is that they need a season. You know, they need to have an off-season, just like basketball. How many times have we heard that? Thousands. I mean, you might go back to the old days and just think how many times Hogan worked on television in a calendar year. I’ve been less than that. And nobody was bigger than Hogan.”

On Reigns cooling off: “Can you imagine a boxer boxing 22 times in a year? So I look at the pros and cons of it. If Roman wasn’t selling no tickets, we could talk if he wasn’t one of the hottest acts on television. And the thing is, is it cooling off? Of course, it’s cooling off. It’s been what now, almost four years? Larry Holmes had the world heavyweight championship for eight years. You don’t think it cooled off after some years? And the people were like, ‘Man, I can’t wait to see this guy get beat.’ You don’t think that? So, I look at the pros and cons of situations like this. And I’m not — the people that may have a beef with this have never done it. They’ve never done it. And they don’t know that, they obviously don’t understand the situations that are going on behind the scenes with Roman Reigns, with the WWE or this business. Roman worked 22 times over the year. Do you really feel like, ‘Man, I’ve missed seeing Roman on television? I think man, I should be seeing Roman more.’ Do you feel that way? I’m just saying, in hindsight, it is 2020. If you didn’t even know about this story right here. Would you be at home saying, ‘Man, where’s Roman at? Roman needs to be working.’ Would you like that?”

On the fan reaction to the stat: “So people can say whatever they want to say when they’re looking at it from the outside looking in. But I’m strategizing. I’m trying to make the fans want to tune in. And in this game, it’s very, very fluid. If we start trying to think like it was back in the day, you’re going to have a star playing in every role. So many of them that’s going to come out of that curtain, going to be stars. You gotta have people that Roman can actually go out there and work with. You have to try to build guys, to see who the fans are going to resonate towards and get them.

“So it’s so many variables, man. So many moving parts when it comes to this game. So, I guess I’ll look at it that way because I’ve been a wrestler. I’ve sat under the learning tree of so many great guys from a wrestling perspective, promoter perspective, and booker perspective, I’ve just seen it from so many different perspectives. I don’t think we’ve missed Roman at all. I think he’s played a role on television. If you said he’s only been on television 22 times, that would be one thing. But you just said he’s just worked 22 times. So my thing is that the fans sometimes just want to see you. I just got a guy from New York called me a minute ago when we were on break and asked me, ‘Hey, can you come? I got a show going down in February. We want you to come down. Do you think the fans want to see me work?'”

On whether the locker room resents Reigns for not working as many shows: “Guys are going to be envious of someone who’s got it like that, but who cares? Nobody cares about that. I mean, you get to my position however you got to get here. That’s just the way the wrestling business has always been. Like I said, do I care what people think? No, I don’t. And the thing is, if I got that spot, you better not come tell me you think that way. Because you might not have a job. Just that simple. It’s just the way it works. It’s a pecking order. And right now, Roman is the guy. He’s the guy. And until some — and the thing is, trust me. It’s going to be a time when there’s another guy. It’s just going to be a time when it’s always been that way.”

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.