Booker T Shares His Thoughts on the Brock Lesnar and Matt Riddle Incident, Offers Advice to Riddle

– During this week’s Booker T Hall of Fame podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T discussed the recent rumors of Matt Riddle having a backstage altercation with WWE World Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble last Sunday. Below are some highlights.

Booker T on the Matt Riddle/Brock Lesnar situation: “When you see that kind of stuff, you can say, ‘Man. This kid really got a problem.’ But they did a package on Matt Riddle. Keith Lee was in the package as well, and it was these young guys arriving to the arena, looking at the sight of, ‘Man. This is it. This the Rumble. We gonna be in it!’ And he was asked a question about Brock Lesnar, obviously, and then he answered the question. He said, ‘Yeah, man. I’m gonna be the one to do this. I’m gonna–‘ So, it was before he actually got his hands laid on him. So, they actually made it look like he was rebutting what Brock Lesnar said. So, I say, man. Watch what you say, you know what I mean, first and foremost, Matt because guys out there can really make you look like something that you really aren’t. So, that’s what I’m always talking about with social media and what not, saying stuff and what not. And it looked like he was working, and they made it look like it was a shoot. So, I’m gonna take a right hand on this one.”

Booker T on if there’s a procedure to handle wrestlers calling each other out on social media: “Well, you got to know somebody first in order to be able to do something like that. This ain’t the UFC, OK? That’s what I want to relate also. This isn’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, with him and I, when all of those reports started coming out, I called Corey Graves and said, ‘Man, 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 more followers and what not.’ And it became something, but we both knew what was up. Everybody else thought Corey and I had a lot of heat already, so we was like, ‘OK. They think we have heat. Let’s do something with it.’ They thought Corey Graves took my job, so I thought, let’s do something with it. You know what man? Because that’s the way I am. It’s not about me. Corey, big ups man, this guy’s on the road 52 weeks out of the year.”

Booker T on Matt Riddle tweeting about Lesnar without giving him a heads up: “Look man, you know, this is not the UFC. If someone don’t want to work with you, and if someone don’t like you, it definitely can become a problem for you. Back in the day when guys had a reputation where someone didn’t like him because of certain reasons, and it started becoming viral and going around, and it wasn’t just one guy saying it. And then it wasn’t just this one guy saying it. And finally, the one guy who meant something, he said something about it. That guy got fired. I’m serious. That’s normally the way [it is]. This is professional wrestling. This is not the UFC to where it’s OK and cool to create controversy in the UFC, especially when 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. So, that’s why I feel like, this deal right here, he was in character one moment, and then the media took the character and made it a shoot because of what happened on Sunday. So, I just feel like, like I say there again, be careful what you say. Even if you’re just messing around, think about what you’re going to say before you say it because people can take it and interpret it, people can take it and switch it around. 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 T on why it’s not all Riddle’s fault: “I don’t throw it all on Riddle because from the package that’s in the clip that’s on social media on one of the sites, it actually gives you everything verbatim as far as what he said. But you actually got to click on the video to actually see what it is. And if you don’t click on the video to see what the video was, you don’t really understand all the interpretations that you’re reading. It sounds totally misconstrued.”

Booker T on the lesson Riddle should learn: “It is a lesson to be learned. It’s definitely a lesson to be learned because I’m sure he probably saw it and went, ‘Aw man. I didn’t say that.’ And then he’s going to look at it and go, ‘I did say it,’ you know what I mean? Exactly, exactly. Don’t work an angle unless you know the guy. It’s bad for business. It’s bad for business. That’s just the way I feel about it.”

If using any above quotes, please credit Booker T’s Hall of Fame, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.