Booker T Weighs In on John Cena Calling Brock Lesnar the Best Ever, Lesnar’s Talent As a Performer

Booker T weighed in on John Cena’s comments calling Brock Lesnar the “best in ring performer of all time” on his latest Hall of Fame podcast. Cena made the comment in an interview with Sports Illustrated, saying:

“I can say with the utmost sincerity that I believe Brock Lesnar is best in-ring performer that I’ve seen and I know it’s an opinion, and if you want a cool quote, here it is: I think he’s the best in-ring performer of all time. I thought his performance at the Rumble was a clinic on how to establish yourself, how to establish those around you, establish the championship, establish the importance of one event. He did so in less than 30 minutes, and I certainly don’t have the skill set to do that, and it was awesome to be able to see a masterclass man put on a clinic on what to do and how to do it and I was really impressed with the Rumble.”

Weighing in on those comments, Booker said he can see where Cena is coming from and while he wouldn’t personally put Lesnar at #1, he explained why he thinks Lesnar belongs in the conversation. Highlights and the video are below:

On Cena’s comments: “Oh, man. The thing is, I know where John is coming from, because there again [he’s] one of my pupils. One of the guys who sat up under the learning tree who, a guy who would tell you when he worked with me it was all about going out and performing. And I can say I had a small piece in teaching John Cena the art of Shakespeare, and he picked it up very well. I talk about John Cena all the time, and people think I am throwing shade on him when I say, ‘Man, John Cena is very limited professional wrestler far as move set.’ But he’s the guy who parlayed his skills all the way to the main event, man. To the most decorated champion in WWE history, so he did something right first and foremost. And for John to make that statement about Brock Lesnar, I can’t say he’s wrong or anything like that. I can’t say ‘Aw, man, he’s wrong.’ Which a lot of people — I was just thinking, man. Soon as you was reading that, I was like, ‘Man, there’s so many people on the internet, they’re gonna jump on him so bad.”

On Lesnar as a performer as opposed to a technical wrestler: “I look at it like this. Brock Lesnar going out and performing in the Rumble? Man, it was awesome. It was definitely something, a sight to see that you’re going to say ‘Man’ — you’re gonna remember that Rumble. You’re going to remember that one. As well as all the guys that Brock Lesnar went out there and performed with. You’d say ‘Man, those matches. Those were some good matches.’ I mean, he didn’t go out there and lay an egg one time. And then, no matter who Brock Lesnar wrestles from this day to, I don’t care if it’s 5 years from now. If and when that guy beats Brock Lesnar, the fans gonna go crazy. That’s a moment.

“And you know why? Because Brock Lesnar makes the fans feel a certain way. And that’s what I talk about all the time. When you can make the fans feel a certain way when they watch you. And the reason why they feel a certain way is very, very simple. Because Brock Lesnar makes it as real as he possibly can, on both sides. When he’s beating the crap out of somebody, he’s making it look real. When he’s registering, he’s registering properly. When he’s hard selling, he’s hard selling properly. When he’s dead, he’s dead. So Brock Lesnar knows the many, many facets of going out and performing, which so many people — that’s the little stuff, that’s the little the stuff that goes over so many people’s heads. Brock Lesnar knows exactly what he’s doing. Not just what he’s doing, why he’s doing it. And then he knows when to do it. So you can say whatever you want to say but Brock Lesnar has put his name with those guys, you know, high-ranking guys that have played this game very very well. You say, ‘Man, that dude there that’s the real boy there.'”

On if he thinks Lesnar is the best ever: “I wouldn’t necessarily say the best … I mean, he’s not number one on my list either. But as far a performer goes, right now? Today on the roster, if I could say this. In my humble opinion, Brock Lesnar is the most believable guy on our roster today in 2020. I could say that right now, bar none. If anybody wants to challenge me on that, do so. But, the most believable athlete walking out of that curtain. Just like4 when Jake the Snake walked out back then, he was believable. Certain guys, even some of the babyfaces when they walked out. [Randy] Savage, when he came out. That’s what Brock Lesnar is. He makes you believe it, you want more of it even if you don’t want more.”

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