Booker T’s talks with WWE about a return go back to the Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view in Houston, Texas in December. Booker was backstage visiting and expressed interest in returning. No contract was signed then and while he kept talking with TNA, a deal was in place with WWE for him to be a Royal Rumble surprise.

As noted last night, Booker T will now be an announcer on Friday Night SmackDown. Booker is expected to do the occasional storyline and match, similar to Jerry Lawler.

Labels: booker t, smackdown

Posted by Matt Loede at 9:44 PM | Permalink | Comments

Eric Bischoff mentioned Booker T and Kevin Nash in the opener of last night’s TNA iMPACT tapings. Bischoff said they both wouldn’t be here and said Nash called him, but he told him to take the money, get a new action figure, dye his hair and “do it.” Regarding Booker T, Bischoff asked, “who cares what he’s doing?”

Labels: booker t, eric bishoff, kevin nash

Posted by Matt Loede at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments

TNA Wrestler Booker T was scheduled to picket Vito’s Deck House, a sports bar in Houston, Texas because he claimed they racially discriminated against the Christian faith.

On October 26th, Booker and WWE Superstar The Boogeyman went to Vito’s Deck House to watch an NFL football game. About 15 minutes after they arrived, a bartender came up to Boogey and asked him to take off his cross, or leave, because it violated the dress code. Booker got pissed off and asked to talk to the manager. The manager explained it was part of the bar’s dress code. Booker asked to see where the code was posted, and it wasn’t. Booker then refused to leave and told Boogeyman, real name Marty Wright, not to leave.

Police were called and told Booker and Wright to leave, then filing a report. Booker claimed he saw two other people in the bar wearing crosses but they were not approached by staff and told to leave. However, those two people left the bar when they saw Booker and Wright being kicked out over the cross. Booker scheduled a protest march and wanted to get as much publicity as possible to tell people about the sports bar.

Labels: boogeyman, booker t

Posted by Matt Loede at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments

While here at Let's Talk Wrestling we pride ourselves on being a true blue WWE site, we also realize that there is another "wrestling" company that does exist, and it's pointless to try and pretend they don't so here is a quick take on what was the latest TNA PPV Sunday night "Victory Road."

This is the first time I ever truly took in a TNA PPV, and while I don't really follow their storylines at all, it was easy to keep up with them as they did their background promos, much like the WWE would do if you didn't follow it and happened to catch a PPV. While I didn't catch the whole PPV, I caught most of the last 2 hours, which was more than enough to decide how I felt about this bomb.

Yes, you read that right. This thing was awful. I have had issues with TNA in the past, and this is not just because I am sticking up for WWE. Simply put, if you watch TNA - why? I'm serious, give me some feedback in the comments section or shoutbox to your right as to why you spend your hard earned money watching this 3rd or even 4th rate wrestling.

I will give TNA credit for their X-division matches, which is about the only thing on these shows worth watching. They had the finals of the World X Cup Tourney Sunday night, with TNA, Team Japan, Team Mexico and Team International. Team Mexico won (at least I'm pretty sure from what I recall) and for the most part, the crowd really seemed to care less.

I look at the X-division matches as the WWE's Money in the Bank. They usually have 2-3 big bumps, and are usually pretty good. Since I barley watch TNA, I don't know how this one ranked, but it seemed like it was a little less exciting than ones that I have been able to catch in the past. The Knockouts Title match I caught with champion Taylor (a Mickie James character knock-off) vs Awesome Kong (think Mark Henry as a woman) was okay, with a fast ending with Taylor rolling up Kong for the win.

I had so many issues with the main event, I don't even know where to start. Booker T vs Samoa Joe for the TNA World Title was to me what TNA was all about. They showed Sharmell (Booker's wife, in case you forgot) easily 15-25 times during the match. I actually counted a few times they showed her and three times didn't get past the count of five when they would show her, show the action, then show her again. Awful.

The ending was awful as well, with it basically being a no-contest. With refs knocked out, they played it that Joe "snapped" and kept beating on Booker until the ancient Sting came out and beat up Joe eventually with a bat. Then Sharmell made a hookey three-count and Booker stole the belt. Could this have gotten any worse?

Now I know why I don't watch this crap. Again, I can't believe people pay for this. I have my issues with WWE, but trust me when I say - those of you that watch TNA are wasting your time. And money.

Labels: booker t, samoa joe, sting, tna, victory road

Posted by Matt Loede at 6:09 AM | Permalink | Comments

From: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

As noted earlier, D-Lo Brown (Accie Connor) signed a deal with WWE to rejoin the company. The word going around in recent months was that Vince McMahon wanted more African-Americans on television, so Brown's impromptu signing when he last had a dark match ten months ago likely had something to do with this. McMahon has been looking to obtain some more African-Americans talent for a few reasons. Ratings have gone down in that demo, they've lost quite a few talent what with the departures of Booker T, Lashley, Kristal Marshall & others in the past year, not to mention the whole Michael Hayes racism controversy.

Labels: booker t, D-Lo Brown, kristal marshall

Posted by Matt Loede at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments

- With 2007 coming to a close and this being the last report of the year, I thought it would be good to do a little "Stories of the Year" top 10 list - so here we go:

1. Chris Benoit Double Murder/Suicide - Could be the biggest story in the history of the sport. Shook the foundation of how things in wrestling are looked at, and still today hard to fathom.

2. Main Eventers Injured - The list is alarming: Triple H, Undertaker, Edge, Shawn Michaels, John Cena. No star was bigger than Cena, as the company was able to overcome each of the other injuries without much of a hitch, but Cena's injury really changed things. It was good to see him on the Tribute to the Troops show this last week, and in the end maybe the injury in the long run will be a refresher for his character.

3 . WrestleMania 23 Sells out Ford Field - While the event lacked the man who helped sell out the Silverdome 20 years ago, Hulk Hogan, the event was still memorable for all the right reasons. Two great main events with Cena vs Michales and Batista vs Undertaker, and the Money in the Bank was memorable as well. A great card overall and a great venue.

4. ECW all but Dead - Like it or not, ECW of today is not even close to that of last year, when you at least at RVD, Sabu, Sandman and a few others that were originals. Now you have top guys like C.M. Punk, John Morrison, Big Daddy V, and Mark Henry. Change is not always good.

5. The Vince McMahon Death Angle - It was a shock angle that was scrapped when the Benoit murders/suicide took place. It was a distasteful angle anyway, and some thought it was fate that a real life wrestling death took place while a fake one was going on.

6. The Rise of Jeff Hardy - For years many thought that Hardy had what it took, but his out of the ring issues always seemed to hold him back. Plus many questioned his true dedication to the sport long term. Now he seems as focused as ever, and it's paying off.

7. The New Substance Suspension System - Back in August the company made waves when they suspended 10 guys, including big names like Jeff Hardy, Booker T., Umaga and others. It made an impact that hopefully these guys will finally get it.

8. Mr.McMahon's "son" - Yes, a pretty interesting storyline till the end, when the kid ended up being Hornswoggle, the pal under the ring of Finely. Since then, he has had a big role on TV, playing a big part in making McMahon's as well as Coach's life tough. The storyline should have belonged to Mr.Kennedy, but he blew it by not stepping up.

9. RVD and Booker T. Say Good-Bye - Two great long-time WWE guys decided that they had enough, and took the high road out. RVD did come back for the RAW 15th Anniversary show, but don't expect a full-time return. As for Booker, he's now in TNA.

10. RAW 15th Anniversary - A mega show that turned out to be better than the Armageddon PPV that took place six days later. It was great to see some of the old stars, and while the show went three hours, it seemed like with all the great highlights and what went into the show, it could easily have went longer.

Labels: 15th anniversary of RAW, booker t, chris benoit, hulk hogan, rvd

Posted by Matt Loede at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments