WWE Hall of Famer Booker T recently spoke on his podcast, “The Hall of Fame,” about a variety of professional wrestling topics including how he feels the NIL program is helping to get the best athletes in the NXT Women’s division
“I really believe this NIL thing is helping out a whole lot. I really do because Tiffany Stratton is someone who comes from that tumbling background. You got Sol Ruka who’s trying to make her way back. She has a tumbling background. Right now, you know so many girls we have from that tumbling background and they’re paying off because they have great balance, they have great timing, and the technique is something that tumblers, what they have to have is technique. One thing about tumblers is they have to be flawless. One thing about tumblers, they don’t have a chance to, you know, redo it and go over and do it a second time. I talk about that with wrestling all the time when I talk about it like acting. We never get a chance to say, ‘Cut. Redo that. Go back and do that all over again.’ That’s what tumblers have, you know, in their background. For me, I was a dancer. When you’re a dancer, you gotta be on time. Everybody has to be on time at the same pace, otherwise, the judges are looking at it and you’re gonna lose if you’re not. So I think that right there, that’s what’s helping a lot of those girls in so many different ways.”
Booker also commented on Sting’s retirement:
“I’m glad for him,” Booker said. “I’m glad he’s finally gonna hang it up and be able to, you know, move on to what’s next. You know at 65, you know, that’s like senior citizen, AARP stuff, man. Grandpa stuff. I don’t know, man. It’s mixed emotions, you know, because I think he’s retiring, it’s gonna be great, but I think it’s something, honestly, that’s well overdue. To have done this thing your whole life and then when you walk away from it, you know, it’s hard to walk. I’m gonna tell you right now. He might not want to retire. He might want to just say man, I’m just, you know, I ain’t gonna say I’m ever going to retire. I might just want to go walk away and leave the business, but retire? I wouldn’t say that because I’m gonna tell you right now, sitting at home, becoming an old man, receding. It can get lonely. I say stay in the ring, Sting. Don’t retire. Don’t quit. Don’t ever quit. That’s what wrestlers do. That’s just, that’s me. That’s my opinion on it. I wouldn’t retire if I was you Sting. I would stay in the ring forever. Take bumps. Fly off of stuff (he laughs).”
You can check out the complete podcast below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
