WWE Hall of Famer Booker T was asked to comment on Vince McMahon’s retirement on the most recent “Hall of Fame” podcast.
“I can publicly say thanks to Vince McMahon. I say thank you just for taking care of me, giving me a job, and taking care of my family. He put me in a good position, always put me in a good light, and always treated me with respect. More importantly than anything on that list is that he always treated me with respect.”
“He was all business. It was all about that show and making sure that show was the best thing that anybody could ever see as far as wrestling goes, in creating the best show that anybody had ever seen from a wrestling perspective. He was so laser focused. I respected that. I learned so much from Vince McMahon. I really did. I learned so much from a business perspective from Vince and how to run my company and try to really think outside the box. So yeah, man, I always had a really, really good relationship with Vince McMahon.”
Booker’s thoughts on Triple H being put in charge of talent relations:
“Just think about how many people were excited when he was writing it. Just think about the shows that were being produced when Hunter was at the helm of NXT. They were competing with WrestleMania as far as excitement for the show. Those NXT TakeOver shows, man that stuff was getting so big. It was getting out of hand, I thought. I was like ‘Man this thing is getting so big we’re beginning to compete against ourselves.’ That’s the way I thought. I didn’t think it was the route to go, me personally, but did Triple H have NXT abuzz and people going crazy about NXT? I think so.”
“So I think Hunter, being able to see it from a different perspective of course, has a close relationship with a lot of these younger guys that Vince didn’t have with these younger guys. It’s almost like when we were coming up and when, just say for instance, the Attitude Era, even when I was there, just imagine how close Vince was with those guys, Taker, Shawn Michaels, and all those guys. Just think about it for a second. So I’m sure the relationship with Hunter is more close to the guys of this era somewhat like Vince of that era.”
“These young guys like, just say for instance, Adam Cole when he was in NXT when things were going crazy as far as NXT goes, and think how much praise those guys gave to Hunter. All of those guys gave Hunter a ton of praise.”
You can listen to the complete podcast below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
