WWE Hall of Famer Booker T isn’t ruling out one more match after being challenged by former NXT protégé Trick Williams for a showdown at SummerSlam 2027.
During a clip played on The Hall of Fame podcast, Williams called out his longtime mentor, proposing a championship match while referencing the history Booker T and The Rock made as the first two Black men to main event SummerSlam at the 2001 event in San Jose.
Williams asked Booker how he would feel about becoming a two-time SummerSlam main eventer by facing “the man he built.”
Booker admitted he doesn’t enjoy being called out without having a chance to respond, but made it clear he isn’t ready to completely close the door on an in-ring return.
“What I hate is getting called out, man, not being able to respond properly. But my thing has been, I never say never. I’m never going to close the book on any chapter or anything like that,” Booker said. “I feel like if I could will myself to do it, I will do it. If the body’s telling me, hey, go out here and get this done just one last time, I will go out there and get that done.”
The two-year timeline before SummerSlam 2027 gives Booker time to evaluate whether he can physically prepare for another match.
“He gave me a time period, ’27, that gives me time to figure out what this year is going to look like for Booker T. As far as, can I really get in the gym and hang and bang? I’m talking about hanging and banging hard for just one more time. That’s the question,” Booker said. “Kind of like Conor McGregor. Kind of like Conor McGregor. Can I get myself, can I will myself to get in the gym and make it happen? And I think I can. So we’ll see how that plays out. I’m serious. I’m serious.”
Booker, a six-time world champion and two-time WWE Hall of Famer who turned 61 in March, would be 62 by the time SummerSlam 2027 takes place.
Booker also spoke about the impact he has had on Williams’ development, saying the goal was never to create a copy of himself, but to help Williams become a star in his own right.
“I see a lot. I see a lot of my influences on Trick Williams. That’s what it was all about. That’s what the game plan was, as far as talking to him, showing him exactly what it was going to take for him to go out there and be like a mega star,” Booker said. “You don’t hear Trick Williams saying anything that he wouldn’t say.”
He credited Williams for quickly learning one of the most important aspects of professional wrestling—making scripted material feel authentic.
“You’re gonna get the script, but you got to be able to change the script, and be able to say, hey, I can’t say this word, can we replace it with this word right here, or get to a point when you’re cutting a promo and slightly ad lib a little bit and then bring it back,” Booker said. “Trick learned that very, very quickly, and he’s a guy that’s really, really tapped into what this business is truly all about.”
While discussing today’s WWE roster, Booker singled out Chad Gable as another performer deserving recognition, describing him as the complete opposite of Williams stylistically while praising both as vital pieces of WWE’s future.
“People can talk about the great wrestlers all they want. We got some really, really great wrestlers in the company. People talking about how great Chad Gable is right now. Chad Gable’s always been that great. He’s always been that great. He just got the platform to actually go out there and let the world see it, and they say, wow, what the hell have we been thinking? We got to do something with this guy as well,” Booker said. “But a guy like Gable, totally the polar opposite of a guy like Trick Williams. But both of those guys are mega pieces on the board that’s going to make this thing work. So Trick is holding his own. He’s doing a hell of a job.”
Booker also addressed Williams’ comments about the historic significance of his SummerSlam 2001 main event against The Rock.
He admitted he never thought much about the milestone at the time. “We never talked about that. We really never. I really never looked at it like that. I never really thought about it from that perspective,” Booker said.
He then recalled a conversation from his WCW days that helped shape his perspective on how he wanted to be viewed throughout his career.
“I remember one of the agents back in WCW, something I never forget, he said, hey Book, we’re looking for a really, really good black babyface. And I go, a good black babyface? What are you talking about? How many times have you ever said you’re looking for a good white babyface?” Booker said. “And it was a big kerfuffle. But I never looked at myself just as a black wrestler. I always looked at myself as one of the best that ever put on a pair of boots. That’s the only way I wanted to be looked at. Am I going to be compared with the black wrestlers that have come up in the business? Of course. But that’s not my modus operandi, to be looked at as a black wrestler. That’s why I did things a certain way. That’s why I walked a certain way, and that’s why I talked certain ways.”
Although he didn’t focus on the historical significance in the moment, Booker acknowledged the impact it had on future generations.
“Not that it was something that went over our heads or anything like that. But it was another job, and me and Rock had to go out there and perform, and we had to go out there and perform at the highest level, no matter what color we were,” Booker said. “Of course, two black guys out there, and you got the kids that’s watching it and looking at it. It’s something that they could aspire to, to want to be like it and want to do one day, like a Trick Williams. But I’m gonna tell you right now, none of that would be possible if Rock and I didn’t go out and put the work in. None of it. That’s what it boils down to at the end of the day.”
Whether Booker T ultimately accepts Williams’ challenge remains to be seen, but for now, the WWE Hall of Famer has made one thing clear—he isn’t ready to say never.
