Booker T recently spoke with Wrestlezone’s Kevin Kellam ahead of this weekend’s ‘Deep Impact’ event co-promoted by Booker’s Reality Of Wrestling and IMPACT Wrestling.
Booker says he’s seen a lot of great young talent come through the IMPACT roster when he worked for the company, including Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Bobby Roode and Consequences Creed, who is now better known as Xavier Woods. The two-time WWE Hall Of Famer says getting to see his own students compete on a higher level now is a proud moment for him personally, and they get to see how talented they really are going up against guys that are nationally recognized.
Booker says his passion for wrestling hasn’t waned at all, and while he’s not looking to step back into the ring, he is enjoying being a mentor to tomorrow’s stars:
“I don’t think I could do Reality Of Wrestling for the past fifteen years without having the passion for the business, but I also like creating my own. I like bringing wrestling to the forefront but from a different perspective. We’re all doing the same thing, but I try to do it a little bit different is what I focus on, and I do that with a bunch of young talent. That’s what’s different about Reality Of Wrestling, everybody on the roster is really, really young. That’s my crew by design and I think that’s what’s made it work for these past fifteen years and yeah, my passion is still there for the business.
From an outside perspective and not an inside perspective, I don’t want to be one of the wrestlers. I don’t want to be putting the boots on or anything like that. I want to mentor these guys and help them fulfill their dream, and at the end of the day, it’s pretty cool.”
Booker’s Reality Of Wrestling promotion will present ‘Deep Impact’ this weekend and fans will have a chance to not only see IMPACT’s top names, but they’ll be competing against ROW’s best. He says his roster working with IMPACT’s is going to present a stacked card that will be memorable for fans, and meaningful for his promotion:
“The ladies have been blowing it out of the water in the wrestling business as of late all over the world. Tessa Blanchard, she’s definitely somebody to watch. I’ve got a young lady down here in Reality Of Wrestling by the name of AQA, she’s awesome. She’s very young, but she’s so talented. We have another one by the name of Hyan that’s going to be so awesome. Rich Swann is going to be taking on Ryan Davidson, the X Division Champion versus the Reality Of Wrestling Champion. Michael Elgin versus Moonshine Mantell, our Texas Champion—I’ll tell you, the card is stacked. The card is stacked with some of the best young talent that you’re going to want to watch coming up.
See them before they ever became famous, that’s the Reality Of Wrestling side of things. Then with IMPACT we’ve got guys that have gotten their feet wet, guys like Moose against Mysterious Q; those guys have been seen, but for those guys to actually take the stage from a perspective to where it’s talented almost untapped—not diamonds in the rough, but diamonds that need to be polished—now we get to see these matches that the fans didn’t even really know were out there. It’s definitely going to be something to watch. Saturday is going to be huge for Reality Of Wrestling. Deep Impact, it’s our first one, hopefully it won’t be our last and fans are going to get a chance to see something that they’re going to remember for a long time. I say with this show I’m taking all of the responsibility. If it’s a flop, I take the responsibility, but if it’s a great show I’m taking all of the credit.” [laughs]
