Booker T gives his take on the recent departures of Malakai Black, Ricky Starks, and Miro from All Elite Wrestling.
On the latest episode of The Hall of Fame Podcast, NXT commentator Booker T spoke about the news that Malakai Black, Ricky Starks, and Miro are no longer with AEW. Booker T believes that Black and Miro leaving the WWE system hurt their careers in the short term.
“We need to talk about Ricky Starks, we need to talk about Malakai Black, who made his journey over to AEW as well as Miro, making his journey over to AEW from WWE. Again, sometimes the grass is not so greener on the other side. Sometimes, guys just aren’t made for that system,” Booker T said. “The reason I say that is because I remember when I left WWE and I was off for a while, TNA called, and I went and did some work.
“When I went, nothing against TNA back then, it was a great company, but after working for WWE for 15, 18 years, it was a hard adjustment. It really was a hard adjustment. You’re used to being in that system where everything is done from a professional perspective all the way across the board, I’m talking from travel to catering to in-ring, business purposes, whatever, everything’s done a certain way.
Booker T reflects on his time with TNA Wrestling
“When I went to TNA, I was like — I had to do a lot of the work myself. I would go to towns and from an advertising perspective and go to the McDonalds down the street and no one knew we were there. I was like, oh man, come on, what’s going on here? I’ll be going through the airport, somebody would see me and say, ‘Hey Booker T, what’s going on?’ They said, ‘Man, I thought you retired? Where you been?’ What are you talking about, I’ve been on television this whole time, I’m on Spike TV. No diss, that’s what I’m talking about.
“I’m talking about this from a personal perspective. I’ve been in it, that’s what I’m talking about. It’s kind of hard making that little bit of adjustment right there. In WWE, everything was done for him, right? Everything was set up for him. All he had to do was just go out there and boom, get it done. He didn’t have to write stories, he didn’t have to create factions or anything like that.
Booker T compares AEW to an independent show
“But then, you go to AEW and it’s like going to some of these independent shows. And the guy that’s running the show, you show up and you say, ‘What do you want from me?’ They go, ‘What do you want?’ That’s what it is when you get to the AEW. Boom, let’s create this House Of Black. Great, that’s a great idea, then you create the idea and nobody has written anything for it.
“You got to start figuring out what you’re gonna do yourself. Go to guys and say, ‘Hey guys, y’all want to do an angle?’ It’s the stupidest thing in the world for me personally. Again, going over there and not having that structure, that hurt a guy like Malakai Black.
Booker T believes the WWE system is better for people like Miro and Malakai Black
“Going over there and not having that structure again, letting a guy like Miro do his own promos. Who do you think wrote those promos? Exactly my point. That’s not a conducive way to go out and create a promotion.
“Can you imagine Hollywood actors just showing up with their own script? It would not go over very well at all. My thing is, I felt like getting out of the system, that WWE system, hurt these guys more than it helped them. As far as star power, as far as legacy? I think it hurt. I could be wrong.” [H/T: Fightful]
While Miro and Malakai Black have both had runs with WWE previously, if Ricky Starks signs with the company he’ll be a WWE Superstar for the first time. Starks and WWE have been tied together for quite some time due to Starks’ relationship with Cody Rhodes, appearing with him backstage at multiple WWE events while under contract with AEW.
READ MORE: Details Behind Ricky Starks, Miro, and Malakai Black AEW Releases
What do you make of Booker T’s overall comments? Would you like to see all three men sign with WWE in the coming weeks? Let us know your overall thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
