Booker Leaving TNA?

Machismo Fan

http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/TNA/article1008236.shtml

Booker T is not expected to remain with the company once his contract expires (rumored to be in November). He refused to put over Matt Morgan at the TNA Impact taping in Orlando on Tuesday, and the feeling of multiple sources is that this was simply the straw that broke the camel's back when it comes to his strained relationship with TNA management.

Booker made it clear to wrestlers during last week's overseas tour and in the locker room again on Tuesday that he has WWE options and intends to return there once he's contractually able to do so. Although nothing is official regarding his future in TNA, multiple sources predict that his days with the company are numbered. The buzz in the locker room on Tuesday was that Booker will appear at Bound For Glory, drop the tag titles with Scott Steiner at that show or the following tapings, and will not be booked again by the company.

There have been stories regarding Booker's negative attitude in the locker room for months. He voiced his displeasure on an overseas tour bus when he first received word about the plan for him to lose the match to match to Morgan. There was no indication of a personal conflict between Booker and Morgan, as Booker stated that he felt it was a mistake for him to lose the match on television rather than pay-per-view.

Booker cooled down over the weekend and all indications were that he would put over Morgan as planned on Tuesday. However, he refused to follow through with the match plan when push came to shove. He didn't tell company officials about his decision until roughly 45 minutes before the taping, which made for difficult rewrites. He ultimately appeared on the show, but did not wrestle Morgan as originally planned.

Good, Booker has really contributed very little to TNA. He hasn't had any great matches, hasn't really put anybody over and will free up some much needed TV time and money.

EdK

Booker has an over inflated opinion of his own legacy, Of all the potentially troublesome talent they brought in I didnt think Booker would be the number one offender

Fitzy101

Well Booker has seemed to be the "Triple H" of TNA since he got there
not wanting to put over stars and burying young talent
ill always respect the man but i think he can hang em up now

JP Liz

I hope he dont return to WWE

Hopefully him and Steiner drop the tag titles to MCMG soon

Machismo Fan

JP Liz wrote: »

I hope he dont return to WWE

Hopefully him and Steiner drop the tag titles to MCMG soon

iMPACT!

They're in a four way ladder match at BFG against Beer Money, 3D and TBI so 3D or Beer Money will most likely take the titles.

krudler

Hope he doesnt come back to WWE, thats one less over the hill fortysomething getting in the way of upcoming stars

Tricity Bendix

If thats the way he's been acting they should drop the tag titles sooner rather than later. Let someone who actually cares about what they're doing take his place.

Also, they should have him be pinned by Shark Boy, clean, in the middle of the ring.

Matt Morgan has main evented twice recently, and will do so again. Booker has been a midcarder for a while. Why he thinks he can't lose to Morgan on TV is beyond me.

This is all in stark contrast to his early WWE days.

Nody

For the love of please don't have Booker T back in WWE; I was bored of him before he left and if he's coming back now it will be even worse...

Penn

Nody wrote: »

For the love of please don't have Booker T back in WWE; I was bored of him before he left and if he's coming back now it will be even worse...

Agreed. He has nothing to offer the WWE. If he's not going to put over younger guys, he's not needed. Simple as. Surely Vince won't take him back just to spite TNA, that would be my only concern.

Nu-Centz

the only time booker t ever entertained me was when he ****ed up the hulk hogan promo in wcw! hahaha "hulk hogan.. we comin for you n*gga"!

krudler

I've never really thought much of Booker tbh,he's had some great matches but theres just something about him I dont like, he reminds me of Jarrett, a midcarder who got a push then bought into his own hype and expected the fans to as well

What the hell?!


Booker T, though I haven't seen much of his TNA work, is brilliant, in my opinion.

I always found him funny and enjoyable to watch in the ring. I've no idea where all this sudden hatred is coming from. I find it really odd that people have seemingly nothing good to say about him.

As I say, i haven't seen much of his TNA stint, so I can't really comment on it, and I do think he came across a little childish when he left WWE because he had to job out to "The King Of Kings" really quickly (though I can understand how frustrated he may have been) but overall I genuinely do think The 'Booker Man' is one of the greatest all-round entertainers I've seen. Particularly liked his run ins with Goldust, and thought King Booker was great to watch.

Sad that he's getting shot down nowadays

Machismo Fan

Booker, has done nothing and I really do mean nothing of worth in TNA. I can count the good matches he's had on one hand, he's established no new stars, put nobody over and has been nothing but a waste of money for TNA and more importantly valuable TV time. And the worst thing is Booker can have a damn good match if he wanted to but he's just too damn lazy to put in the effort. He's half-assed all his efforts and is one of the biggest waste's of space in TNA history (even Rob Terry has contributed more to TNA).

And I fully agree with Tricity Bendix, Morgan is undoubtedly a bigger star than Booker in TNA and Booker should have no problem with putting him over (and Booker really is one to refuse to put people over considering how many times he's supposedly been held back).

digital pimp

he'll stay in TNA
he only has to wrestle once a week, plus he can pursue his "acting career"

Machismo Fan

digital pimp wrote: »

he'll stay in TNA
he only has to wrestle once a week, plus he can pursue his "acting career"

You do realise it's not his choice. It appears that TNA aren't even going to negotiate with him and rightfully so.

JP Liz

The word at TNA's Bound For Glory pay-per-view was that TNA will not be renewing Booker T's contract when it expires in November. There was talk that Dixie Carter might change her mind if Booker said the right things but it's said that he sealed his fate with TNA when he refused to lose at the last iMPACT tapings.

TNA booked the stretcher angle on Sunday to get him out of the storylines quickly. There was a lot of "eye rolling" backstage over the way he acted during the angle. One source said, "He's been such an asshole that most people were just happy to see him go."

Some believe that Booker will not work another match for TNA before his deal expires next month.

MEM over so

gimmick

^ Why, becasue Booker is leaving? Hardly.

geeky

Is there something wrong with this generation of main-eventers (now usually 40+) that they simply will not put over younger talent? Excluding model pros like taker, there seems to be very little passing of the torch going on in either of the main companies. Whether it's HHH going out of his way to make CM Punk look like a chump, or this sh*te with booker, it seems like so many of these guys are inordinately defensive and harmful to the wrestling business. Did they take a leaf out of Hogan's book or something?

gimmick

As it has always been really. Read any verterans book and they will talk of when they were in the territories or wherever that there was always an older guy there who clung to his spot like his life depended on it.

I would imagine the thought process must be "well i as held back by some washed up vet when I was 20, so why should I pass it now"?.

EdK

Screw Booker. He couldn't handle the WWE, and TNA gave him an alternate means of earning a living. He repaid them by publicly pissing and moaning about the company whenever he got the chance.

As for how TNA used him, well what exactly was Booker bringing to the table that would make him worth using other than a name? His performance in TNA certainly shouldn't have earned him a championship run. Guys like Sting and Angle are more recognized than Booker, yet they still go out there week after week and bring there 'A-game' to entertain the fans and put over new talent. Booker didn't. I'd go so far as to say that Foley, Steiner, hell even Nash, put a lot more into there promo's and matches than Booker does nowadays. Steiner and Nash are practically crippled and they still bust there asses to put on the best matches they are capable of wrestling. We all know what Booker is capable of, yet for some reason he didn't care enough to try.

If Booker wasn't happy in TNA, that's his business and he certainly has the right to leave. I just wish he had done it a long time ago. There are/were a lot of veterans in TNA that would probably love to be in the MEM and get the screen time that goes along with it, like Rhino, Kip, BG, Raven, Shane Douglas, etc. Not to mention young guys like Sonjay and Petey Williams who were released during the time that Booker T was with TNA. Obviously Booker wasn't responsible for these performers misfortunes, but it had to have been a drain on morale for good workers to get overlooked or released while a guy who was bringing practically nothing to the company except a name and a bad attitude was given preference in airtime and pay, not only for himself but for his wife as well.

As for Booker's legacy, I've got to agree with the other posters. Booker hurt his own legacy. He could have gone into TNA and used his star power to be a positive influence on the locker-room and the company. He chose not to.

Not my words but something I found which echoes my sentiments on Booker very well

flahavaj

While I agree that Booker has been a waste of space for TNA, what could that guy possibly mean "couldn't handle WWE"? He had a great run in WWE, particularly towards the end and was near or at the top of the card for over eight years. Hardly the record of a guy who couldn't "handle" it, whatever that means.

EdK

flahavaj wrote: »

While I agree that Booker has been a waste of space for TNA, what could that guy possibly mean "couldn't handle WWE"? He had a great run in WWE, particularly towards the end and was near or at the top of the card for over eight years. Hardly the record of a guy who couldn't "handle" it, whatever that means.

Not sure about that bit, Booker left the WWE after a wellness violation as he refused to comply with the suspension

flahavaj

EdK wrote: »

Not sure about that bit, Booker left the WWE after a wellness violation as he refused to comply with the suspension

That just means he broke the rules like countless others, hardly means he couldn't "handle" it.

EdK

Kinda means he chose not to handle the WWE structure and rules, I'm not convinced Booker has a WWE contract on the table

flahavaj

EdK wrote: »

Kinda means he chose not to handle the WWE structure and rules, I'm not convinced Booker has a WWE contract on the table

I'm sceptical about that myself as well.