When it comes to professional wrestling, few have a wealth of experience matching Booker T, the do-it-all wrestler/commentator/podcaster who currently splits his time between calling NXT, discussing wrestling on his Hall of Fame podcast, and running his school/indie fed Reality of Wrestling, which boasts a few notable alumni across the sport today.
And the crown jewel of ROW? Well, that would be Roxanne Perez, the first-ever Ring of Honor Woman's Champion, who has since become a standout member of NXT.
Discussing his prized pupil on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker put over Perez in an incredible way, letting fans know that he's been helping to guide her along through what he expects to be a Hall of Fame caliber career of her own.
“I'm like a proud dad to be honest because I'm still in her head, still in her ear at NXT every week,” Booker T said on his Hall of Fame podcast via Fightful. “Every time she's got a match, I'm watching, critiquing it, trying to see exactly what she's doing well, what perhaps she needs to work on. I'm always trying to make sure I'm that third, fourth, fifth eye, you know what I mean, and try to make sure… I really got a lot invested in Roxanne making it all the way through this thing and becoming a Hall of Famer one day. I really see her as something special. We don't just call her ‘The Prodigy' to be throwing around another phase, another term, or anything like that. But no, I'm loving being able to a part of her career, as well as to see her come back and pay it forward.”
Is Booker T just being kind to Perez, or does she genuinely have Hall of Fame potential? Well, considering that Perez has already held two top female titles for two top-tier promotions at the tender age of 22, it's safe to say her trajectory is firmly heading in that direction.
Booker T shouts out two 2023 WWE standouts heading into 2024.
Elsewhere in his Hall of Fame podcasting escapades, Booker T reflected on some of his favorite wrestlers of 2023 as he looks forward to 2024. While fans shouldn't be too surprised to see WWE performers at the top of his list, as he does spend a ton of time working with them weekly, his picks are notable because they have one thing in common: They both like to hit very hard.
“Gunther's had a lot of good matches. This year, I've been of courselocked in with NXT. So I've been really, really tuned in with Ilja Dragunov and all the stuff that he's been doing. A lot of great work, over this year. Really, Dragunov has given me a lot of entertainment stuff that I could really bite my — you know, sink my teeth into it and say, ‘Man, this is some really, really good stuff. This is a really, really good art,'” Booker T said via 411 Mania.
“He bought into the system and not just what we were talking about a little while ago, not just wrestling. You gotta have the full package if you want to be like that superstar that's going to go down in history, wherepeople going to be talking about you throughout the history, the annals of time. And I look at Gunther as being one of those guys to where when you walk up to him 20 years later, you have that same feeling you go back to as a kid and say, ‘Man, I remember watching you and Sheamus at The Clash at the Castle, go toe to toe and man, what a match. What a match.'
“Some people will criticize him for getting in shape. I'm serious, he's got criticism for getting in shape. That's what's really, really crazy. But I think right now, this guy's living his best life. He's doing something that no one else has ever done. as far as reigning champion. Longer than anyone ever has. And the thing is, he's done it on his own merit. He's deserved it, he's earned that. And he deserves everything that he's getting. He's one of those guys that when you watch him, makes you a believer. Whether you know what the sport is or not.”
While WWE has plenty of performers who deserve praise for 2023, from established stars like Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns to breakout stars like Carmelo Hayes and LA Knight, giving flowers to Ilja Dragunov and Gunther is a pretty safe bet among even the most anti-WWE members in the IWC, as you'll seldom find a fan who has anything negative to say about either performer save maybe how they are booked by Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Shawn Michaels.
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