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When Booker T emerged from the back at the 2023 Royal Rumble, it earned a massive pop from the crowd in San Antonio, Texas.
When Booker T was eliminated 42 seconds later, being thrown out of the ring by the “Ring General” Gunther after a Spinaroonie, that very same crowd in San Antonio, Texas quickly clammed up, and the former “King of the Ring” began to question his future in the professional wrestling business.
Since that fateful day, Booker has retired from the ring, continued to serve as an on-camera presence for his Reality of Wrestling promotion, and then unretired quietly, noting that he would work another match if the right opportunity came up, even if he isn't actively eliciting opponents at the moment.
In Trick Williams, that dream opponent may have come knocking on Booker's door, as on The Masked Man Podcast, the current NXT Champion laid down a challenge for the former member of Harlem Heat that might just be sweet enough to pique his interest.
“I already asked Booker, ‘Can we run it one time?' He can still go,” Trick Williams explained via 411 Mania. “He's in the gym all the time. He hasn't slowed down one bit. It's up to him. If we can make it happen. I'm game. I'll put the title on the line.”
Should Booker T take Trick Willie up on his offer? Frankly yeah, he really should, as after decades of success across multiple promotions, it would be cool to see King Booker go out with one final showcase match, much like Sting's effort in AEW earlier this year. If Shawn Michaels can find the correct Premium Live Event opportunity to make it happen, giving Williams a win over Booker would be a fantastic addition to his resume and help to set him up for future stardom on the main roster.
Booker T isn't sure if “All Ego” Ethan Page is on Trick Williams' level.
Speaking of Trick Williams, Booker T spent some time on his Hall of Fame podcast discussing the NXT Champion's likely Battleground opponent, “All Ego” Ethan Page, the former AEW mid-carder who debuted last week. While Booker is familiar with Page from his time in AEW, he isn't sure if he's a main event-caliber performer in NXT just yet and will be watching him very closely this weekend in Las Vegas.
“[With] Ethan Page getting interjected right into the main event with Trick Williams in Vegas, in this moment, for me, if I'm Ethan Page, I'm like, ‘This is exactly the way I want to come back.' Right in the mix, right in the middle of it. So for me, that's match right there has a lot of intrigue, man. Just because the way it came together out of nowhere. I didn't even know it was gonna happen. The thing is, honestly, I talk about this all the time, Ethan Page isn't a guy that AEW really, really put a whole lot of stock in, right? The reason I say that is he says when he popped up in NXT and boom, the camera revealed who he was, I knew exactly who he was. I didn't have to think for a moment. I didn't need any vignette to build him up or anything like that. I was like, ‘Oh man, it's Ethan Page,' “Booker T explained on his Hall of Fame podcast.
“It's because in AEW, he was very vocal. Talk to my students about being vocal all the time. He was a guy that wanted to be a frontman. He was always talking, and you could tell he wanted to be the boss of his clique. So I think the thing with Ethan Page and Trick Williams, going into that match on Sunday, it's going to really give me a chance to give Ethan Page a grade. I want to see how good he is. I want to see just how good this guy really is. He talks a good game, but for me, you gotta show me. So with Trick on Sunday, I'm gonna be looking for the intangibles, and I want to see if Ethan Page has the intangibles to work at this level and after this Sunday, you guys will know because either he'll be getting the thumbs up or the old thumbs down on Monday morning.”
Can Page prove that he belongs at Battleground this weekend? Most definitely, he's headlined shows around the world for well over a dozen promotions and has the charisma to immediately captivate a new crowd as a member of WWE's developmental promotion. Will it happen? Well, tune into Battleground this weekend to find out.
