Booker T Questions Whether AEW Star Has 'A Championship Name'

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BY ROBERT GUNIER/DEC. 10, 2022 4:30 AM EST

Wheeler Yuta is positioned as one of AEW's fastest-rising superstars, featured on television weekly, and placed in the popular Blackpool Combat Club faction alongside Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, and Claudio Castagnoli. But not everyone is as convinced that Wheeler is on the path to being a serious contender for a championship title one day. During a recent edition of his "Hall of Fame Podcast," "WWE NXT" commentator Booker T gave his take on why Wheeler's name is the biggest factor holding him back from reaching a new level of success.

"I'm thinking about guys from an overall perspective, and the one thing I'm thinking about [is] 'champion.' I'm thinking about this kid who's like, 'I've got to be champion.' And the first thing I think about is, does Wheeler Yuta sound like a championship name? You know, that's the first thing that jumps out to me. 'The AEW Champion, Wheeler Yuta!' He's putting himself behind the 8-ball immediately."

Booker T sees parallels between Wheeler's presentation in AEW and Elix Skipper's presentation in WCW and, later, TNA. Skipper managed to win several titles over his career, like the WCW Cruiserweight title, the TNA Tag Team titles on several occasions, and the TNA World Cup X in 2004. But despite the accolades and potential, he never became a top player in TNA before phasing out in-ring competition altogether in 2008.

"There's a guy back in the day ... A guy that had an abundance of talent back in the TNA days, and he went by the name of Elix Skipper, and I said, 'Man, that's just not a championship name. If the brother just changed his name, he might be looked at a little bit differently." Yuta challenges Daniel Garcia for the ROH Pure Championship at this Saturday's ROH Final Battle pay-per-view.

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