Booker T on Rumored Backstage Drama in AEW, How He Predicted It Was ‘Inevitable’

[Liz]

During his Hall of Fame podcast this week, Booker T discussed the backstage drama that's rumored to be happening right now in AEW. Below are some highlights:

Booker T on rumored animosity in AEW with CM Punk and others backstage: "I don't think CM Punk came into AEW as friends with guys like Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks just because CM Punk is kind of like an alpha. He's a guy who's going to want to be top guy, and Young Bucks are going to want to be the top guys. Kenny Omega wants to be the top guy. I think, yeah, there can be some friction with a guy like Kenny Omega just from what it sounded like. It sounded like Kenny Omega was saying, 'This is who we are, and this is why we're doing this. What are you doing it for?' That's it sounded like to me. I could be 100% wrong, but it seems like things are getting real in AEW as far as guys having real shoot animosities for each other."

Booker T on how he said that having four EVPs in AEW wouldn't work: "Hey man, I didn't have a fortune cookie or a crystal ball or anything. That's just the way the boys are. That's just the way this business has been since the beginning of time. You know, I've heard about promoters and bookers, none of these guys, they never got along. It was the Bill Watts, I've heard about it, so when I saw that from the beginning, I said, 'Aw, this is not gonna work. There's gonna be a problem there sooner or later. Somebody's not gonna like something there sooner or later.' It's inevitable. It's like wrestling. It's whether you're gonna get hurt, it's when you're gonna get hurt. It's just the probabilities are too high for something like that to happen."

Booker T on an issue with CM Punk in AEW: "So when I see a company like that, and I see guys like a Kenny Omega, who's a guy in his own right, he's done very well for himself, but like just say for instance, I'm listening to Jim Cornette make a comparison to CM Punk's starpower compared to everybody else's starpower in AEW. Now, and the thing is, I agree 100% because from a circus perspective, CM Punk has worked in Cique du Soleil. He's been in WWE. He's worked at the top level of that company, and it really doesn't get any bigger than that. And as far as his starpower goes, CM Punk was at the top of the card. That tells you what they thought of him. And CM Punk, I'm sure he's going to think, 'I'm a bigger stan than all these guys.' That's just obvious one would think that way, but remember what we were talking about just a couple of days ago? That's going to be a problem when people come in and people are looking to you for leadership. Even though you're not one of these executives. You're a top star in the company."