Booker T, during an episode of “The Hall of Fame,” commented on Impact Women’s Champion Mickie James appearing in the 2022 Royal Rumble, as well as the potential of The Forbidden Door:
“It’s the first time I’ve seen it as far as a talent champion from another company such as Impact Wrestling being part of an event like a Rumble or WrestleMania type,” Booker said.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen it, but more important than anything, I think it’s the perfect time for it. Someone like Mickie James, even though she’s on the other side, she’s still a champion. Just think about boxing champions not being able to mix it up with certain champions just because of the promoters not wanting to get in bed with each other. Who’s missing out on something like that? I think the fans are.”
He followed up with, “Mickie James is not that far from WWE. For her to actually be able to come in and mix it up and then do well, I think it does good for everybody, not just from the women’s side. We haven’t seen any names from the men’s side, but I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what kind of surprises we’re going to get there because there’s a whole lot out there in the world today that can be benefited through WWE. I’m talking about both sides.”
“One thing about WWE television is you get on there and your pay rate goes up. For a lot of these guys to be able to come to WWE and get the rub, you never know which ones come to WWE and may actually fit in, and then we go, ‘Wait a minute. We got something here.’ That’s where I think it might be some kind of controversy, a little bit, as far as what if these guys come in and really, really do well and want to actually move over to the other side?”
He continued, “I look at the forbidden door thing, someone like Mickie James coming over, as a plus. I don’t look at it as a bad thing. The reason why is because Impact Wrestling is not in the same place they were in 2005-2010. They just aren’t. Impact Wrestling is almost like a developmental territory. It’s a good place to be seen, but if you want to really make some real money, you’re going to have to go somewhere else. That’s no slight to Impact Wrestling or anything like that.”
“If you want to just do some one offs in WWE, which I really think would be beneficial for someone like Moose. I really think that could be beneficial to a lot of guys out there on the circuit right now because look at the attention Nick Gage brought to AEW for a minute. I’m thinking from that perspective. That guy was there for a minute, but that minute he was there was news around that match and what was going on. There’s a lot of guys out there that can be utilized and brought in to work with guys like Roman, guys like Bobby, who are not regular guys on the roster, but people know them out there in the world. Then say perhaps they do well. They may get a chance to move up to that next tier. I think it’s a good thing and I think it could really work out.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit The Hall Of Fame with Booker T & Brad Gilmore with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription
