Booker T thinks WWE made the right call putting Baron Corbin straight into a championship match, and he thinks Trick Williams is the one who benefits most.
Corbin returned to WWE recently and has been booked to challenge Williams for the United States Championship at SummerSlam without having wrestled a match since coming back. On the latest episode of his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T said the speed of it is the point.
“I’m loving it. I’m loving Baron Corbin getting back in WWE and getting put in a position like that right off the bat. We’re not going to linger on this thing. We’re not going to procrastinate as far as what do we want to do with Baron Corbin. Let’s put him in a position.”
He described Corbin as the sort of performer a booker never has to worry about.
“That dude was always that Swiss Army knife. He was always that go-to guy that you knew you could go to him, and he could deliver for you. He could work with anybody.”
Booker T said Corbin’s release never made sense to him.
“When Baron got let go, it definitely wasn’t a bright time, because he was working in NXT before he got let go, and I was thinking, man, he’s going to work his way back to the main roster in no time. But it didn’t happen for him.”
He credited how Corbin handled the time away.
“But he left. He went out there. I don’t think I heard Baron Corbin say anything about WWE while he was out there. And boom, he just worked his way back. And now I think somebody realized, man, this dude is an asset. We could use him.”
Booker T has been open about his support for Williams, and he framed the match as an education.
“Trick’s my boy, right? And to get in there with someone like Baron, he can’t help but learn certain things in the game, because Baron is a student of the game. He knows what he’s doing.”
“I’ve been around a lot of guys in this business, and I could tell you, I could tell in five minutes or less if somebody knows what they’re doing. And Baron was always one of those guys, as well as he’s a real deal. He’s a real deal. If he’s loyal, he’ll take his shirt off and give it to you. He’ll hit somebody in the mouth for you. And trust me, I know.”
He said the crowd dynamic is exactly what you want for a match like this.
“With Baron Corbin being like the ultimate heel, he’s gonna get announced to the ring first, and they’re not gonna be able to do anything. But when they hear those trumpets play, they just go nuts for Trick. And that’s the dynamic that you want.”
Booker T said he has been on the other side of that, in matches where both wrestlers got cheered.
“I’ve been in those matches where you come out and they cheer for you, and then your opponent come out, and he get just as many cheers as you do. Those nights going to be a hard night. With Trick and Baron, we know exactly what the people are going to be doing, so let’s just go out here and give them what they want, give them a hell of a match, and leave them at the end of the night wanting more. That’s the only thing those guys got to do. Go out and deliver.”
“It’s gonna be a hell of a night. It’s gonna be a hell of a night for Trick Williams.”
He will have a closer view than most.
“More importantly, I’m looking forward to calling it.”
Booker T is on the WWE Radio audio commentary team for SummerSlam alongside Vic Joseph.
