Booker T has shared his own account of the fan behavior issues at WrestleMania 42 weekend in Las Vegas, and his experience was among the most extreme reported by any talent during the event.
Speaking on his podcast, Booker T described a weekend of relentless and at times deeply invasive encounters with fans who showed no regard for personal boundaries, including one instance that crossed a clear line.
“They were camped out. They were camped out everywhere. You couldn’t walk anywhere, they were camped out, and they were following me. I remember a guy literally filming me in the bathroom. When I walked out, he goes, ‘Hey, hey, Booker,’ and I just kept walking because I was so mad. He was filming me in the bathroom. But for me, it was the toughest time I think I’ve ever had to deal with as far as fan interaction, this year at WrestleMania in Vegas. Like I said, a lot of them were just outright disrespectful,” Booker T said.
He also described the chaos he faced before he had even made it to the front desk to check in.
“I remember I was going into the hotel, hadn’t even checked in yet, and I was getting mobbed. I’m just trying to get checked in. I’m like, ‘Guys, I can’t do it. I’ve got to get checked in first. Please just let me get checked in.’ And this one guy comes up to me, ‘Can I get a picture, Booker T? Can I get an autograph?’ I’m like, ‘Man, please.’ Grown man. Then he goes, ‘I got autism.’ You know you got autism. Well, why are you out here auting me? You know what I mean? He threw that card on me. I’m trying to make you feel, whatever, feel a certain way. The thing is, what they don’t understand, you do it for one person you’re going to have to do it for everybody else. It’s going to start a chain reaction. When people don’t understand that and just step on your toes and disrespect you, you really get upset. I just need people to understand that we are human, just like everybody else. We get upset just like anybody else in situations like that. I just wish we would have had better security or something to handle that situation, because it was really, really bad, the worst I’ve ever seen,” Booker T said.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson noted that the lack of security at the hotel was a topic of conversation throughout WrestleMania week, with talent raising concerns as early as Thursday about fans having unrestricted access to common areas including lobbies and elevator banks. Damian Priest was separately reported to have stepped in to help a female WWE talent get away from a group of fans, and CM Punk made headlines after knocking a fan’s phone away when the fan followed Bayley and AJ Lee into an elevator bank after the women had already tried to move away from him.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Booker T’s podcast with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
