Following the AEW Dynasty pay-per-view on Sunday, April 6, 2025, new AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland addressed the live crowd after the show went off the air. During these remarks, Strickland ended with a blunt message: “F*** Booker T.” This comment reignited a previous disagreement stemming from Strickland’s interview on VladTV, where he discussed a controversial past WWE segment involving Booker T and Vince McMahon. Booker T had previously addressed this on his podcast, stating he felt VladTV was intentionally creating conflict and that he had spoken to Strickland directly about it.
On his “Hall of Fame” podcast shortly after the AEW Dynasty incident, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T responded to Strickland’s post-show comments:
“I’m not gonna get upset about that or anything like that, but I’m going to give Swerve Strickland a little bit of advice, just a little bit, and that advice would be, don’t be talking about something other than the pay per view at the end of the night. That’s the main event. That’s the last thing people are gonna remember. Last thing people remember is me, Booker T, my name being said. I’m sure Tony Khan doesn’t appreciate the news, the headline, not being what happened at Dynasty with all the matches, hopefully it was a great card with all the great matches, but they’re talking about Booker T. That just was a bad move. It was a bad move. He got a lot of energy at the end of the show. I’m not that type, man. I’m from that school that if you got something to say to somebody, say it to their face. I’m gonna leave it at that. Hopefully Swerve Strickland will have a hell of a career. Hopefully he’ll do very, very well in this business, but I’m gonna keep stressing what I’ve been talking about for a long time as far as black folks, especially in the company that I work for. Go out there and get it on your talent. Go out there and get it on your merit. Nobody will ever be able to take it away, and no one will ever be able to say you got it because of. Only for your talent. That’s it. I’m gonna keep advocating for young guys to go out there and perform and perform at the highest level. Take what you want, because it’s not going to be given to you. You gotta take it, and the only way you are going to be able to take it is through your performance, how good you really are inside the squared circle. That’s as much as I’m gonna say on that issue as far as Swerve Strickland. The one person that’s laughing is VladTV. He’s the one that’s laughing because he got all this stuff started and stirred up. I thought this thing was over with. I really did.”
Booker T continued, elaborating on his role as an advocate for talent and expressing his disappointment, stating it would likely affect his professional view of Strickland going forward:
“I’m an advocate for all young black talent getting into this business, but I’m an advocate for so many more young kids than just black kids getting into this business. I’m an advocate for anybody that got the talent to make it to the next level, I gonna put a word in for them. I think my reputation has been solid throughout my career. I don’t publicize a lot of things, but the guys out there, they know if I’ve been on the side of righteousness as far as this business goes. They know what Booker T has done behind the scenes. I don’t have to talk about it on social media. I’m not trying to get some extra brownie points or anything for anything that I’ve done, but they know. People like Swerve, him and I are cut from a different cloth. But honestly, I wish nothing but the best for this dude. I want to see him succeed. Will I ever say anything positive about him ever again? Probably not. Would I ever put him over as far as being a good worker and someone who could perhaps transform this business? I probably would never, ever do that again because I’ve learned my lesson.”
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.
