Swerve Strickland’s recent interview on Vlad TV generated considerable discussion among fans, and now Booker T has responded.
Strickland made remarks concerning Booker T and the controversial 2005 WWE segment involving Vince McMahon, where McMahon dropped the N-word.
“That’s not what happened when Vince [McMahon] said the n-word in front of you. That’s not being treated fair, my opinion,” Strickland said in the interview. “To that statement, it’s not even what I’m saying; I’m saying what people are saying. I’m saying what your audience is saying. So it’s not just me just talking out of my ass out of nowhere. It’s what your audience has been complaining about for the better part of two, three years from not seeing Black talent even getting singles matches on PLEs and stuff like that. Now, those guys are on socials more. They talk back and forth with the fans a little bit more, so you can’t ignore that anymore.”
Booker T stated on this week’s Hall of Fame podcast that he had run into Strickland during the past weekend and was disappointed in Strickland for the way he handled it. Booker T revealed that Vlad TV had previously approached him for an interview.
Booker T believes Vlad TV manipulated Strickland and accuses the outlet of attempting to create conflict between them. He thinks the YouTube channel tried to generate controversy.
“I hear people like Swerve Strickland talk about there’s not a lot of black representation on the PLEs these days. Well, damn it, I didn’t have to worry about that in my day, I was on all of them. I was on all of the pay-per-views, alright? I was main eventing some of them as well. I don’t know what the hell he is talking about as far as that goes. Maybe it’s a drop-off as far as talent, maybe guys need to work up to my level and really think about themselves in a position and say, ‘Hey man, let’s forget about this black thing and let’s throw it all in and see how good we are.’ Let’s do it the way I did, alright? We ain’t got to start nothing on social media or nothing like that, let’s just see how good we are. I could have sank all the way to the bottom in WWE, just like so many others did. So many of them. More importantly, most of those guys are white guys, I’m just say. It’s about how talented I was. As far as he is, it’s about how talented he is. It’s about how talented every other black person that gets what they get. Don’t just throw a tag on them because they’re black. It’s ridiculous. For him to speak on something like that and make it about that because he had a bad experience, bro, that’s like painting everybody the same way. I don’t see it that way. I don’t put myself in the category with everybody else. I just don’t.”
Booker T added, “I can tell you this: he never said that he didn’t get played. He never said that and that right there spoke volumes to me. It’s not really about what he said, I just wanted to let him know how disappointed I was in him. I just wanted to let him know how disappointed I was in him for going out there.”
Booker T ended by noting, “I’ve said it a thousand times out of one thousand times, I don’t think the skit with Vince McMahon and John Cena was a racial issue with me. I just don’t. Take it for what it’s worth.”
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.
