On the latest “Heated Conversations With Booker T” radio show/podcast, Booker T discussed Lamelo Ball’s use of the N-word on last week’s Monday Night Raw. The following night on Smackdown Live, The New Day made a reference to Booker T’s infamous promo on Hulk Hogan from Spring Stampede 1997. I think most of you know which promo I’m referring to. In his promo, Booker said about Hulk Hogan, “We want the gold, sucka. Hulk Hogan, we comin’ for you n****.” He was supposed to say sucka but the other word slipped out on live TV.
On last Tuesday’s episode of Smackdown Live, The New Day referenced Booker’s WCW promo. During his promo, while building up their upcoming match at WWE Battleground, Big E said to The Usos, “Listen up and put this flava in your ear. We want that gold sucka and at Battleground, we comin’ for you…” Xavier Woods cut him off before he could continue.
Booker has gone on record in the past saying that the WCW promo on Hogan was the most embarrassing moment of his career. In response to The New Day’s promo, Booker said, “I just want to make it publicly known that I don’t condone that at all especially coming off of Monday Night. We as a people, we gotta know when it’s time to speak up and when it’s time to shut up. My mother taught me that a long time ago. If you don’t know, it’ll come back and haunt you. [The WCW promo blooper] has haunted me for this many years. You put yourself in a situation for something to happen, just like Mike Tyson did, something can happen. For these young kids to understand and realize and be able to speak up for themselves…you know…then again, I spoke up because I was talent. I spoke up because I knew that I could speak up. I implore these young people out there to know exactly what they’re doing and how they are affecting our young people that are coming up. That’s the most important thing as far as I’m concerned. Me personally, I know I’ve made mistakes. That word that I said on national television in front of the world – I wish I could go back and erase it. I wish that I could take it back. I wish that WWE would never do something like that ever again.”
Booker’s co-host asked what he thought about WWE approving New Day’s promo. Booker said, “Me personally, I don’t appreciate it. I don’t know if [WWE] knew that the parody was gonna go down because I know those guys do a lot of their own stuff. I don’t think that we as a company need to go that route. I think that parody should not have ever been shown on television because it wasn’t a great moment for us as black people. For us as black people, it was one of our worst moments. Just like the [Lamelo] Ball thing. The kid is 15-years old [and] I don’t blame him or anything like that. It was something that slipped out just like myself [in 1997], it was something that slipped out. For me as a person that’s trying to set an example for us as black people and for me to let so many people down – even the ones that thought it was the cool – even the ones that thought it was an anthem… …I want them to know that it was my worst day that I could have ever had being a black man and letting so many of our people down by calling us that word or saying that word in any realm [or] any form was definitely not right by any means. I wish I could take it right back. That one blemish is the only thing they have over my head that they could put out there to try to make me look bad in any way shape, form, or fashion. Of course, I could put a spin on it… … but does that make it right? No, it doesn’t make it right. It’s still a stain, a blemish, a mark that no surgical procedure could ever repair. So I just want young people to know exactly what they’re saying and when they’re saying it.”
You can listen to the podcast by clicking here. The conversation on the N-word and the New Day parody starts around the 52:30 mark.
You can listen to New Day’s promo from Smackdown in below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2v8u0s57ao
If you use any of the quotes in this article please credit Heated Conversations With Booker T with an H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription
