On a recent edition of his “Hall of Fame” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T provided insights into the current stagnation in AEW, suggestions for generating buzz, critiques of AEW’s booking approach for Darby Allin, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On average fans not knowing WWE alumnus are in AEW: “I don’t think that’s what it is… I get that, but what I’m basing it off of, me being in TNA. Me going to cities, and there was no advertisement for us actually being in those cities. You know what I mean? And the arena’s right down the street. I see so many advertisements for AEW on so many different networks. I mean, just say, for instance, you pull your phone up and it might just pop up in one of the apps, or whatever. And the thing is, no matter where I’m at I see AEW advertisement. That’s not their problem. That’s not their problem. It is not that they’re not advertising.
“I think AEW’s roster is so big, they have no way to really try to find a footing as far as trying to create stories. Because they have way too much talent. Just like WCW had back in the day. Thing was WCW, like I say, was hiring talent just to corner the market. Now is Tony Khan hiring all of these young talents just to corner the market? Perhaps, maybe. I don’t know. But if he is, he’s doing it the wrong way as well. Because why do you want to corner the market with a talent that’s not even a star yet? That makes no sense to me. That makes no sense. And then you got too many guys on the roster to build. Look at Darby Allin. Look at Darby. I mean, over the last five years this company has been in existence. Darby Allin — I mean, he’s had a great run with Sting. I don’t want to that away from him or anything like that. But I think Sting got more of the rub that Darby Allin did. I mean, I could be wrong. I could be wrong there, but I feel that way. I don’t feel like Darby Allen has been built to the star that he could have been five years later.”
On AEW not having moments like Booker’s grocery store brawl with Steve Austin that get people talking: “Man, it was funny, it was stupid, it was wrestling. And the most important thing about that? I knew my job, Steve knew his job. I knew what my job was that night. And we did it perfectly. I talked about, I never watched that up until two months ago. And when I watched it, I cried the whole time and I realize why people love it so much.”
