Booker T discussed a wide range of topics on a recent episode of his Hall of Fame podcast including the WWE talent cuts that were made on Thursday.
Scarlett, Ember Moon, Taya Valkyrie, Oney Lorcan, Karrion Kross, B-Fab, Gran Metalik, Jeet Rama, Katrina Cortez, Trey Baxter, Lince Dorado, Nia Jax, Keith Lee, Eva Marie, Mia Yim, Harry Smith, Zayda Ramier, and Jessi Kamea were the names let go by the company. While WWE is claiming it’s due to budget cuts, it’s been reported that some were let go due to them not being vaccinated.
Moon actually trained at Booker T’s wrestling school and worked for his Reality of Wrestling promotion. Here is what Booker T had to say:
“I hate to see it. Ember Moon, she’s one of mine, so I definitely hate to see her get released. One thing I always teach my girls is when your talent, cream rises to the top and you’ll find a spot somewhere. Ember, she’s going to be ok. The business decisions as far as Scarlett, I don’t know what’s going on with that. I don’t know the behind the scenes dealings that go on with stuff like that. Franky Monet, I thought she was talent. I thought she was money. I thought she fit right in, and she was doing a great job. She was one of the girls I thought you could do pretty much anything with as far as title picture, angle wise, working with bringing somebody up. I tell you, the business has changed. The business is totally different than it was back in the day. Job security these days is nowhere near what it was back in the day. That’s due to, man, I hate to say it. I hate to even talk like that, but just say for instance, Ember Moon, Scarlett, Valkyrie, they’ve been out there, but their names hadn’t been out there enough to where they’re made to where these are people we can’t get rid of, or these are people we can’t replace. Back in the day, when somebody came on board, and I’m just giving an example, Madusa. How many Madusas were there? Luna Vachon? It was a lot harder to replace someone like that. Today, there’s an abundance of talent. I said it once, I’ll say it again. The business is as hot as it’s ever been today as far as people trying to get in it. They see this could really be a career. People see guys like The Rock, John Cena, and Batista making movies and see how this business has changed their lives. I’m going to tell you right now, there’s so many young people wanting to get in it, but I’m going to tell you, those ones that are irreplaceable, they’re few and far between at this stage of professional wrestling. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am.”
“I think a lot of guys fall through the cracks because they have not put themselves in a position to go out there and have an overabundance of the crowd saying, ‘This is our guy.’ No one has been able to separate themselves from the pack. I say that all the time as far as the, say for instance, ‘Booker T’ chant as opposed to ‘This is awesome’ chant.’ To get the fans invested in you. To get the fans to bring a sign with your name on it. You have to understand, a lot goes into whether we’re going to keep someone or whether we’re going to let someone go. Someone who’s just a good worker, I’m going to tell you what we said about good workers in the business for so long. Good workers are a dime a dozen. That’s just a fact. I’m not putting anybody down or anything like that. You got to know how to separate yourself from the pack. Now Ember Moon, I thought she did that. I don’t think Scarlett had a chance to. I thought Ember Moon in the ring set her apart from everyone else because she was so different. She wasn’t the diva. She was someone who was going to come out there and whip your a** and look good doing it at the same time.”
“I said at the end of the day, Keith Lee is going to have to make a believer out of those guys. In between then and now, I don’t know what happened. Keith Lee is a guy who has an abundance of talent. AEW is a company that’s looking for guys. New Japan is a company that I think Keith Lee fits in perfectly. I think he will be ok as far as working in the business. There again, I don’t know what Keith Lee’s illness was or anything like that. I don’t know if that has anything to do with his firing or releasing or anything like that. I’m shocked. Nia Jax, I’m definitely shocked at that name being in that group right there. I thought Nia Jax was one that was going to be around for a long, long time. I thought she was talent. Karrion Kross, I must say, was taken out of the frying pan and thrown right into the fire. He was brought up to the main roster and then the wardrobe changes. The thing is, also, I don’t know, I could be wrong, but I’m quite sure Karriorn Kross is a little perplexed about, ‘Man, what the hell is going on?’ The reason I say that is because, ‘Just a minute ago, I was the most over son of a gun in NXT that the company had. I was the champ.’ Then all of a sudden, he came over with a wardrobe change, no Scarlett, and the fans not buying into it at all. I’m sure he had to be wondering what the hell is going on as well. There again, we’re in a different place and different time as far as this business goes. For me, it’s hard to speak on it. I’m going to have to bring one of these young guys on the show and let them talk about it because it’s hard for me to speak on what they’re going through right now in this turbulent world of professional wrestling and trying to keep a spot. Back in the day, there were only so few spots, but once those spots were secured, they stayed secured for a long damn time. The business has changed. You name me 10 guys that walk out of the curtain that make you feel a certain way. It would be very hard. You’re not going to get there. You’re not going to be able to name 10 guys that make you feel a certain way when they walk out of the curtain. You’re not going to be able to do it. Back in the day, damn near every guy that walked out of the curtain, almost everyone of them, WCW, WWF, almost everyone of those guys, no matter where they worked, made you feel a certain way when they walked out of the curtain whether you liked them or not. I don’t care if it was Koko B Ware or Test. Test wasn’t even a guy who was high up on the radar as far as a top guy, but what I’m saying is, you name me 10 guys today that walk out of that curtain that make you feel a certain way when they come out, to make you want to buy a ticket, to make you want to jump. I think that might be part of the problem.’
“With Nia, I love Nia. She’s one of my favorite people. The one thing with Nia was instead of being a monster, she still wants to be a Diva. I think Awesome Kong, there’s no frills there. She’s coming to lay waste and leave havoc in the middle of this ring. That’s something that I never really got from Nia Jax, and that’s something I so wanted, Beauty and the Beast. That’s the title for me for Nia Jax would have been. She would have been beastly when she was in that ring taking care of her business. Like I said, being able to separate yourself in this day and age of professional wrestling is so hard because you have so many guys on the roster and so little time.”
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the transcript