During the latest edition of his Hall of Fame podcast former five-time world champion Booker T named his favorite male and female wrestlers for 2021, and why he thinks that each of these stars from WWE, AEW, and NXT crushed it this year. Highlights are below.
On the best male performers of 2021, which include Roman Reigns, Kenny Omega, and Bryan Danielson:
“Are we just going on pure wrestling? Of course there’s a lot of guys out there that I haven’t seen. I know there’s a lot of guys from Japan that are going to be wondering, ‘Where am I at in this conversation?’ A lot of times you have certain people going around giving five star matches and it may not be the flavor that I really like, so it may not be a five star match as far as I’m concerned. But for the guy we’ve been watching on American television, let’s just start right there. I’m going to tell you right now. I’ve said Roman is the best in the business right now. His work has been impeccable for the last two years. I’ve said that everybody Roman has gotten into the ring with, Roman has made that person a better wrestler at the end of the day, a better performer, a better sports entertainer, however you want to look at it. He’s made those guys better every single time. But when we’re talking about wrestling, I think Kenny Omega is a really good, technically sound guy that can really go out there and go one on one with anybody in the business. Just say for instance a guy like Seth Rollins. Seth Rollins has all the tools to go out there and be one of the great wrestlers, but I don’t think that’s where his head is right now. He’s an entertainer. As far as wrestling goes, Daniel Bryan has taken the moniker of wrestler very, very seriously. He wants to go out and perform in the ring and have great matches. Daniel Bryan has made a boatload of money, and now it’s about, ‘Man, let me go out there and see how good I am. Let me see how good I am still after a broken neck and after people have written me off. Let me go out there and have my best wrestling matches ever now.’ What he’s been doing has been pretty extraordinary, I must say because he’s been thinking about going out and bringing that thin line that I talk about so close to that television screen that’s MMA, boxing, wrestling, combat sport, and making every little bitty thing mean something.”
On Britt Baker being a top female performer for 2021:
“I’m going to tell you right now. Going out there and having that death match (with Thunder Rosa) that you don’t see too often, and really relishing it, falling into it, and not trying to take any shortcuts, I must say, that might have been the most impressive thing I’ve seen all year from the women. I have to give Thunder Rosa her props for being a part of that as well. That match right there was different than anything. I cringed the whole time watching it.”
On Bianca Belair:
“Take nothing away from Bianca Belair as well. She’s been in a lot of good stuff. Her segments have been on point. The thing is as well is she’s pulled her load. She hasn’t phoned anything in. She’s had some great matches. I’m still waiting to see her make me cry. I have to see that. I’m looking for drama. I’m not just looking for a match, and that’s why I threw that death match at the top because it had drama that we have not seen ever from a woman’s perspective in The United States. It wasn’t just the match. It was Britt Baker, out of just about everybody in that company, her name almost always rings louder than all of them, as opposed to Kenny Omega, Bryan Danielson, or Punk. Her name is up there pretty high. I say that because she’s carved her own niche. She’s definitely done it her own way and she’s actually good at what she does. I have to give her props on that too.”
On Carmelo Hayes and Sammy Guevara:
“Carmelo Hayes is a guy that has ‘star’ written all over him. He can perform. He’s the right height. He can talk very, very well. He looks good. He’s a handsome young man. He checks all of the boxes if you’re looking for a star, and I’m not just talking about a black star. If you’re looking for a star, Carmelo Hayes definitely has the tools to step up to that next level. But, we’re talking about breakout star of the year. Sammy Guevara, I can’t say he has not been a breakout star this year. A kid who came from high school, not that I take any credit or anything like that for his success, but I look at Sammy differently than I look at Carmelo. I just want to make this point. Sammy Guevara came through Reality of Wrestling. He got a little bit of knowledge, but he believed in himself enough to get out of there and say, ‘Man, I’m going to make it. I’m going to go out and do it, and I’m going to do it my way.’ He found himself in AEW and he’s become a star. He’s done that with all of his own will with nobody backing him. So I give that kid a whole lot of credit. Sammy Guevara, definitely keep doing your thing.”
(H/T and transcribed by WrestlingNews.Co)