Booker T Reflects On TNA Run – “I Lost My Motivation”
Booker T has looked back on his run in TNA while admitting that he lost his motivation during his time in the company.
When wrestling fans think about Booker T’s pro wrestling career, they will probably think about his rise in WCW. Booker was a WCW guy that started at the bottom and made it to the top. Booker would go on to become a five-time World Champion that also had a lot of success as a tag team wrestler when he teamed with his brother Stevie Ray to form Harlem Heat.
In March 2001, WWE bought WCW and Booker was one of the biggest names that made the jump about three months later. It was a great move for Booker T since he was in the main event of SummerSlam 2001 against The Rock, which would lead to more success.
During his initial WWE run from 2001 until late 2007, Booker was a former WWE World Champion as King Booker that also held every other title in the company.
After the WWE run ended, Booker and his wife Sharmell signed with TNA Wrestling for a two-year run from November 2007 to October 2009. Booker was the first TNA Legends Champion and also part of the Main Event Mafia group as well.
On his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T spoke about how he acted like a fool when he realized that TNA wasn’t what he hoped it would be.
“It was just something that I was trying my best to entertain myself in TNA. When I got to TNA, I really had high hopes to really, really be able to capture some moments in that company and after about two weeks, I realized none of that was gonna happen, so I just started acting a fool. I really did. I really started acting a fool. I’m actually ashamed of myself for some of the stuff I did in TNA. I really am because I knew it wasn’t going anywhere and I lost my zeal for really going out and performing the way I think I always had before that.”
As he continued, Booker T spoke about how he lost his motivation while he was in TNA.
“I lost my motivation. I had a two-year contract and I lost my motivation. I’ve been watching Last Dance. I’m at episode nine, and to watch Michael Jordan’s drive, he was like a tyrant. He wanted nothing but the best from the guys that were around him. I know when I went to TNA, I felt I had that same feeling as far as, I’m going to push these guys to really see exactly how far they can go because I knew I had some young talent that I could really, really go out there and maybe create some magic with.”
“Then when none of that happened, I lost my passion just because I knew it was out of my hands. It was out of my control. There was nothing I could do with it. I was nowhere near that circle of people that was running it or anything like that. So I just literally just said, man, I’m going to come pick my check up, I’m going to try to have some fun, and try to create something at the same time, and when these two years are over, we’ll move on.”
A few years after his TNA run ended, Booker returned to WWE and he has been in a variety of different roles including an announcer. Booker has been part of the NXT commentary team with Vic Joseph for nearly a year.