“We’re Not Friends” – Booker T On WWE Icon
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T has opened up about having to work with a WWE legend that he did not see eye to eye with.
Wrestling history is littered with backstage altercations and real-life fights and Booker T was no exception to this back in 2006 when he and Batista had an almighty blow-up while filming a SummerSlam commercial. While the fight was anything but sports entertainment, WWE took the unusual step of reporting that it happened with a day-of WWE.com report calling it a “brutal, bloody, vicious affair.”
Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T has drawn parallels between that incident and Bryan Danielson’s recent admission that he wanted to “deck” old rival The Miz. According to Booker T, he and Batista are not friends but their blow-up did help them when they had to work together in the ring:
“I never talk about the incident between Dave [Batista] and I or anything like that. We were not friends or anything like that, and him and I, we had to work together. He wasn’t a person that I particularly wanted to work with, but I’m a professional, just like [Bryan] Danielson, I’m a professional, I’m going to get the work done, and hopefully, that makes some really good TV.”
“I do know after the incident [with Batista], I think we were able to work in the ring a whole lot better, actually. I think things got a lot smoother. Maybe before there wasn’t a respect deal going into our matches, but after I’m sure there was a lot of respect going into that ring.”