What’s the story?
Booker T took to his podcast this week to clarify what he meant when he implied that Finn Balor was “soft”.
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Booker T made his return to the Monday Night Raw broadcast team and filled in for David Otunga who is currently filming a movie. Booker typically shows up for commentary as part of the pre-show panels for WWE Network PPV events. He certainly has plenty of experience to draw off of when discussing the WWE product.
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Booker T is a multiple time champion that includes significant runs as World Champion, Intercontinental Champion, United States Champion, and World Tag Team Champion. He also was a four-time WCW champion and the 2006 King Of The Ring. Booker was enshrined in the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2013.
The heart of the matter
On his weekly podcast this week, Booker T clarified his remarks regarding Finn Balor being a soft performer in the WWE.
“You don’t want to get labeled in this business as being injury prone. Do you know what I mean? This guy, he’s soft, do you know what I mean? You don’t want to get that label.”
Booker went on to say:
“I wasn’t saying [Balor] specifically, I’m just saying you don’t want that label in this business as far as being soft, a guy that can’t carry the load, a guy that’s not going to be in for the long haul. That’s what this business is about. And it’s about going out there and being able to weather the storm.”
The impact
Booker T is right. Nobody in this business wants to be classified as soft. That being said, WWE is running into these issues with many guys they are picking up off the indy scene. Finn Balor, Hideo Itami, and Sami Zayn have all spent significant time on the injury list since joining the WWE.
Regardless of how popular guys get in the WWE, Vince McMahon will not push someone that is an injury risk. It's a simple business decision that makes sense while looking at the big picture of the WWE. Finn Balor and others need to be careful of this stigma if they want to maintain their status at the top of the card.
Author’s take
In order to be a top main event talent in the WWE, the one thing that is absolutely needed is availability. Booker T is 100% on point regarding that.
Vince McMahon needs to be able to count on you to be around to put fans in the seats and draw money around the world. It’s natural for him to be sceptical of putting guys in top slots when they’ve been injured in the recent past.
This attribute is also why he tends to rely on bigger individuals to carry the load as the top star. He knows their bodies can hold up better than someone that is sub-200 pounds. Guys like Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, and even Seth Rollins are going to suffer because of this until they can prove themselves to Vince.
To me, this is a larger issue that WWE needs to address. Many top guys come into the company with an incredible amount of mileage on their body. The independent scene is more of a grind on the body than WWE and its the place where WWE gets new talent. The WWE has to find a way to utilise these stars before the mileage piles up.
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