Booker T discusses the number of injuries that are happening in NXT.
Over the last few or so, a number of NXT stars have suffered significant injuries. Sol Ruca, Nikkita Lyons, and most recently Cora Jade have gotten hurt, as Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported that Jade suffered a torn ACL at the NXT live event on January 12. Given the amount of injuries to young talent in NXT, some fans have wondered whether the training system at the WWE Performance Center could be a factor.
Speaking on The Hall of Fame, Cora Jade's injury came up in the conversation. Booker T made it clear that he did not agree with the link between the training and the injuries.
“We’re talking about a lot of the young talent getting injured these days. I was reading an article about the way the training may be taking place these days maybe having something to do with the injuries with the talent on the roster. Me personally, I really don’t agree with that because they’re not getting injured in the training, they’re getting injured when they’re working [laughs]. Right or wrong? But my thing is, a lot of young talent, say for instance Sol Ruca, Nikkita Lyons, and now Cora Jade, have had injuries. The thing is, a lot of the guys have had injuries as well. I’m wondering is it more the training, or is it more the work style? Because I’ve heard some of the ladies say they want to work just as hard as the men. They want to do dives and do stuff, take as many risks as the men. I remember back in the day, the business was about going out there and making sure you could do it the next day. But today, young wrestlers, seems like throwing caution to the wind is just something that they do on a regular basis," Booker T said.
Booker T noted that one of his talents at Reality of Wrestling once wanted to jump off a scaffold for a spot, and he said that it did not make any sense, given the risk involved. The Hall of Famer then stated that risks aren't always to blame, as injuries happen.
“For me, a lot of things happen these days I think because of the risk that’s being taken more so than anything. But aside from that, it’s not even about the risk. Sometimes, it’s not a matter of it’s gonna happen, it’s just a matter of when it’s gonna happen," he said.
Booker T then stated that injuries can happen with moves wrestlers have done countless times. He recalled an example in which Rob Van Dam got hurt when he was doing something he must have done 500 times.
“It’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when. When I see someone try to make an analogy as far as why are people getting hurt, like I said, I just think it’s the styles more than anything," Booker T said.
Co-host Brad Gilmore agreed and noted that NXT talent do live events, and they also train every day, so there is some wear and tear on their bodies. Booker T went on to describe how, as a wrestler, one usually is not concerned about the ramifications of what they are doing. He subsequently emphasized his belief that the training was not to blame for the injuries.
“When you’re working, you’re not really thinking about the ramifications sometimes. You’re just throwing caution to the wind. It’s a lot of fun sometimes until something like that happens. But I don’t blame anybody for going out there and getting injured or working hard. That’s just part of the game, as well as where we are with the business. I can’t imagine watching wrestling the way it was back in the ‘80s and ‘70s, the way the guys were just walking around. Of course, we’ve evolved to this. Mick Foley said he perhaps could take a lot of blame [laughs] for the kids jumping off stuff and going extreme, throwing caution to the wind, not thinking about how their bodies are gonna feel 10-20 years later. But as far as the training methods or anything like that, I really don’t think it’s training methods or anything like that. I don’t think that has a whole lot to do with somebody going out there in the ring and getting hurt. But I can say the way we did it and the way they do it now is two totally different styles of wrestling," he said.
Booker T recently said that he was working on a movie script about his life. Check out his comments here.
Check out the card for the January 16 episode of WWE NXT here. Fightful will have live coverage of the show as it airs.
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