Booker T responds to Swerve Strickland.
Swerve Strickland's conversation with Vlad TV has been making waves for days at this point, with many outlets singling out his comments about Booker T and how he wasn't treated fairly when Vince McMahon used the N-word in segment back in 2005.
Now, Booker T is responding to Strickland, revealing that he had a face-to-face conversation with the former AEW World Champion this past weekend.
“I was at an event this weekend in Richmond, Virginia. Low and behold, who was at the same event with me, actually as a part of the same party. It was literally the first person I ran into the morning of the event. Just like Swerve Strickland said, me having the energy when Vince McMahon said the N-word, rest assured I had the energy when I saw him because I approached Swerve Strickland and I had a conversation with Swerve Strickland. Let’s talk about the conversation with Swerve Strickland. Booker told Brad Gilmore on the latest edition of the Hall Of Fame podcast.
Booker T continued on, revealing that he's been contacted for a Vlad TV interview in the past. Booker also detailed a bit of his conversation with Strickland, noting that he is disappointed in him.
“I had an offer to be on Vlad TV before as well and I turned it down. They called me back and they offered me money to go on Vlad TV and I turned it down because I was not going to go on Vlad TV and be exploited. I wasn’t going to go on Vlad TV and have him make me look like a fool in front of the world, I was not going to do that. I wasn’t going to go on Vlad TV and say anything negative towards any black man that’s ever been in this business because I know how hard it is for all of us. I’ve been the first one saying it, any brother getting his bag, I’m all in 100%. I told Swerve Strickland to his face how disappointed I am in him as a young brother because all I did for Swerve Strickland was put him over and put him on a pedestal as being one of the best out there, that he deserves to being the AEW Champion. For him to say something like that about me — I don’t know if these guys think racism stopped in 1990 when I got in the business, but it didn’t. You may not hear about a lot of racial issues with Booker T because I handled racial issues handfirst. I opened doors, I broke down barriers for people like Swerve Strickland. Swerve Strickland would perhaps not even be here if it wasn’t for me. I have to apologize for nothing that I’ve done in this business because I’ve gone out there and I have literally represented in the ring and out of the ring from day one all the way to this day in 2025.”
Following that, Booker T revealed that he told Strickland that he got played by Vlad TV, accusing the outlet of pitting two black men against each other.
“You speak on Vince McMahon and him saying the N- word, you want me to be angry black man in the company. You want me to not open doors and make spaces for people like you, that’s what you want me to do. Swerve Strickland, I hope you’re never gonna be in the movies, I hope you’re never gonna be on a movie set because you might hear somebody say the n word and if you’ve got a problem with it, they’re gonna tell your ass to get the hell out of here, this is a movie, alright? I’m upset because more importantly I’m disappointed in Swerve Strickland because what I told him — I’ll repeat it just like I repeated it to him, you got played. You got played bro. You got played. You let that man play you and pitch you against me and me against you. I don’t know how many stories you’ve ever heard about that on Vlad TV, but there’s many of them. There’s many stories out there about the black man against the black man because Vlad is pitting them against each other. I don’t know how many people you know that have been locked up from the federal perspective by going on Vlad TV. I don’t know what the hell you’re doing on Vlad TV first of all. What have you done to be on Vlad TV? That’s just my opinion on that. As far as Swerve Strickland — and me having the energy, the varascity, I got all that. I’m still six foot three inches tall, two hundred and thirty pounds of stomping, grave damn digging, destruction Jack.”
Then, Booker focused specifically on the n-word.
“I want to get something out there to a lot of people as far as this N-word thing. When I stop hearing it on the radio every day, then we can have this conversation. When I stop hearing it as a term of endearment in a lot of places and circles, then we can talk about this. As far as the n word goes, it’s not a word that nobody has ever heard me say but one time in my life, especially in this business or around any of my peers or anything like that, my co-workers or anything like that. That’s not something I do. As far as this business goes, I’ve always looked at this business like it was a movie. I’ve always looked at this business like it was entertainment and when something like that is embellished, even on the show and for him to question me and who I am as a black man and having to go through this life and deal with racism, bro you better get the hell out of my face. I’ve never kissed ass, nobody can ever put that statement on me. For him, you don’t know me. You don’t know me that well to speak on that and I just wanted to get that across to him and anybody else that thinks that way because him and I shouldn’t be going back and forth at each other and he shouldn’t let somebody else put him and I [against each other]. Because he got a problem with the company? That’s a statement you’re stepping into, that’s a land mine you’re just falling off for no reason. You’re making noise for no reason. Like I said, I know I’ve opened doors for people like Swerve Strickland. Just like that statement I said about him, I didn’t have to say that. Why did I say it? I said it because I thought the guy was a damn good wrestler. I don’t have the book, but one thing I do know, cream rises to the top. If you think you’re hot, throw everything in, I know that’s what I did. I could’ve sat on a contract when I came from WCW and made big money, but I said nah, I’m going to gamble on myself and go in head first and see exactly how good I am.”
The focus then shifted to Strickland's comments about the lack of black stars on WWE premium live events, with Booker saying that guys might need to work up to his level.
“I hear people like Swerve Strickland talk about there’s not a lot of black representation on the PLEs these days. Well damn it, I didn’t have to worry about that in my day, I was on all of them. I was on all of the pay-per-views, alright? I was main eventing some of them as well. I don’t know what the hell he is talking about as far as that goes. Maybe it’s a drop-off as far as talent, maybe guys need to work up to my level and really think about themselves in a position and say, ‘Hey man, let’s forget about this black thing and let’s throw it all in and see how good we are.’ Let’s do it the way I did, alright? We don’t got to start nothing on social media or nothing like that, let’s just see how good we are. I could have sank all the way to the bottom in WWE just like so many others did. More importantly, most of those guys are white guys, I’m just say. It’s about how talented I was. As far as he is, it’s about how talented he is. It’s about how talented every other black person that gets what they get — don’t just throw a tag on them because they’re black. It’s ridiculous. For him to speak on something like that and make it about that because he had a bad experience, bro, that’s like painting everybody the same way. I don’t put myself in the category with everybody else, I just don’t.”
Booker T then revealed some information surrounding Strickland's in-person response.
“I can tell you this, he never said that he didn’t get played. He never said that and that right there spoke volumes to me. It’s not really about what he said, I just wanted to let him know how disappointed I was in him. I just wanted to let him know how disappointed I was in him for going out there.”
Then, Booker defended his reputation when it comes to dealing with racism.
“If you can base my veracity on a skit, we got a problem. My reputation is solid, my reputation is 100 as far as dealing with racism. I know how I’ve dealt with racism in the WWE, but I don’t have to go out and publicize it. I don’t have to go out and talk about it on social media. That’s not the way I work, I don’t put my business out on social media, it’s not for the world to know. But if I’m talking to a young brother like him and he’s on the come up, don’t think I’m not gonna pull him aside and say, ‘Hey man.’ I’m gonna be the one with the young guy, pulling him in and telling him, ‘Hey, you’ve got so much talent, but you’re gonna go up against this. You’re gonna go up against this. But this is how you get through it.’ That’s the way you deal with stuff like that. I’m not gonna tell somebody, ‘Hey, you don’t need to go with that angle because you ain’t stepping up with the brothers. Just forget about your family, forget about this is a storyline, forget about all that, just stand up.’ You’ve got to know when to stand up, bro. You’ve got to know when to pick your fights.”
To finish things up, Booker stated that the Vince McMahon skit in 2005 was not a racial issue with him
“I’ve said it a thousand times out of one thousand times, I don’t think the skit with Vince McMahon and John Cena was a racial issue with me. I just don’t. Take it for what it’s worth.”
Fightful will update fans if Swerve Strickland responds to Booker T.
Fans can check out Strickland's original comments on the matter by clicking here.
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