Booker T has given his thoughts on the way that WWE Superstars are trained at the Performance Center.
On January 16th, the unfortunate news that Cora Jade had suffered a torn ACL was announced on the NXT broadcast. NXT announcer Vic Joseph added that Jade is expected to be out of action for most of the year as a result.
Recent months have seen multiple stars of NXT’s women’s division sidelined with injuries. Sol Ruca and Wendy Choo have both been out of action since spring 2023 and Nikkita Lyons recently returned after recovering from an ACL tear. With multiple stars being out of action for a long time with similar injuries, some have questioned if the way that the Superstars are being trained is the cause of this.
Speaking on the Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T, who sees the action each week on NXT from the commentary desk, addressed this claim and does not agree with what some fans have said:
“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.
In recent years, especially in WWE, women’s wrestling has evolved greatly. The work rate has improved massively compared to previous eras and women’s wrestling sees more high-impact moves and spots. The Hall of Famer continued, stating that a lot of female talent want to perform high-flying manoeuvres and with that increases the risk of 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 Addresses Recent WWE Departure
Having been with the company through multiple eras, the former King of the Ring winner has seen many employees come and go. However, one constant that remained until very recently was Kevin Dunn, who served as the Head of Production for over 30 years. Appreciating everything the former executive did for him both personally and professionally, Booker T recently thanked Kevin Dunn for all his years of service in WWE.
H/t to Fightful.