Booker T was approached for an appearance on last week’s Dark Side of the Ring episode, which focused on the infamous Bash at the Beach 2000 event, but the former 5-Time WCW World Heavyweight Champion has recently revealed that he turned down the opportunity.
At Bash at the Beach 2000, Booker T defeated Jeff Jarrett for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, after much ruckus took place earlier in the night involving Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo and Hulk Hogan.
But while speaking about it on his podcast, “The Hall of Fame with Booker T & Brad Gilmore,” Booker revealed his reasons for not appearing, noting that the show “just opens you up for a whole lot of criticism.”
“As far as, like I say, the embellishment of the story, what happened at Bash at the Beach 2000, I don’t think the real story is ever going to come out.”
“Because I think what we heard on Dark Side of the Ring, just like the plane ride from hell, a lot of stuff was just put in there that wasn’t actually true.”
“I was on the plane ride from hell and it definitely wasn’t that plane ride that they had on that episode, but, there again, that episode right there ruined a lot of people and got a lot of people a lot of heat.”
“When they called me and wanted me to be a part of some stuff like that, I declined. I declined for a reason.”
“Don’t think there’s not a lot of stuff that I could be saying about, you know, people like Eric Bischoff. Don’t think there’s not a lot of stuff I could be saying about Vince Russo and then that whole, you know, time period, but is it worth it?”
“Is it worth it for me to put my reputation and my character on the line for a show that’s paying me $0 or very, very little dollars, dollars that’s definitely not going to be life changing.”
“Why do it? That’s my question. Why? A lot of people still want to be relevant. A lot of people still want to let people know they’re still around, they’re still a part of a game. You know what I mean?”
“For me, there again, just opens you up for a whole lot of criticism.”
WWE Executive Bruce Prichard has also revealed that he refuses to appear on the show again, criticising it for relying on “rumour and innuendo.”
What Is Booker T Doing These Days?
Booker T is currently a commentator for NXT, alongside Vic Joseph. Booker recently had comments to make on Gable Steveson’s NXT debut, which took place at the 2023 Great American Bash event.
H/T wrestlingnews.co