Vic Joseph has looked back on his partnership in WWE NXT with Booker T and how it was Cody Rhodes who gave him the best advice about working with the Hall of Famer.
In August 2020, Joseph was moved to NXT and called the action alongside Beth Phoenix and Wade Barrett. As part of a shuffle in commentary in 2022, Joseph remained a part of the developmental brand but was joined by Booker T, who had also previously served as an announcer on Monday Night Raw.
While the Hall of Famer did not adapt to the over-produced style of Monday Night Raw at the time, he has been thriving on the developmental brand with more creative freedom and a great dynamic with Joseph. Looking back at his time on NXT and giving the brand its own unique feel, the lead announcer credits it to his broadcast colleagues.
While appearing on Cheap Heat with Peter Rosenberg, Joseph praised his time working with Wade Barrett, Beth Phoenix and his current broadcast partner:
Let me throw it to you this way, I had one of the music producers that always brings in a Sexyy Red or a HARDY or a Jelly Roll, he came up to me and he said, ‘Hey man, I gotta tell you, you make our job so much easier because you when you told Book when Sexyy Red came out in June that if he stood up, he was gonna tip over the table, we lost it,’ and I did live on-air and that’s the other part is I have so much freedom with Book. Wade Barrett got my confidence back, right? Wade and Beth (Phoenix) both did. I got my master’s degree.
Working with book, I’m getting my doctorate, and he is the perfect broadcast colleague for me to work with right now because at the end of the day, going back to what he (podcast co-host) said about Raw, falls on me and so, I have him ready to go and I trust whatever he’s gonna say, I just have to be able to pick it up and run with it and that’s the beauty of it because when he says something, I don’t know what he’s gonna say.
I never know anything Booker T is going to say, hand to God, any week we’re on Tuesdays and what you’re hearing from me is my actual genuine reaction and it is. It’s the best broadcast partner I’ve ever worked with in any sport, in anything now.
What Cody Rhodes Told Vic Joseph About Working With Booker T
Continuing the praise, Joseph recalled how he was informed that he would be working with the Hall of Famer and was told by Rhodes to just let Booker T be himself:
I can’t say enough good things about Booker, and you (Peter Rosenberg) worked with him on the Countdown shows. You don’t know what he’s gonna say, or how he’s gonna act and that’s part of the fun. Cody Rhodes told me when the switch happened.
I was in Italy actually, when all this switching went on and two years ago, I was on my honeymoon and I got a text from Shawn Michaels and it said, ‘Can you work with Booker?’ ‘Yeah, sure. Cool. I’ll see you when I get back’ and it has been off and running ever since with him. I mean, it is so fun to work with him and Cody Rhodes told me, ‘You have to let Book be Book. Do not have him play wrassler/broadcast analyst 101. Just let Booker be Booker.’
Also in the interview, the WWE announcer explained why he felt his time on Raw was a failure.
H/t to Post Wrestling.