Wrestling icon Booker T recently admitted that his widely criticized match with Buff Bagwell on RAW was well below his usual standard. He insists, however, that the shortcomings were not his doing.
In a highly-anticipated face-off for the WCW World Championship title, Booker T and Bagwell locked horns on the July 2, 2001 episode of WWE RAW. Ultimately, it was Booker T who emerged victorious.
However, the battle became notorious as one of the least successful main events in RAW’s history. Not long after the match, Bagwell found himself abruptly let go by WWE, a company that subsequently seemed to conveniently forget his existence.
Booker T recently revisited this infamous match in an episode of his podcast, “Hall of Fame.” He raised doubts over Bagwell’s claim that the WWE failings throughout the match were due to inadequate directions given to the wrestlers. He expressed strong feelings on the issue, stating,
“I’ve deliberately refrained from commenting on this issue as much of it is not accurate. Our role in WWE was not to win their favor. Their concern was not to enhance our reputation.”
Reflecting on his own performance that night, Booker T confessed that he wasn’t at his best despite being ready to play at top form. He still maintains, however, that the issues with the match were not caused by him. He made it clear by stating,
“On that particular night, I was prepared to give my all, but I ended up not performing to the best of my abilities. I failed to make that match memorable, and it’s one of the rare instances where I feel this couldn’t be attributed to me.”