On a recent edition of his “Hall of Fame” podcast, Booker T discussed the potential of Kiana James, the WCW World Heavyweight Title, and other topics.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Kiana James: “I hate that we lose so many great young talents from NXT, Ilja Dragunov is one of them. Kiana James. I’m excited for Kiana James, because I really feel like she’s ready for this moment. I feel like she’s matured in NXT to the point to where she has been ready for this moment for quite some time. She doesn’t have the resume as a lot of the people leaving from NXT, as far as being champion, whatnot, whatnot, whatnot. But I think Kiana James is almost going to be like that Olympic athlete that was really, really good in the amateurs. But when they got to the pros, they really weren’t that good. But then you see some of the guys, you know, in the amateurs that weren’t that great, and then they go on to be great in the pros. Kiana James is going to be great as a pro, and she’s gonna set a lot of records, big time.”
On why she stands out: “She looked the part. She played the part. You knew she was somebody, even if you didn’t know who she was. And then when she gets in the ring, her talent is almost cerebral. It’s very, very subtle. It’s the small, little bitty things that we talk about at Reality of Wrestling that a lot of people would — you know, it totally go over their head. It’s like taking an engine apart and putting it back together, and when she put it back together there are no pieces over here. Everything is solid and tight, and you can rest assured, we go right down the road and nothing’s going to explode or blow-up on us. She’s one I feel like you can count on as well and in that situation. In this business, they gotta be able to trust you. Trust you to go out and be able to perform, trust you not to get hurt more importantly than anything. I think Kiana James checks off all those boxes.”
On WWE making the WCW World Heavyweight Title smaller when they acquired the promotion: “It did just feel a little smaller. Even one I just got in my office, It seems like a tad bit smaller. Yeah, you know what? Yeah, I agree. I agree 100%. The big gold for me was the Holy Grail. That was the one for me, you know. Winning it in WCW was great, and then winning it as King Booker was, you know, just sweeter, man.”
