Why Booker T is in the Battle Royal

[Guest edotherocket]

One of the main driving creative forces behind the return of the Intercontinental title was to give Booker T a major program as a face without giving him the World Title.

 

It was only discovered later that Booker T had never actually won the IC title, so they came up with the angle on Raw to put him into the Battle Royal (with Teddy Long insisting that a black man be included in the match to Steve Austin).

 

Whether or not Booker T wins the IC title at Judgment Day, he is expected to be in the angles and matches around the belt.

 

credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

 

 

 

 

Personally, I think this is good news. I have given up hope for anyone worthwhile contesting for the World Heavyweight Title within the next year or so and if Booker, RVD, Jericho and friends tear it up having hot IC title feuds instead, it'll simply end up the more credible title on RAW. I was initially worried that HHH and the Clique would consume this title but they consider it beneath them, so hopefully that won't be a concern.

[Guest Y2DAYDAY]

To add to the above, another reason the IC title was brought back was because Hunter is taking some summer house shows off(I think as he gets ready for his wedding) and Vince wants a belt on a credible guy to headline the house shows with. It is actually a smart business move.

 

If I had to guess, Booker will lose the Battle Royale but win the belt at the Badd Blood show in Houston.

[Guest Memphis]

Vince dislikes African Americans.

[Guest edotherocket]

Yeah I reckon Booker will get tossed early. Isn't he still recovering from the flu?

[Guest Slingshot Suplex]

Vince dislikes African Americans.

Hey,come on now.Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas won the WWF tag belts in 1983.

[Guest Sakura]

It was only discovered later that Booker T had never actually won the IC title

That is pathetic.

[Guest Choken One]

I'm thinking they were gonna have a

 

Winner Gets Spot in Royale Match involving Booker and some other guy (Stevie, Steiner, Mack or some one) but had to do the Affirmative Action Explanation

 

Which is kinda ingenious from WWE to think of...

 

Better then..."Let's Just pretend he was the champion once"...

[Guest Mole]

Cuz Stone Cold said so.

[Guest Memphis]

Vince dislikes African Americans.

Hey,come on now.Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas won the WWF tag belts in 1983.

Vince doesn't take into consideration what happend in the past.

 

Rock isn't as black as Booker.

 

Therefore my theory still stands - Vince = White Power

 

Racist bastard.

 

M

[Guest BoboBrazil]

Why isn't Booker T worth the world title? Who are they going to give it to that is so much better than him? Nash? Goldberg? Keep it on HHH forever? This is typical WWE shit. Fuck them up their stupid asses.

[Guest Kid Kablam]

I agree, fuck them. but let's look on the bright side, if the good wrestlers are "relegated" to the intercontinental title, then we'll just watch for the intercontinental title. Fuck HHH and his cronies let them fight over a piece of pyrite.

[Guest Memphis]

I wonder if Nash is going to be as tyrannical as Hunter Hearst Helmsley is when it comes to jobbing the belt to another wrestler.

 

I can so see this whole situation concluding in 6 different title reigns, or so, ONLY between Crips and Nash.

 

Oh, that WACKY Vince McMahon.

[Guest The Tino Standard]

To add to the above, another reason the IC title was brought back was because Hunter is taking some summer house shows off(I think as he gets ready for his wedding) and Vince wants a belt on a credible guy to headline the house shows with. It is actually a smart business move.

Or, they could just FINALLY take the World title off the heatless champion who has been parading around with it for months on end, having a string of bad matches with horrible storylines.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

It was only discovered later that Booker T had never actually won the IC title, so they came up with the angle on Raw to put him into the Battle Royal (with Teddy Long insisting that a black man be included in the match to Steve Austin).

Eeeeeergh.

[MooreMark 0]

I wanna see the Mack in the battle royal!

 

In all fairness Booker shouldn't be in the rumble but he could still be involved in the angles after. But I don't mind him being in.

[Guest teke184]

I wanna see the Mack in the battle royal!

 

In all fairness Booker shouldn't be in the rumble but he could still be involved in the angles after. But I don't mind him being in.

In order to get Booker over as the big face with the belt, he either needs to win it in the battle royale or win it from a good heel AFTER the battle royale.

 

The problem is that the only heels in the battle royal are Lance Storm, Christian, and Jericho.

 

Jericho is Triple H's designated JTTS, so he'll be putting over Goldberg, Nash, and every other challenger to the "world title" for the next few months.

 

Lance Storm and Christian aren't taken seriously enough to win the belt and give it credibility.

 

That leaves the only option for Booker to be winning the belt in the battle royale.

 

 

They shouldn't even be IN this situation because they should have had an 8-man tournament which would end with Jericho vs. Booker at Judgment Day as the final match. Not only would it be a good match to go with the Team Angle ladder match, it would give the winner a hell of a lot more credibility than just winning a battle royale because they'd have had to win three matches against quality opposition.

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

Remember how Booker T was supposedly going to finally dethrone HHH, making the victory all that more sweeter, and thus it justified him losing at Mania, according to the Hunter/WWE supporters?

 

Yeah, me neither.

[Guest Showstoppa Icon]

Vince dislikes African Americans.

omg..........vince doesnt back the mack!!

[Guest Sturgis]

Why?

 

Booker T is a former WCW U.S. Champion which was unified into the WWF IC Title so tecnically he IS a former IC Champion.

[Guest Big McLargeHuge]

Come to think of it, Jericho and Booker never did finish the "I'm not a sucka" fued that started around October of last year.

[Guest Y2DAYDAY]

Actually, yeah, that was the plan, until Goldberg signed. HHH's line of thinking during the production meetings was that if they were serious about Booker T being a top guy and giving me a semi-decent world title reign then it made sense for him to drop the belt.. He noted how the poorly executed Chris Jericho title reign hurt him for months after losing the belt. Further, he stated that if they were not serious about him being a legit top guy while champ that, like Jericho, the win and subsequent title loss would hurt more than help. Vince then decided HHH was right(which he was) and since they had the Goldberg and Nash programs coming up that HHH was better for the spot than Booker.

 

Not saying that HHH would not have found another excuse not to job the belt at Mania if Goldberg had not signed but the above is a very good explanation for not dropping the belt.

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

Watch Nash win the belt tonight, and then come back and tell me that it was the right decision.

[Guest Showstoppa Icon]

Come to think of it, Jericho and Booker never did finish the "I'm not a sucka" fued that started around October of last year.

WWE: last year?......it never happened

[Guest the r-train]

Is Goldust going to be in the battle royal? Does it seem to anyone else like he's been really buried lately?

[Guest Big McLargeHuge]

Actually, yeah, that was the plan, until Goldberg signed. HHH's line of thinking during the production meetings was that if they were serious about Booker T being a top guy and giving me a semi-decent world title reign then it made sense for him to drop the belt.. He noted how the poorly executed Chris Jericho title reign hurt him for months after losing the belt. Further, he stated that if they were not serious about him being a legit top guy while champ that, like Jericho, the win and subsequent title loss would hurt more than help. Vince then decided HHH was right(which he was) and since they had the Goldberg and Nash programs coming up that HHH was better for the spot than Booker.

 

Not saying that HHH would not have found another excuse not to job the belt at Mania if Goldberg had not signed but the above is a very good explanation for not dropping the belt.

Fucking Goldberg.

[Guest the r-train]

Is Goldust going to be in the battle royal? Does it seem to anyone else like he's been really buried lately?

[Guest NoSelfWorth]

Cripple H didn't want to do a short term Raw Title switch with Booker, because he felt it would damage him too much before his program with Goldberg. And yet he seems quite ok with doing a short term switch with Big Lazy, who just happens to be his friend.

[Guest the r-train]

Sorry, double post.

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

Cripple H didn't want to do a short term Raw Title switch with Booker, because he felt it would damage him too much before his program with Goldberg. And yet he seems quite ok with doing a short term switch with Big Lazy, who just happens to be his friend.

Exactly my point.

 

And the Nash title swap will be closer to the Goldberg program than the Booker swap would have been.

 

Hunter, Vince, WWE = hypocrites.

[Guest Austin3164life]

omg..........vince doesnt back the mack!!

 

I don't think I back the Mack either.