Heated Conversations with Booker T
Episode 181: Smackdown 1000, Corporal Punishment, MMA Talk (Conor, Khabib, DC, Derrick Lewis)
Release Date: October 21st, 2018
Recap by: James Hayes
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Booker T and Co-Host Brad Gilmore welcome you to the show!
Brad recalls last week’s debate about Conor and Khabib. Booker says 10 days, Brad of course disagrees, but Booker doubles down.
The Khabib/McGregor Debate part 2
“It’s almost like in school when you need a timeout. Go stand in the corner and put the dunce hat on for a minute,” Booker says. Brad wonders if they still had corporal punishment back then. “The paddle, that’s one of the reasons why I didn’t play sports. Every time you dropped a grade, let’s say for a B, you got so many pops, for a C you got so many pops, so for D’s and F’s, I would’ve been getting pops because I wasn’t studying or nothing. I’m serious. Studying was one of the last things on my mind,” Booker confesses. Brad laughs loudly and says, “You had different things on your mind.”
Booker remembers trying out for the track team. The Coach did not believe in him, but when he finally got on the team, he did pretty good, until he got the report card. “The Coach tells me that’s going to be 5, I said, “5 what?” Brad starts to laugh, but Booker is focused. “He tells me 5 disciplinary pops for the report card. I was out of there,” Booker says.
Booker then remembers his oldest sister, Billy Jean came to school when The Principal forcibly gave him some pops. “She scared everybody! She had that purse. And you never knew what was in that purse. Principal Cunningham never pulled that ever again.”
Brad says, “She put the fear of GOD in him.” Booker exclaims, “Good GOD!”
Brad brings us back to the topic at hand, “Ten days is like half a pop. They need like five good pops.” Booker asks for clarification, “You’re saying Connor and Khabib?” Brad confirms that they both should get suspended, but there should be a difference in the severity. Brad looked at the fight again and realized that Conor did, indeed, throw a punch. Booker pounces, “A blatant left hook and Joe Rogan was advocating for Conor McGregor. Why do all these guys cry for Conor McGregor? Rogan thinks Conor did nothing.” Brad thinks it’s because Rogan did not see Conor throw that punch. Booker says he noticed it himself. Brad is not buying that. “I did. I saw it. Just like I called the fight, just like I said exactly what was going to happen in that fight. I saw Conor McGregor literally get up and start walking forward. I don’t know what he was walking towards, then um, I don’t know what he was saying, but he had a verbal joist with one of Khabib’s cornermen, and then shortly after threw a left hand, and the guy fought back and threw a right, and another one of Khabib’s men jumped over the cage,” Booker then asks Brad, “Did you see Conor cover up?” Of course, Brad saw it.
“Conor was covering up like there were some bombs dropping,” Booker digs.
Brad responds, “If someone is hitting you in the back of the head you’re going to be like, “What’s going on?” Booker laughs like a Bond Villain. Brad says this was clearly started by Khabib. Nope. Booker vetoes that idea, “We don’t know exactly what Conor’s corner was saying. It matters because…” Brad interrupts, “You’re saying a professional can’t keep his emotions in check?” Booker asks a simple question. “Let’s just say, if Conor corner would have just taken that whooping like a man, instead of all that jaw jacking? The thing is, I hate when a guy gets beat up and still want to talk crap. Almost like a football team being down forty to zero, and then the team that’s got zero gets a hail mary, but it’s only one minute left in the game, and the guy catches it in the end zone then he does a dance in the end zone, he starts celebrating. You down and the fights over and you still wanna talk crap?!”
Brad tries to make another defense, but…
Booker says he might rename the show “Why Do People Cry For Conor McGregor?” Booker continues, “There is one point in that final round when Conor McGregor, at one point when Khabib had taken Conor down and he had mounted him, he was literally in a full mount about to choke Conor out, and Conor looks up at the Referee and shrugs his shoulders and opens his arms like, “Aren’t you going to break this up? Aren’t you going to help me here?” Booker insists, “Conor was looking for any way out of that fight. The way he found his way out was to let Khabib put the choke on him, just so he could quit.”
Brad asks Booker if he really believes Conor let Khabib choke him out.
“Go back and watch the fight and you will see Conor McGregor almost open up and say, “Let’s finish this. I don’t want any more of this.” Booker continues, “And I told you before that fight, Conor was going to find himself somewhere in the fight, asking himself a lot of questions, and then what will the answer be? You found out the answer. He quit again, just like he did in the Diaz fight.”
Brad counters, “He quits in the Diaz fight, but wins the rematch.”
Booker says Conor wants to move on from this “beating” and fight Tony Ferguson, he says Conor thinks he may be able to actually beat Tony Ferguson, since his wrestling may not be as good as Khabib’s was. But Booker says, “What may be better is his jiu-jitsu, his elbow can land from any position.”
In fact, Booker informs us that Tony has gone on record saying if he gets McGregor in the octagon he is going to, “Cut him up and slice and dice that man like a Ginsu knife.”
Brad knows this fight will never happen. Tony himself agrees with Brad. Booker agrees with them both, as well as himself. “Everything I said here is right. I love it. I love it here!”
Khabib vs. Mayweather
Brad brings up that Floyd thinks a fight against Khabib would be a better match up for him.
Booker says, “I didn’t think the Floyd fight with Conor McGregor would ever happen because of the Athletic Commission. They failed miserably in doing their job, by letting that fight happen at all. As for this fight, Khabib, if you watch the guy he doesn’t fight from a technical standpoint at all, if you get tired enough those shots can land. Against Mayweather, it would be a mismatch in every sense of the word. If the Commission sanctioned this fight It would be a dereliction of duty.”
Brad co-signs while noting how impressed he is at Booker’s growing vocabulary.
A New Promotion
Rumor has it Chris Jericho and Jim Ross may start a new wrestling company. Booker wonders if there is room for another wrestling promotion. Brad questions where do you find more talent.
“There’s never going to be, at least in my estimation, another WCW to WWE again,” Brad feels. Booker agrees, “The stars aligned those two companies at the right time. A rivalry was drawn in the sand between those two companies. WWE put their fingerprint on all the great talent, even Ricky Steamboat. I just don’t think there is room for another mega company here in the states.”
Does Booker not plan on making Reality of Wrestling a major company?
“We are a little bit different. Do we want to be seen around the world? Of course, we do. Do we want to take the ventures and journeys across the water? Of course, we do, but as far as trying to compete and run against the machine? I can run with the pack but maybe not keep up with them,” Booker admits.
Brad wonders, “Why not get a company that already has an infrastructure? Why not get something you can build on? Booker thinks that’s a great idea. Maybe somewhere in Houston?
Derrick Lewis Gets His Title Shot
Booker has a question for all of us.
“What do you think about when a fighter goes out and gets one of the biggest wins of his career, then says he shouldn’t even get the title shot?”
The Black Beast doesn’t seem to want the shot. In fact, he thinks Stipe Miocic should get a rematch. Lewis basically just wants to pay off his house. A simple man who is not prepared for this fight. Booker says give the guy a high salary and don’t just ask for a favor.
Booker also wonders why is DC fighting if his hand is broke? (FACTS!)
Oddly enough, Booker kind of said that Lewis was not ready for this fight a couple weeks ago, and it seems he may have been right.
Not that he underestimates what Lewis can do. Booker clarifies, “All I’m saying is give the man half a chance of performing at the highest level he can perform at.”
Brad thinks both DC and Lewis should not be fighting this soon and Stipe deserves a chance to redeem his lost. Booker says Stipe is a case of someone who truly deserves a rematch.
(Whatever! I can’t wait to see this two fight. There is already bad blood.)
Before The Final Bell:
Smackdown 1000
Brad asks Booker his thoughts about being at the show.
“It’s always cool to hang out in the locker room and laugh and what not. But it’s different now watching the guys do their thang. They do it so differently, guys playing video games, guys in the back going over their matches. I try to take myself out of that environment. I go to the TV locker room and I hang out there all day, and when it’s my time to do my thing I go out and do it. But this time no one gave me my script. Finally one of my guys told me I was doing commentating. He said, “You and King will be doing it.” Booker sighs, “My thang is I like to know beforehand so I can prepare. l like to know a few days before. I went into it totally unprepared, and doing it with King.” Brad asks if he and Jerry Lawler have ever done commentary together before. “That was the first time we’ve ever done something like that. It was crazy because when we started King’s earpiece wasn’t on. I was standing right next to him and asking what he thought about such and such. He responded,” Brad informs us that Booker just mouthed, “I can’t hear you.” Booker says he looked at Lawler and says, “But, I’m sitting right here.” He says it was a pressure situation and he was glad to get it over with.
Brad asks if Booker got to see Batista.
“No. I wish I had. People think we got heat. There is no heat between us.”
Brad notes, “When Evolution was out there Batista seemed to tease a potential match down the road with Triple H. I think Batista’s time in Hollywood has helped him. It was a great promo, just in terms of getting people engaged.”
Booker jokes, “All these old guys are coming out of the woodwork.” Brad laughs. Booker continues, “They are going to do it as long as they possibly can because the ride is short.”
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Overall Observations:
No big news or even a guest but somehow the show is still fun. These guys have so much chemistry sometimes it is better when they don’t have a guest.
I could picture a show called “Brad and Booker” a buddy cop show from the 80’s. Brad would be a by-the-book rookie and Booker would be the reckless veteran that’s supposed to be training him, but just keeps getting them into trouble with the sergeant. Sure, they solve the crime but destroy half of Houston while doing it. That’s the dynamic of these two.
It works.
Check out the show. Do it! Booker would do it for you.
See ya next week!
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