WWE Hall of Famer Booker T recently commented on the now infamous match between him and Buff Bagwell back in 2001. The match has been described on WWE.com as “the most awkward ever.”
The former King of The Ring winner seems to agree.
Booker T vs Buff Bagwell
The match was seemingly the true death knell for the WCW brand. Whilst Vince McMahon had already bought his competition; there was a belief that WCW could still function as a separate entity. With the rumors at the time indicating that Nitro would become the Monday show and SmackDown would be the WWF show later in the week. Due to the massively negative reaction that the match got in the main event of the July 2, 2001 edition of RAW the idea was seemingly scrapped. Although it seemed as though Bagwell and Booker undelivered; it’s arguable that they were never put in a position to succeed in the first place.
Booker T discussed the bout during the most recent episode of Lillian Garcia’s Chasing Glory podcast. “It was a real war back then between WCW and WWF, you know,” Booker began. “And it didn’t help putting Bagwell and I in that spot, I think we were Tacoma, Washington.”
Booker T elaborated further, mentioning how they were never going to succeed in that position. “It was one of those things where, we were in a position. You know. Fail or succeed. [Except] it wasn’t designed for us to succeed, I understood that. I think Bagwell may have understood that, as well. And and what happened happened I go back and I look at the match, and it wasn’t the crappiest match in the world but it was no way that we’re gonna succeed.”
You can listen to Lillian Garcia’s Chasing Glory every week via iTunes, Stitcher or your favourite podcast host