In recent weeks, AEW star Swerve Strickland and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T have been involved in a (mostly indirect) war of words.
Both have talked about how being Black had an impact on their respective stints in the company, with Strickland later taking issue with reports that WWE was shocked to learn how much AEW was willing to pay him.
Strickland recently appeared on Vlad TV, a platform run by DJ Vlad. He's been accused of allegedly exploiting Black men in the hip-hop community for his own gain, prompting Booker T to question why Swerve thought that was a good place to air his grievances.
However, following Sunday's AEW Dynasty PPV, Strickland addressed the crowd in a post-show promo and wrapped it up by saying, "F*** Booker T." Now, the WCW Legend has responded:
"I’m not even going to get upset about it. I’m going to give Swerve Strickland a little bit of advice…that advice would be don’t be talking about something other than the pay-per-view at the end of the night. That’s the main event and the last thing people are going to remember. I’m sure Tony Khan don’t appreciate the news, the headline not being what happened at Dynasty with all the matches...they’re talking about Booker T. That was a bad move."
"People like Swerve, we come from a different cloth, a totally different cloth. I wish nothing but the best for this dude, man. I want to see him succeed. Would I ever say anything positive about him ever again? Probably not. Would I ever put him over as far as being a good worker and someone who could perhaps transform this business? I probably would never ever do that again. Because I learned my lesson."
While there are deeper issues at play here, Booker T is right that an AEW star has once again put a bigger spotlight on WWE than the company they're currently working for. After all, who could forget when The Young Bucks made CM Punk the most over person in AEW despite the fact he'd signed with WWE?
Strickland has yet to respond, though something tells us this is far from over. On Booker T's side, at least, it seems he has nothing more to say about the AEW star, either positive or negative and is unlikely to respond to any future barbs from the former AEW World Champion.
You can hear more from the WWE Hall of Famer in the player below.