Booker T on Reality of Wrestling, Zilla Fatu and Sami Zayn

Booker T says he began planning for life after full-time wrestling well before leaving the ring, and he wants younger wrestlers to think about the same transition. On the October 13 Hall of Fame Podcast, he discussed building Reality of Wrestling, the advice he hopes Zilla Fatu takes from his career, and what Sami Zayn’s WWE Championship run means to him.

Booker said he did not want to depend indefinitely on another booking after his in-ring career. That thinking led him to open a wrestling school in 2005 and establish Reality of Wrestling the next year, using the skills he had developed in the business.

I always wanted to look at it as a business. … I wanted to get out and parlay my success into whatever it was going to be. … Open the wrestling school back in 2005 and then created Reality of Wrestling a year later.

He said he now tries to pass that long-range approach to younger wrestlers, naming Zilla Fatu as someone with a major career ahead of him. Booker wants talent to plan how they will eventually leave the ring and manage the money they earn during their active years. Booker has discussed Fatu’s development at Reality of Wrestling before.

Let’s start preparing right now on how we going to get up out of here … and how we going to really play this thing properly to be able to walk away from it, man. That’s what I wish for most wrestlers, is to think about being able to walk away from this.

Later in the episode, Booker praised Sami Zayn’s return to the top of WWE after winning the Undisputed WWE Championship from CM Punk. He said Zayn’s pre-match promo had the feel of classic wrestling and called him a versatile performer who had earned his position. Asked whether a championship or a large contract meant more to a wrestler, Booker said the two forms of recognition belonged together.

I think both of those go together. … To be put in a position to be the guy, company’s saying that they trust you. … If you’re the best guy, you should be making the good money.

Booker said the championship label itself would stay with Zayn after the belt changed hands. WWE still identified Zayn as Undisputed WWE Champion on the October 16 SmackDown, three days after the podcast appeared.