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Booker T is actually on board with Logan Paul’s decision not to defend his title at King of the Ring

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Matty Breisch | Last updated 5/18/24

When Logan Paul broke the news that he wasn’t going to defend his United States Championship at King and Queen of the Ring in Saudi Arabia at the end of the month and would instead exclusively be challenging for Cody Rhodes‘ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, it set the WWE Universe by storm.

Why, after Rhodes cut multiple promos about how excited he was to become a Grand Slam Champion, would he now have to wrestle with everything to lose but nothing to gain against a man who has a reputation for cheating when the punches start to fly in a title match? Well, in the opinion of Booker T on his Hall of Fame podcast, this is 100 percent the right call, as he isn’t a fan of double champions, even if it’s fun to be one.

“I feel like Cody’s title should just be on the line. Personally, I’m not often into one guy having two titles, even though I’ve been a double champion before, and it felt good. It felt really, really good, but no, I’m not one to take that route, as far as one guy having two titles. In a match-up like this, I feel like the big title, Cody Rhodes’ title, should be on the line, just to make it a little bit more intriguing,” Booker T revealed via Fightful.

“Cody, he’s smart, man. Logan Paul, he’s a guy that has shown that he can go out and do it under the bright lights, on the biggest stages. He’s shown that he can go out and perform. With Cody Rhodes, together, those guys can go out there and create some beautiful magic. Cody’s a pro. He’s gonna know exactly how to put Logan in the best positions. Logan seems to be smart enough to go out and perform at a very, very high level. Sometimes, it’s like that deja vu effect. It seems like he’s been here once before. So I just give that kid a lot of props because I haven’t seen one like him come along before, seriously. Logan Paul is not someone from this business, but it seems like, from a timing perspective, from knowing how to go out and perform on both ends, he’s that damn good. I give him big props.”

Does it feel rather cheap to pull the rug out from under Rhodes when he’s been incredibly excited about the prospects of becoming a Grand Slam Champion? Yeah, all things considered, this should have been the avenue WWE took things from the beginning instead of pulling a bait-and-switch on TV once more. Still, Booker’s point is solid, too, and clearly Triple H agrees.

Booker T is incredibly excited to see Kiana James in WWE.

Elsewhere on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T talked about Kiana James being drafted onto RAW and how excited he is to see the “One Percent” bring his gimmick to WWE’s main roster.

“I hate that we lose so many great, young talent from NXT. Ilja Dragunov is one of them, Kiana James. I’m excited for Kiana James. I really feel like she’s ready for this moment. I feel like she’s matured in NXT to the point where she has been ready for this moment for quite some time. She don’t have the resume as a lot of the people leaving NXT, as far as being champion and whatnot. I think Kiana James is almost gonna be like that Olympic athlete that was really, really good in the amateurs, but when they got to the pros, they really wasn’t that good. But then you see some of the guys in the amateurs that wasn’t that great, but then they go on to be great in the pros. I feel like Kiana James is gonna be great as a pro, and she’s gonna set a lot of records,” Booker T explained via Fightful.

“The first time I saw Kiana James, you remember where I said I saw her? At the airport. I’m like, ‘Man, who’s that?’ So she passed the airport test. She looked the part. She played the part. You knew she was somebody, even if you didn’t know who she was. Then when she gets in the ring, her talent, it’s almost cerebral. It’s very, very subtle. It’s small, little things that we talk about at Reality of Wrestling that a lot of people, it would totally go over their head. She’s one that I feel like you can count on as well. In this business, they gotta be able to trust you. Trust you to go out and be able to perform, trust you not to get hurt, more important than anything. I think Kiana James checks off all those boxes.”

So far, James hasn’t hit the ground running like, say, Carmelo Hayes, as she hasn’t wrestled a match yet on TV and has only made a few appearances on television, period. Still, in WWE, it’s not how quickly you make an impact but how long you can stay on top. If James can transcend her run in NXT to become a major player on RAW, it will only make Booker T and his crew in Orlando all the more excited.