It was previously reported that WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T backed out of the Starrcast III Convention that is scheduled to take place next month in Chicago after already agreeing to make an appearance. Booker T recently took to his Hall Of Fame Podcast and cleared the air about why he backed out.
Booker T said that he wanted to set the record straight and he explained everything in chronological order about why he backed out of the Starrcast III Convention. Booker T said that he was invited to do an autograph signing, but the full details were never really explained to him and he didn’t know that when he agreed the event was actually Starrcast.
This is what Booker T said: “I want to set the record straight right here, especially as far as the Starrcast event.” “Let’s start it in chronological order. You [host Brad Gilmore] and I were at the last Starrcast [in May] event and we had a great time out in Vegas. The fans were really awesome out at the autograph signing as well. It was a great experience for me, but I do remember after Starrcast and you [Brad Gilmore] and I were talking after the event and I said that I wasn’t going to do a Starrcast next time just because. I just didn’t think it was right for me to be working for WWE and being at Starrcast.
“Conrad [Thompson], he texts me a date that he wants me to do an autograph signing on. That autograph signing was August 31st, that day was in Chicago – he told me all of that.” “What he didn’t tell me is that it was Starrcast, I didn’t know it was Starrcast. I didn’t find out it was Starrcast until you, Brad, texted me and said, ‘Are you doing Starrcast? And I was like, ‘No, I’m not doing Starrcast.’ [You replied], ‘Well, they’re advertising you.’
“I immediately tweet out and say that I wasn’t going to be doing Starrcast because I did not know that the Conrad booking was Starrcast, because he did not say that it was Starrcast. He just said [the appearance was] ‘an autograph signing.’… But that date, like I said, it was never mentioned one time in text or verbally that it was Starrcast. And if he said, ‘Hey Book, would you like to do Starrcast III?’ I would have said, ‘Hey man, I appreciate it but no.’ But it wasn’t framed that way, so I just want the people to know that I did not pull out of Starrcast… I was never in Starrcast; I was booked for a date, for an autograph signing, not knowing that it was Starrcast.”
Booker T then explained that his decision to back out of the Starrcast III Convention was not something that was influenced by The WWE and that the company is not scrambling to find somebody else because it was never really a WWE booking.
This is what Booker T said: “WWE had zero to do with me not doing that booking, they did not pull me from it.” “As well as, WWE is not scrambling to find somebody else because it was never a WWE booking. I was never supposed to be at Starrcast from the beginning.”
As previously reported, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com noted that according to Booker the reason for him backing out is due to finding out that the war between WWE and AEW is very real and that he didn’t want to be in the middle of it. Booker would then say that he was never really set to work with All Elite Wrestling.
This is what Booker T said: “I said it was a war because it is – it truly is a war.” “The war is real and I don’t want to be caught in the middle of it. Those are my words, and the only person I talked to about this was Conrad Thompson… As far as how Dave Meltzer got my words, that’s for you to decide. The backstory as far as me being at all All Out, me pulling out of events, I challenge you guys, the listeners, to get that information from Dave Meltzer. Make him produce that information as far as me being a part of All Out, because all of that is just straight up lies.”
I challenge Dave Meltzer to find that information as far as me signing an AEW contract to appear at All Out because I’m sure those guys work by contract. The only thing that you are going to find is these text messages [with Conrad Thompson] and myself for the world to see. That is the only thing as far as me being apart of an event but it had zero wording as far as Starrcast, All Out, AEW or anything like that. I thought it was just a regular booking, a regular signing and that was it. I was going to go do it and come home and that was it, but it had nothing to do with All Out. For Dave Meltzer to be quoting me it seems like Dave Meltzer would have had to of had a conversation with me. I had zero conversation with Dave Meltzer.”
Conrad Thompson did indicate that Meltzer’s article was inaccurate and Meltzer would later note that he meant to say Starrcast and not All Out, as seen in the tweets below:
Obviously this was about Booker's planned and advertised Starrcast appearance that he's no longer doing, and why, and if it's Starrcast and an appearance changed, who would be the first person I'd ask to find out?
Sanjay Thakur, a dedicated journalist for the Pro Wrestling News Hub brand since 2019, brings an unparalleled passion and insight to the world of professional wrestling. With his finger constantly on the pulse of WWE and AEW, Sanjay's articles offer in-depth analysis and up-to-the-minute coverage of the industry's most thrilling developments.
