Booker T SLAMS Dave Meltzer After 'Worst Announcer' Award (WWE News)

With the latest edition of the ever-opinion-splitting annual Wrestling Observer Awards having recently been announced, WWE's Booker T has hit back at 'winning' the Worst Television Announcer Award.

Nowadays calling the action on NXT, the two-time WWE Hall of Famer received 516 votes in that category from paid subscribers of the Wrestling Observer, edging out Pat McAfee (123 votes) and Michael Cole (102 votes). Booker also topped this award in 2017, 2023, and 2024.

Speaking on the latest edition of his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T first pointed out how his NXT colleague Vic Joseph (who was voted 4th worst announcer, with 45 votes) should be nowhere near a list like this, before calling the award itself "asinine" and "redundant":

"For an award like this to even be out there, it's asinine. There again, Dave Meltzer, anyone at the Wrestling Observer, knows what it takes as far as what that job entails. He's somehow finagled his way into being called a wrestling aficionado, a wrestling historian, whatever. No dig on that or anything like that, but something like this is redundant. It makes no sense, it really doesn't."

On being voted the Worst Television Announcer, Book added:

"Me, personally, I don't take a knock. That's just Dave Meltzer taking a shot at me, probably because of what happened on the Jericho Cruise. A lot of people don't know that story. I cornered Dave Meltzer, and I told him I would rip his ears right off of his body. That's what I said, that's what I said. And Dave Meltzer was quite frightened. I'm sure if Dave Meltzer was to see me in anywhere public, he's going to walk all the way around my surroundings. He's a guy that, I wouldn't even say I hate him, because hate is a really, really dark, evil, nasty word, and I don't even want to go there, on as far as saying I hate a person or anything like that. But Dave Meltzer is literally a scoundrel of an individual, he really is. He's a guy that's really sucking the life out of this business."

The six-time World Champion continued:

"It doesn't bother me at all, but I do appreciate people coming to my defence and really shining light on what I do. I remember being a young wrestler, and being in the ring, and the commentators wasn't really getting this match over properly. I remember that. I know what wrestling is, as opposed to a lot of people who've never done this. One of my favourite commentators was Joey Styles. Joey Styles brought so much flavour to commentating. He made it so fun to watch, if you was a fan watching it."

Booker then said how it would be "useless" for him to get "down into the mud" with the Wrestling Observer, and then explained how he doesn't blame the Observer readership, but more the "teachers" in an instance like this:

"I don't blame the students, I blame the teachers. I never blame the students. And Meltzer's got a lot of people that's following him, that's listening to him. And when you've got people listening, they're willing to agree more likely than to disagree. For me, I understand, but hopefully the people that's listening to me right now is gonna maybe wake up a little bit and go, 'Man, what the hell was I thinking about professional wrestling?' When you take the fun out of professional wrestling, we've lost it. We really, truly have if we take the fun out of professional wrestling. For me, I don't give a damn about what people say. I was supposed to have this job for three months, and it's going on five years now. So, I must be doing something right. I'm going to just keep having fun until they tell me, 'Hey, Book, it's time for you to go.' That's what I'm going to do. Let's see how many other stars become superstars in the meantime. That's the way we'll rate this system. How about we do it that way?"

For those interested, it's also worth noting that Booker T received an honourable mention in the Best Television Announcer Award from the Observer readers this year, an award won by Bryan Danielson.

If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Booker T's Hall of Fame with an H/T to WhatCulture Wrestling.