Booker T criticizes ESPN's grade of WrestlePalooza: 'It was a great show'

Booker T disagrees with the suspense rating given to WrestlePalooza by ESPN. On his Hall of Fame podcast, the two-time WWE Hall of Famer directly responded to journalist Andreas Hale's review, who rated the event with a 'C'. Booker believes that grade does not reflect what was seen in the ring or the fans' reaction.

The former world champion emphasized that the show only had five matches, and none of them were bad. He pointed out that two were "absolutely spectacular," with the women's world title match as the highlight of the night, and the Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre as a very physical battle. Additionally, he stated that the mixed tag match with CM Punk, AJ Lee, Seth Rollins, and Becky Lynch could be "the best of its kind I've ever seen."

Booker T also defended the controversial John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar match. He admitted it was the least brilliant of the five, but he emphasized that it was full of drama. He recalled how some kids in the audience were crying when they saw their hero defeated, which, for him, is the ultimate proof that the match worked on an emotional level. "If a babyface can bring real tears from the audience, they've done their job," he stated.

I don't know when wrestling became graded like in school. It used to be stars, now they're A, B, or C. For me, WrestlePalooza was simply a great show that achieved its goal of exciting the audience and setting up what comes next.

The veteran analyst compared the criticism to what happened in boxing, referring to the recent fight between Crawford and Canelo. He believes that both boxing and wrestling should not be judged solely by immediate action but by the long-term story being built. In that sense, Booker thinks the Cena vs. Lesnar match is just the beginning of a larger chapter within WWE.