During the latest edition of his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T hinted that he was involved in a backstage incident at this week’s WWE NXT taping. Specifically, the WWE Hall of Famer claimed to have almost gotten into an altercation with CM Punk, who was pictured by fans at the event on Tuesday, but did not elaborate further.
“I did, yeah. We’ll talk about that off the air [laughs]. But I almost had a little run-in with CM Punk,” Booker replied when asked if he saw Punk. “The internet might want to pick that up: Me and CM Punk almost got into it at NXT this week. We’ll talk about it later. I don’t want to put it out there because they’re gonna pick it up and run with it. But yeah, I’ll talk to you about it off the air.”
However, Fightful reports that they haven’t heard of any sort of incident between Booker and Punk occurring at the taping. A source at the company also stated to the outlet that the comments were just “Booker being Booker” and that he was likely trying to stir up a headline, casting further doubt on the apparent altercation between the two.
In addition, the claim has since been uploaded to the Reality of Wrestling YouTube channel, where the Hall of Fame podcast is broadcast live alongside content from Booker’s own wrestling promotion, as its own short-form clip. In the comments section of the clip, there are various hints suggesting that the incident never happened and that Booker was just messing around.
The Reality of Wrestling account, likely Booker himself, has responded to several comments on the clip suggesting that his claim was a work. One commenter wrote, “Come on Booker stop with the click baiting and leave this man alone”, accompanied by shrugging and facepalm emojis. A few hours later, the Reality of Wrestling account responded directly, writing “NEVER” along with two laughing emojis.
Furthermore, an update from Fightful Select notes no one backstage, including security, was made aware of a confrontation between the two, with one talent outright denying that it took place. NXT sources that the outlet spoke to are frustrated that Booker would make this kind of claim about Punk, given the latter’s history of backstage incidents during his time in AEW.
If you use any quotes from this article, please give a h/t to Haus of Wrestling and credit Hall of Fame With Booker T & Brad Gilmour.