One of the top stars in the WWE Women’s division is former NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez. The Prodigy was a student of the Hall of Famer Booker T.
Recently, while speaking to Chris Van Vliet on his Insight podcast, Roxanne Perez shared the story of when Booker T was angry at her. This was about five years back, when she was wrestling in the Independent Circuit.
“I have a memory of him being really upset at me. So this was a few years back. I think I was probably like 17 or 18, me and my friend Rachel Rose on the Indies. We had a match that night, and we were not at Reality of Wrestling. We were at a different venue, and in that venue, it was closed doors like this, and you couldn’t really hear what’s going on in the audience or anything. So we had a really hard time planning our match that day for some reason, which was weird, because we wrestled all the time,” she explained.
Perez continued, “But we’re in the back and I can’t multitask, so I’m trying to tie one of my boots, my other boot is off, trying to tie it while also calling the match. And I was like, ‘Wait, do you mind checking what match is on right now?’ And she’s like, ‘Yeah, yeah. Let me go check.’ She goes, ‘Your music’s playing’, and one boot on. I’m like, ‘No way you’re lying. You’re kidding.’ And she’s like, ‘No, your music’s playing right now!’ I was like, Oh my God. I can’t go out, my boot is not on. It’s like every wrestler’s worst nightmare, not having your boots on. So I’m like, ‘Go tell them that I’m not ready.'”
Booker T started screaming at Roxanne Perez
The Prodigy mentioned that once Booker T learnt that she was not ready for her match, he completely lost it and started screaming at her.
Perez explained, “She runs out, and I just hear Booker go, ‘What the hell?!’ I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I’m trying to tie my boot as fast as I can. He slams the door open. He’s like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ I’m like, ‘Uh, we were just having a hard time calling the match, and I couldn’t get my boot on.’ He starts screaming, he’s walking out the door, and he’s like, ‘This is what happens when you think you’re over!’ I was like, ‘What?'”
“So then, yeah, Rachel goes out, has to cut a promo while I finish tying my boot, claw clip in my hair, make a path done. Going out there, I’m crying, and Sharmell comes in and she’s like, ‘Don’t ever let him talk to you like that ever again.’ Then we went out there, wrestled, had a good match. So when we walked to the back, Booker was like, ‘Okay, kid, you redeemed yourself.'”
Roxanne Perez shares her experience working with Booker T
Roxanne Perez also reflected on her time when she was being trained by one of her favorite wrestlers, Booker T.
“That was really, really cool. Because I was a big fan of Booker too, and so starting to work with him at 16, and then having Sharmell there too. I love Sharmell. I was still a kid, so going over there and not really knowing anybody, but having Booker and Sharmell, they’re basically kind of like my second parents. She always says, ‘Yeah, I’m like, your mom.’ But yeah, it was awesome. I am really grateful that Booker saw me as a scrawny, 16-year-old kid and was like, ‘Okay, I see something in her, and I feel like she’s taking this seriously. I’m gonna take her seriously too,'” Perez said.
Do you see Roxanne Perez as a future WWE Women’s World Champion?
