Booker T Breaks Down Heated Confrontation With Dave Meltzer on Jericho Cruise

Booker T isn’t just firing back at the Wrestling Observer Newsletter — he’s now giving his full version of what really went down with Dave Meltzer at the Jericho Cruise.

After blasting Meltzer over being voted Worst Television Announcer of 2025, Booker used the February 17, 2026 episode of his Hall of Fame podcast to break down the confrontation he previously referenced. According to Booker, the incident happened on the Jericho Cruise before the pandemic, and it stemmed from long-standing frustration.

He began by setting the scene and making it clear he had never personally met Meltzer prior to that night — despite being quoted in the Wrestling Observer for years.

“I want to get this story out because I don’t want Meltzer to come out and say that it never happened. What happened was, I was sitting in my hotel room on the Jericho Cruise… Meltzer too. I had never met Meltzer before in my life all those years.”

Booker explained that Ric Flair had called and invited him down for drinks. When he and his wife Sharmell joined Flair, the room already had several familiar names in it — and then Meltzer walked in.

“I’m thinking, wow, Dave Meltzer. He says, ‘Hey Booker.’ Something came over me at that point because it was the first time I’d ever met him. I said, ‘Dave Meltzer, you’ve quoted me before and we’ve never met. How can you quote someone you’ve never talked to?’”

Booker said his frustration boiled over in that moment because he felt Meltzer had reported on him without ever speaking to him directly. That’s when the exchange escalated. According to Booker, the tension in the room became obvious immediately. He said one of Meltzer’s companions recognized how heated things were getting.

“I got so upset. I looked at him and said, ‘You know what, all these years I just wanted to tell you—you’re a piece of you know what. You really are.’ I was so mad I said, ‘I could rip your ears off right now. Then I composed myself. His friend said, ‘Man, I’ve been in bad situations before and this is a bad situation. We should leave.’ I said, ‘Yeah Dave, you should leave.’ So Dave left without saying a word.”

Booker made it very clear that there was no physical fight and no further escalation beyond words. For him, the issue centered on what he sees as a journalist quoting talent without direct conversations. He wrapped up the story by framing it as a confrontation between two men airing grievances and nothing more.

“I don’t think it’s right for a journalist to quote someone when they’ve never had a conversation with them. He had said negative things before. That was the first time I sat with him, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to say my piece. But that’s all it was—two men airing grievances, and one man was really, really hot about it. No bloodshed, nothing like that. I look a man in the eye—I’m old school. But that was it.”

Now that Booker has laid out his version of events in detail, the story feels less like locker room gossip and more like unfinished business finally being addressed. Whether people agree with how he handled it or not, Booker made one thing clear: this wasn’t random heat. It was personal, and in his mind, long overdue.

Do you think Booker T was justified in confronting Dave Meltzer face-to-face, or should that situation have been handled differently? Let us know your thoughts below.

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