Booker T is not joining the pile-on against Sol Ruca after her recent mistakes on WWE television, as the WWE Hall of Famer is now defending the young star.
While speaking on the Hall of Fame podcast, Booker defended Ruca and said people underestimate how difficult those moments are, especially when a performer is still adjusting to bigger stages and higher-pressure situations.
“It’s one of those things—when you’re doing this stuff, it’s not easy, especially early on in the match. It can be a lot easier then than later on in the match. Anything can happen when you put yourself in a position for something to happen.”
Booker then gave Ruca credit for going through those mistakes because, in his view, that is part of how a wrestler grows. He said that when something goes wrong once, the goal is to learn from it and make sure it does not happen again.
“But I give Sol Ruca a lot of credit for being able to make those mistakes. Normally, when you make that mistake one time, you try to figure out how not to make that mistake again.”
He also pointed out that Ruca did not have many chances to deal with mistakes in NXT because she had been so smooth there. Booker compared it to a player running a coach’s play successfully every time, until one situation forces them to improvise.
“That’s something she hasn’t had a lot of chances to do in NXT because she’s been flawless. Normally, when a coach gives you a play and you run it, it’s successful—boom, we feel good.”
Booker continued by saying that sometimes a performer has to call an audible, and that audible does not always work. For him, those rough moments are not career-ending issues — they are learning experiences.
“But sometimes when something happens, the coach gives you a play and you’ve got to call an audible—and then the audible doesn’t work, and you’re like, ‘Man, I shouldn’t have done that.’”
Booker said mistakes are necessary if Ruca is going to keep developing, and he made it clear he is not taking social media criticism seriously: “You’ve got to make that mistake in order to grow. So that’s how I look at stuff like that with Ruca.” He stated that people online will say whatever they want, but every wrestler has made mistakes at some point. What matters is coming back better the next time.
“People are going to go on social media and say stupid stuff, but I know I made mistakes too. But you’ve got to go out there and do better next time.”
Ruca has been under the microscope after a few rough WWE TV moments, including a live RAW segment where she slipped while going for the Sol Snatcher during her contract signing segment. WWE later edited the stumble out of social media and promotional clips.
She also became part of fan backlash after her Saturday Night’s Main Event match with Becky Lynch ended by disqualification when referee Jessika Carr took an accidental Sol Snatcher after Lynch used her as a shield. The finish set up Ruca for a Women’s Intercontinental Championship match against Lynch at Clash in Italy on May 31. For now, Booker T believes the criticism is overblown. Sol Ruca may have had some shaky moments, but he sees them as part of the process, not proof that she cannot handle the limelight.
Do you agree with Booker T that Sol Ruca’s mistakes will help her grow, or do you think WWE is pushing her too fast? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
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