Booker T wasn’t sold on everything he saw from Jaida Parker at WWE NXT Heatwave. Parker stepped into a submission match against Natalya, but Booker believes the pressure of the moment may have gotten to her.
During the Hall of Fame podcast, Brad Gilmore praised Natalya for working with NXT talent and helping younger wrestlers improve. He then asked Booker for his assessment of Natalya’s match with Parker. Booker didn’t sugarcoat his answer. He said the match ran into several problems and pointed to moments when Parker appeared hesitant about what she needed to do next.
“I’ve got to be 100 percent because, if I’m not, people are going to call me out on it, and that’s just not me. That match had a lot of bumps in the road. Jaida definitely—sometimes it’s the moment. Sometimes it’s the bright lights and you get caught up. Sometimes you just don’t have the feel. I’m serious. That’s just the way it is.”
Booker said he could see uncertainty during the match. In his view, performing with a massive audience watching can cause one mistake to quickly turn into several.
“In that match, you could tell there was some trepidation. You could tell there were some moments where there was some indecisiveness. Under the bright lights, you’ve got to understand you’ve got millions of people watching you. You’ve got the world watching you.”
Natalya received credit for holding up her end of the match, but Booker felt Parker’s timing was off. He couldn’t say whether she simply had a bad night, though he made it clear that the performance didn’t come together the way it should have.
“I’m sure that match—Nattie went out there and did a hell of a job. She did a hell of a job. But Jaida definitely, like I say, I can’t tell you if it was just an off night or anything like that, but the timing was not 100 percent. She got the job done.”
Booker also stressed that Parker is still developing in NXT. He explained how one missed step can throw off everything that follows, especially when the wrestler starts thinking about the mistake instead of staying in the moment.
“My thing is this with everybody down in NXT: It really is a work in progress. To have to step in front of the fire and go out there and get it done—sometimes you go out there and you miss a step, and it can make you miss another step. It could be a domino effect after that.”
Despite his criticism, Booker didn’t question the effort from either woman. He watched the match from ringside and believes Parker and Natalya probably walked away knowing they were capable of delivering something better.
“I sat there at ringside and watched those ladies go out there and work their butts off 100 percent. But I’m sure, at the end of the day, they’re going to be beating themselves up, saying, ‘Man, we could have done a whole lot better.’ It was just one of those types of matches.”
Booker’s take was blunt, but he didn’t write Parker off. He treated the match as part of the learning process in NXT while making it clear that hesitation and shaky timing become impossible to hide once the bright lights come on.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
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