Booker T Shuts Down Talk That Giulia Needs To “Catch Up” to Stephanie Vaquer

Giulia doesn’t need to “catch up” to anyone—and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T is making that crystal clear.

Both Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer exploded onto the NXT scene last year and quickly made headlines, winning gold and climbing to the main roster in record time. Giulia snagged the Women’s United States Championship, while Vaquer captured the Women’s World Championship and, just this past weekend, defeated Tiffany Stratton to win the Women’s Crown Jewel Championship.

But when a viewer on The Hall of Fame podcast asked Booker T what Giulia needs to do to match Vaquer’s success, Booker shut that talk down fast.

“I don’t think Giulia needs to do anything to catch up. It’s not a race from that perspective. I don’t think they’re competing from that perspective.”

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Booker praised both women for thriving in WWE’s environment, emphasizing their ability to connect with audiences through the universal language of wrestling—no matter what country they came from or what language they speak.

“I think both of those ladies have come over here to WWE and they’ve done great. Just like IYO SKY, they’ve done great being able to work within that universal language which is the squared circle, going out there and making people go, ‘Oh I really, really like this person here.’”

He even compared it to his own experience winning over international fans—citing his unlikely bond with Bad Bunny as proof of how performance transcends language.

“That’s like what I did in the ring and then Bad Bunny came over and he liked Booker T because he’d watched me as a kid. He didn’t even speak English, but he understood the universal language of going out there and performing. That right there is a no-miss.”

As for the rest of the women’s roster? Booker says the competition is fierce—and that’s a good thing.

“Someone like Giulia, she has nothing to catch up to with Stephanie Vaquer, she’s doing her thing. I heard somebody say, ‘Is this gonna make it harder for Roxanne Perez?’ You’re damn right, it’s just gonna make her work a little bit harder, but that’s part of the game.”

“All the ladies I think deserve a round of applause, an encore. Bravo. Bravo, young women. Bravo.”

Booker T made it clear—Giulia is right where she needs to be. There’s no race, no scoreboard, just talent doing what they do best inside the ring.