Booker T isn’t writing off Sol Ruca after WWE Clash in Italy — but he definitely thinks she has some growing to do.
While speaking on the Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T reacted to Sol Ruca’s Women’s Intercontinental Championship match against Becky Lynch at Clash in Italy. Ruca walked out with the title after hitting the Sol Snatcher, but Booker felt the match exposed one major area she still needs to improve.
According to Booker, the match felt too structured at times and came across like both women were simply moving from one planned spot to the next: “It looked like it was being run by the numbers, like running the plays. Sol Ruca is going to have to really think about being able to improvise.”
Booker made it clear that he sees major potential in Ruca, but he believes she needs more experience when things don’t go exactly as planned inside the ring. He said learning how to adjust in real time is a huge part of working at the next level.
“I wish I had a chance to work with Sol Ruca on improvisation and go out and do certain things to make everything come together in a match. She’s so talented, and her having a meteoric rise in NXT—when that play gets messed up and you’ve got to call an audible, that’s how you still have to make it look like it was supposed to look that way.”
Booker T said Sol Ruca being thrown into a major spot this quickly means mistakes are going to happen. However, he also argued that those mistakes are necessary if she wants to grow into a bigger star.
“So I think being thrown into that deep water so early—but then again, it’s mistakes that she has to make in order to be able to work on that next level. That’s facts, and there’s no way to sugarcoat it.”
The WWE Hall of Famer also questioned how much better the match could have been if Sol Ruca and Becky Lynch had worked together on house shows before getting their title match on a major WWE stage.
“How much more prepared would Sol Ruca have been if she had a chance to do house show loops with Becky Lynch before they had that match? How much better would that match have been? So much better. So what I’m saying is—making those mistakes, she has no choice but to learn.”
Sol Ruca still left Clash in Italy with one of the biggest wins of her career, but Booker T clearly believes the performance showed she is still adjusting to WWE’s main-event level. For him, the talent is obvious — but the next step is learning how to make a match work even when everything doesn’t go perfectly.
Do you agree with Booker T that Sol Ruca needs more time to learn improvisation, or do you think her match with Becky Lynch delivered? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.
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