What's Next for Booker T?

[Harthan]

We just saw Booker T lose his Intercontinental Title match with Cody Rhodes in the opening match of SmackDown. What's next for the legend? Will he quietly return to commentary, or will he continue his return to the ring? If the latter, with whom do you expect him to feud?

I get the feeling that the WWE will be sending Booker down the path to a big retirement match at WrestleMania, and that this feud with Cody was meant to get him back in the ring and tuned up in time for that. I think we could see him meeting up with a guy like Christian, with whom he has a ton of history, at WrestleMania to ride off into the lights before reassuming his place on commentary. It provides an excellent WrestleMania match and retires a class act on the grandest stage of them all. Win-win all around.

There are other potential opponents for Booker at WrestleMania, of course. Christian hardly needs that kind of a victory, and he also fits very well into the rumored MITB match that might be returning to WrestleMania. Perhaps Drew McIntyre, who certainly needs a big win, and who seems to be reemerging on SmackDown?

It's also entirely possible that this entire feud was just a holdover for Rhodes, or even the beginning of him starting another "Legend Killer" gimmick, and all of this was no more than a distraction. It might be that Booker T will quietly resume his spot on commentary, and this was his ride into the sunset.

Where do you see Booker going in the near future? A retirement match against a fellow veteran, or against an up and comer? Or a simple return to commentary?

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

Something tells me he is going to win the IC title and lose it to a deserving heel at Mania. Christian may be a good decision for a final feud seeing as they have history over the IC belt. And yea I do feel they this wrestlemania might be his retirement match.

 

[#hamler]

Its essential Booker T stays in the ring right now. Look at Smackdown's roster; perhaps every heel could use the rub Booker T gave to Cody Rhodes. Drew McIntyre, Wade Barrett, Jinder Mahal would all benefit from having a one or two match feud with Booker T as some point or another. Booker T is a lovable veteran so it's no wonder the crowd cares deeply for him. He's super over. Why waste that when so much of the roster needs putting over? With Randy Orton gone, it couldn't hurt for Booker to step it up and get some of these young guys over. However, it does somewhat seem that the WWE may be quietly pushing Booker T into retirement and it's really his decision. Booker still has name value, and still has everything it takes to be relevant on the Smackdown roster. So I can't say I want Booker to step out, just yet.

 

[codebreaker1212]

I think booker t should return to the commentary desk, he is depriving young talent tv time eg. mcintyre, kidd, dibiase and others.
also booker t is old and stale and never was any good.

 

[#hamler]

I think booker t should return to the commentary desk, he is depriving young talent tv time eg. mcintyre, kidd, dibiase and others.
also booker t is old and stale and never was any good.

Here's the thing. Booker just came off an incredible feud with Cody Rhodes; a feud which handed Rhodes a significant amount of heat which he desperately needed. Booker isn't taking time away from younger guys - if anything he's helping them. Booker T is super over right now, why wouldn't you use that to help younger guys get over? Don't you think that Tyson Kidd, McIntyre or Ted DiBiase would love to get the kind of rub Cody Rhodes got from his feud with Booker T? Especially with Randy Orton gone that's one less guy to put these younger heels over.

 

[iwinulose]

Booker t is going to go back to commentary. he said that this little run against Cody was only to put Cody over and that this would be his last run in the wwe. however if he did decide to stick around in the ring and wrestle for a little longer there are some other heels that could use a push. i'd say wade needs one but he just had a feud with randy orton and i would have to say it wasn't overly impressive. drew could use a push, but i don't feel that they could have a strong feud and i'm almost positive that the feud wouldn't go over very well, though it would be worth a shot cause we can't have him jobbing to jobbers all the time (santino). to be entirely honest Cody is the only guy who Booker T can really feud with cause i don't believe anyone else would really be that great. i mean jhinder mahal is kinda a joke, and there isn't a lot of other guys on the smackdown roster.

 

[Tattooed Jesus]

I think Booker should stick around the ring for the sole reason of putting over young talent be they heel or face. Booker would do wonders mentoring Kofi Kingston in a heel manager role or as the old heel against the young face or vice versa. Pairing Kingston with Booker in anyway would be an excellent thing for Kingston. Hell WWE especially HHH wants to get rid of Evan Bourne, why not team Kofi and Booker up for a short run for the tag titles and then have one turn on the other setting up a match between the two?

 

[CMZombie]

What throws the Booker T storyline a curveball is the addition of Golddust. It looks like Cody and he may get that rumoured match at Wrestlemania, but would it be a singles match or a Tag Team?

One last Booker/Golddust tag-team match would be a nice send off for both men, and would further assist Cody and whoever wound up being his partner. (McIntyre or Mahal would be logical choices).

So basically I think that if Rhodes v Rhodes is sold as a one on one then Booker may well just head back to commentary, but if it heads in a tag-team direction then he'll remain in the feud.