WWE News: Hall Of Famer Comments On Heath Slater’s ‘Monday Night Raw’ Return
On the latest episode of his podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T aired his thoughts on recently released superstar Heath Slater, who was brought back on this week’s Monday Night Raw for a segment that later led to a quick match.
As quoted by Wrestling Inc. on Thursday, Booker’s co-host on The Hall of Fame podcast, Brad Gilmore, informed him during the show’s newest episode that Slater appeared on this week’s Raw despite being released on April 15 as part of WWE’s coronavirus-related budget cuts. Booker, who was apparently unaware of this appearance, put Slater over as a wrestler no company wants to lose, given how he’s willing to play any role that’s given to him without trying too hard.
“That’s what I talk in this game all the time as far as ‘hey man, just play your role tonight. Don’t try to play someone else’s role. If you do that, we’ll have a great show tonight, but if you go out there and you want to take one job then take on another job, then you got three jobs that you’re trying to take on, and then, you complain about it. You’re the one who took those jobs.”
Booker went on to speculate that Slater was asked to show up on Raw because of this willingness to do what’s asked of him. He also compared the former superstar to late World Championship Wrestling (WCW) mid-carder Brad Armstrong — the older brother of WWE Hall of Famer Brian “Road Dogg” James — due to his ability to “get the job done” at any given moment, even if it’s on short notice.
As recapped by Cageside Seats, Slater was brought out during a promo segment featuring WWE Champion Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler, who will be facing off in a title match at the Extreme Rules: The Horror Show pay-per-view on July 19. During this segment, Slater accused his former 3MB stablemate McIntyre of not being there for him following his release. This culminated in a match between the two, which the reigning champion won easily, though both men would reconcile when McIntyre saved Slater from a post-match beatdown from Ziggler.
At the moment, it seems that Slater’s Monday Night Raw return this week was a one-off, as he admitted after the show that the match against McIntyre provided closure for his WWE run — something that Booker and Gilmore apparently weren’t aware of. Furthermore, the 36-year-old might be preparing for the next stage of his wrestling career, as he recently took to Twitter to seemingly tease an appearance at Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary pay-per-view on July 18.
