Nikunj Walia on January 22, 2024
WWE has always been the land of opportunity for many talented in-ring workers in the business. However, 5-time WCW champion Booker T shared his honest opinion on their former star, Dana Brooke claiming she never got a real chance to prove herself.
Dana Brooke had a long tenure in the global juggernaut that began in 2013. Despite spending nearly ten years in the company, Brooke did not taste major success or was involved in any prolific programs in the women’s division.
The former WWE 24/7 champion’s time came to an end in WWE in 2023, when she was released by the company. Furthermore, Dana made some scratching comments about the company not realizing her potential and giving her meaningful opportunities.
“I honestly think they (WWE) didn’t believe in me. You know, producers, T.J. (Wilson) was a very big advocate for me and he would always be like, ‘Dana can do it, Dana can do it, Dana can do it’ and it just — it wasn’t happening and I wasn’t that girl. I wasn’t the girl that they were trying to push to that next level. (I) was the one that I was always given to take the pin fall and I was okay with it, thinking in my mind, there’s gonna be a shot. There’s gonna be that next time and there just never was that next time.”
“I fought so hard, I’ll never forget this and I think it was 2018 or ‘19 in the Money in the Bank match where I wanted to hang from the briefcase and swing from it and fall and a pile of girls catch me and they’re like, ‘No, no, no. That’s a little too dangerous.’ I’m like, ‘Do you not know I was in gymnastics for 18 years? And the bar was this high. I would do double backflips and layoffs out from underneath the bars. I promise you, I’m okay. Just let me do it’ and it would be a wow factor and I just don’t think that they had the confidence in me.”
However, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T had a completely different take on it. He believed that Brooke was given multiple chances to become a top fixture in the company, however, the fans were never really behind her. Booker spoke about the same on the recent edition of his Hall of Fame podcast.
“I think [she] had a multitude of chances to actually get over. I think it was more so — I don’t know. I think the fans really never got behind Dana Brooke. I thought Dana Brooke had a lot of chances to actually get over with the fans. That’s what I always talk about, as far as people looking for the company to write something for them, looking for the company to give them the ball and let them do this and win the title and all that kind of stuff. I always thought, you make the company write for you by going out there and making the fans come out of their damn seats. That’s the way I think you get put in that position. I don’t think you just get put in that position because this person should have a turn, this person should have a turn, and this person should have a turn. It’s not like Pop Warner where everybody gets a trophy. It’s not like just because you’ve been around, you should be in a certain position. I think your work determines what position you achieve. That’s just me. I could be wrong, but that’s the way I’ve always looked at this business.”
Following her WWE release, Dana Brooke debuted a new gimmick, Ash by Elegance on the Hard to Kill pay-per-view, the first show under the rebranding of TNA Wrestling. With a completely new slate, it could be interesting to see what the former WWE star could do with this exciting opportunity.
Do you think Dana Brooke would earn more success in TNA? Will it be better than her tenure in WWE? Sound off in the comments!
January 22, 2024 8:36 am
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