Booker T Gets Candid About Roman Reigns' WWE Schedule

Roman Reigns has ruled atop WWE as the Undisputed Universal Champion for over three years now, cementing his position as this generation's face of the company. With such a role comes certain privileges, namely working a reduced schedule compared to many of his peers. Reigns has worked just 11 matches this year, in stark contrast to 2022's 52 and 2021's 61, respectively, thus dividing opinion as to whether he should be present more. Booker T argued during the "Hall of Fame" podcast for the case of Reigns, saying that people will always look for something to complain about. 

Booker T drew to Hulk Hogan as an example. "Just think how many times Hogan worked on television in a calendar year, might have been less than that, and nobody was bigger than Hogan." 

It's worth noting that Booker T was operating on the belief that Reigns had wrestled 22 times and not 11 this year. In 1992, Hogan had in fact, worked less than 11 broadcast matches, and he regularly worked less than 22 matches on broadcast between 1988-1991. Booker T continued to draw another example in boxing world champion Larry Holmes — who reigned from 1978 to 1985 — and said that with such long reigns, there is bound to be a cool-off period where fans desperately want the title to change. 

However, Booker feels Reigns should be celebrated for being able to have the schedule he does, and perhaps he would feel differently if he wasn't a draw, but he is, so the pros and cons have to be weighed. He also opined that it was just a case of fans wanting to see Reigns more, spurring their complaints.

"It's just that simple; it's the way it works, it's a pecking order, and right now, Roman is the guy. He's the guy, and the thing is, trust me, there's going to be a time when there's another guy; it's always been that way," he said.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Hall of Fame" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.