Booker T Says He Sees New Japan Written All Over Luke Harper

Booker T comments on Luke Harper’s recent WWE release and has an idea where he should go next to succeed.

During a recent episode of “The Hall of Fame with Booker T & Brad Gilmore,” the WWE Hall of Famer said Harper’s look wasn’t something he was much of a fan of, but did admit that he is tremendously talented. When looking at Harper’s skillset, Booker believes that he could not only have a run in New Japan Pro Wrestling, but be someone that could be like a modern Stan Hansen, who had a big run in Japan for years.

“I didn’t think the overalls was ever going to get over with me or anything like that. Was he talented? Very, very talented. Was he a guy that you couldn’t wait to see next week? He didn’t put himself in that position for that to happen, but what I see with Luke Harper is, when I look at that box and I look at that picture, what I see in Luke Harper is Stan Hansen. I see Japan written all over this kid. I see New Japan. I see this guy working over there for many, many years getting paid because they love big Americans like Luke Harper in Japan. I see Luke Harper having a great career even after WWE, making perhaps more money than he ever made in his life. Some people are made for Japan, are made for that lifestyle. If Harper can be like a Stan Hansen in Japan, he could make a lot of money. I just see New Japan written all over for him,” Booker said.

On the topic of wrestlers being released, Booker briefly talked about The Ascension, who were let go on the same day Harper did along with Sin Cara. Booker mentioned how the duo were perceived to be another version of The Road Warriors or Demolition when they first arrived on Raw and SmackDown and that it was hard for them to follow in those footsteps, even after coming off a record-breaking run as the NXT Tag Team Champions.

“It’s so hard to try and duplicate something, try to reinvent the wheel. I mean, the Road Warriors were really the first to come in with the face paint and the shoulder pads and then Demolition came in and people said they were a knock off the Road Warriors, but Demolition was totally different, they had their own flavor. Then, to see The Ascension come along, it’s just hard to follow into those footsteps and make that work,” Booker said.

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