Buff Bagwell vs Booker T 20 Years Later

By Scott Keith on 2 July 2021

Hi Scott,

With the 20th Anniversary of the infamous Buff Bagwell vs Booker T main event on Raw upon us, I think it’s time that we revisit that match, because I think with 20 years of hindsight, the match isn’t actually that bad.

Now don’t get me wrong. In 2001, the match was an all time stinker, and of course a huge reason why the InVasion failed. Restholds in a 2001 main event was terrible, especially when we fans were used to Austin style brawls for the previous 3 years. But when you think about it in 2021, WWE completely copied the formula of that match the next year when they started toning down their in-ring style. I think it was around the time of the first roster split in 2002 that every match became resthold, resthold, resthold, punch/kick comeback, finisher, and WWE kept that style until 2015 when they started ripping off Ring of Honor’s in-ring presentation of Moves for the sake of Moves.

Is it time to recognize Buff and Booker for completely changing WWE’s match style and keeping the wrestlers safer? I’ll leave that for you and your readers to decide.

I'm gonna go with “No” on that one, but I admire your moxy, kid!