Booker T On Naomi: She Needs To Earn A Chance On Merit And Advocate For Herself; Naomi Responds

Booker T is not about hashtags and retweets. 

Following Friday's WWE SmackDown, #NaomiDeservesBetter trended on social media after Naomi was defeated by Lacey Evans on the show. Naomi lost via getting her hair tied in the ropes before being struck with the Woman's Right. The previous week, Naomi was involved in the Karaoke Showdown, which was thought to be by many as one of the worst segments in history. 

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Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T commented on the hashtag and Naomi's push. 

"Naomi deserves a chance. They can go to hell with all these hashtags," he said. "I'm tired of hearing about them. Don't nobody 'deserve' a chance. You have to earn a chance and your spot on the roster, this is not some kind of movement just to pull somebody up just because. I hate to say this because I like Naomi, but as far as the business goes, you get it on your merit alone. There is no buddy system. 'Well, such and such has a buddy and that's why they're doing it.' That might be true, but life is not fair. Sometimes, you have to make your own breaks and rise to the occasion when no one else thought you could. It may not happen overnight. No one expected me to become a six-time champ, but my persistence of going out there and performing better than all of those suckas in the locker room, and they knew it, and the fans saw something different.

"That's why I say #NaomiDeservesBetter, I don't think it serves her any purpose, people advocating for her in that way. The way that needs to be put out there is her advocating for herself and performing at a high level. When you do that, you cannot be denied. No one will ever say you were given anything. If it happened tomorrow, someone blessed Naomi with the World Championship, trust me, it would not feel like she did it on her own. I never would have wanted the World Title if it was given to me that way. Naomi is perhaps more athletic than every female in that locker room, but psychology and working are two different things. If I had my hands on her for one month, Naomi would look at this business a totally different way." 

Naomi posted the following response to Booker's comments:

Naomi found support from other wrestlers on Saturday as Big Swole, Charlotte Flair, Cedric Alexander, and more agreed with the hashtag. 

You can see actress Keke Palmer commenting on the hashtag and wanting to play her in a movie, and Naomi's response, by clicking here.

If you use any of the quotes above, please give a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription. 

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