Booker T Responds To AEW's Darby Allin's Remarks About WWE's 'Superstar' Branding

Last week, AEW star Darby Allin claimed that the term "Superstar" is a "stupid" way to describe professional wrestlers, explaining that it often makes talent seem superior to other people. Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon notoriously only referred to his performers on the WWE roster as Superstars, and it's a designation that many have differing opinions towards. However, "WWE NXT" color commentator Booker T has a different take on the usage of the word Superstar, explaining on "The Hall of Fame" that the word is used as a branding tactic, and believing Allin's comments were misguided.

"'NXT' is on fire right now. AEW is doing what they're doing. I don't even really want to get off into a whole lot of what AEW is doing, because I say they should just focus on doing their own thing. It's just like Darby Allin, he made a statement about the WWE Superstar brand, as far as being called a WWE Superstar and that's a dumb thing ... I think the Superstar tag for me, if I'm a young kid and I love wrestling and I hear the WWE Superstars are coming to town, damn it I'm going to want to be there alright. That's called branding."

Ever since WWE shifted from being a professional wrestling company to a global entertainment phenomenon, McMahon demanded his talent use specific terms onscreen along with the word Superstar, such as "WWE Universe," and "Sports Entertainment," instead of "fans" and "pro wrestling." However, since Triple H became the CCO of WWE in 2022, there have been occasions where many of those banned terms were reintroduced on television.