"That guy’s gonna be a major player" - Booker T praises top WWE star following the Royal Rumble

Following his surprise in-ring return at the Royal Rumble this past weekend, Booker T has praised WWE superstar Gunther for his incredible efforts during the match.

The Austrian star and current Intercontinental Champion started the men's Royal Rumble match as the number one entrant, and was able to outlast 28 other stars only to be eliminated by the winner Cody Rhodes at the end of the match.

Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T, who was eliminated by Gunther, stated that the SmackDown star will be a huge asset for the company in the years to come.

"Gunther did an awesome job making history. That guy’s gonna be a major, major player here for WWE for a long time and it was my honor to do the favor for him and I’ve seen people, stupid people saying, ‘Booker got jobbed out.’ Let me just say this, Booker got jobbed out by Gunther and I wanna say this publicly just so everybody can hear it. I’d rather be jobbed out by Gunther than Gunther be jobbed out by me any day of the week." (H/T Post Wrestling)

Check out the full video below:

At the Royal Rumble, Gunther smashed the record for the longest time spent in the 30-man match as he broke Rey Mysterio's 2006 time of 62 minutes and 52 seconds, as he managed to last over an hour and 11 minutes this past Saturday.

Booker T on his Royal Rumble appearance

The Hall of Famer was arguably one of the biggest surprises during the marquee battle royal, as many have come to know him simply as a WWE commentator.

Continuing to speak on the Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T recapped the moment when he got eliminated by Gunther, also adamantly denying that he went over the top rope.

"There's a lot of people out there right now still saying that I'm officially still in the Royal Rumble because I went through the middle rope, I did not go over the top rope. That's what people are saying but that just goes to show you how smooth I really am. Because I'm gonna tell you right now bro, I went over that top rope like butter. I went over that top rope like butter man. I was trying to make sure I was as close to the apron as possible when I went over it. That's probably why I looked that way," he said. [9:26 - 10:09] (H/T Sportskeeda)

The men's Royal Rumble winner, Cody Rhodes, now has his eyes set on WrestleMania, where he is set to take on the current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns.

What was your reaction to Booker T's return at the 2023 Royal Rumble? Let us know in the comments section below.