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Wikipedia

Booker T (wrestler)

January 21, 2023

Not to be confused with Booker T. Jones, Booker T. Washington, or Booker (professional wrestling).
For the song by Bad Bunny, see Booker T (song).

Booker T. Huffman Jr.[a] (born March 1, 1965),[1] better known by his ring name Booker T, is an American professional wrestler and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE where he serves as a commentator on the NXT brand, and is also the owner and founder of the independent promotion Reality of Wrestling (ROW) in Texas City, Texas. Booker has been frequently named by peers and industry commentators as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time; he was voted WWE's greatest World Heavyweight Champion in a 2013 viewer poll.

Booker T
Booker T in December 2018
Birth nameBooker T. Huffman Jr.
Born (1965-03-01) March 1, 1965 (age 57)
Plain Dealing, Bossier, Louisiana, U.S.[1]
Spouse(s)
Levestia Huffman
​
​
(m. 1996; div. 2001)​
​
(m. 2005)​
Children3
RelativesStevie Ray (brother)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Black Snow[2]
Booker
Booker T[3]
GI Bro[4]
King Booker[5]
Kole[6]
Billed height6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[7]
Billed weight256 lb (116 kg)[7]
Billed from110th Street in Harlem, New York
Houston, Texas[7]
Trained byIvan Putski[8]
Scott Casey[8]
Debut1986

Booker is known for his time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA - now Impact Wrestling), holding 35 championships between those organizations. He is the most decorated wrestler in WCW history, having held 21 titles, including a record six WCW World Television Championships (along with being the first African American titleholder), and a record 11 WCW World Tag Team Championships: 10 as one half of Harlem Heat with his brother, Lash "Stevie Ray" Huffman in WCW (most reigns within that company), and one in the WWF with Test. Booker was the final WCW World Heavyweight Champion and WCW United States Heavyweight Champion under the WCW banner.

Booker is an overall six-time world champion in professional wrestling, having won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship five times, and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship once. With his fifth WCW Championship win (which occurred in the WWF), Booker T became the second African-American to win a world championship in WWF/E (after The Rock), and also the first to be of non-mixed race. He is also the winner of the 2006 King of the Ring tournament, the 16th Triple Crown Champion, and the eighth Grand Slam Champion in WWE history. As the ninth WCW Triple Crown Champion, Booker is one of four men to achieve both the WWE and WCW Triple Crowns. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the WWF/E, WCW and TNA throughout his career.

Booker was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6, 2013, by his brother, Lash. Both he and Lash were inducted together into the 2019 class on April 6, 2019 as Harlem Heat, making Booker a two-time Hall of Famer.

Early life

Huffman was born the youngest of eight children, in Plain Dealing, Louisiana, though his birthplace is often misidentified as Houston, Texas.[1] By the time Booker was 13, both of his parents had died and he lived with his 16-year-old sister. He would move in with his older brother Stevie Ray at age 17.[9] In high school, Huffman was a drum major.[8] He also played football and basketball.[10][11]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1986–1993)

As a single father working at a storage company in Houston, Texas, Huffman was looking to make a better life for himself and his son.[8] His brother Lash (Stevie Ray) suggested that he and Booker check out a new wrestling school being opened, run by Ivan Putski, in conjunction with his Western Wrestling Alliance organization.[8] His boss from the storage company sponsored the money to pay for the wrestling lessons.[8] Booker trained under Scott Casey, who helped to turn Booker's background as a gangster and dancer into "professional wrestling", teaching the newcomer in-ring psychology and ring generalship.[8]

Eight weeks later, Booker debuted as "G.I. Bro" on Putski's Western Wrestling Alliance Live! program.[8] The character was a tie-in to the raging Gulf War and the WWF's Sgt. Slaughter angle.[8] Even though the WWA met its demise some time later, Booker continued to wrestle on the Texas independent circuit, often with his brother Lash, who performed as Stevie Ray.[12] They were spotted by Skandor Akbar who hired them to work for the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF), where he and Eddie Gilbert were involved.[12][8] Gilbert teamed Stevie Ray and Booker T together as the Ebony Experience,[8] and they won the GWF Tag Team Championship on July 31, 1992. During their time with GWF, they held the tag title a total of three times.[12] Subsequently, Booker T and Stevie Ray left the GWF to work for World Championship Wrestling.

World Championship Wrestling

Harlem Heat (1993–1997)

Main article: Harlem Heat

Booker and his brother Stevie Ray signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) after Sid Vicious recommended they sign with the company.[8] In August 1993, they debuted as the tag team Harlem Heat, with Booker renamed Kole and Lash renamed Kane.[12] They became heels and were on Harley Race and Col. Rob Parker's team in the WarGames match at Fall Brawl on September 19 against Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes, and The Shockmaster.[13] They lost the match but were over as heels because of the caliber of faces they wrestled.

In 1994, they acquired the services of Sensational Sherri, dubbed 'Sister' Sherri, as their manager and changed their names back to Booker T and Stevie Ray, at their request. By the end of 1994, they held the WCW Tag Team Championship after defeating Stars and Stripes (The Patriot and Marcus Alexander Bagwell) in December.[12] After dropping the title to The Nasty Boys, Harlem Heat regained the belts on June 24, 1995.

Afterward, Harlem Heat got into a feud with Col. Parker's "Stud Stable" of "Dirty" Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck. Parker and Sherri were carrying on a love affair and Parker eventually left the Stud Stable in favor of the Heat to be with Sherri. Harlem Heat won the WCW World Tag Team titles at Fall Brawl 1995, defeating Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck.[14] Their third title reign only lasted one day,[citation needed] but the duo regained the tag team title nine days later from The American Males (Buff Bagwell and Scotty Riggs). On the June 24, 1996 Nitro, Harlem Heat defeated Lex Luger and Sting to capture their fifth WCW World Tag Team titles.[citation needed]

Three days after losing the tag team titles to the Steiner Brothers, Harlem Heat regained the titles back from the Steiners on July 27. On September 23, Booker T and Stevie Ray were defeated by Public Enemy (Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge) but took the titles back for the seventh time on October 1.[citation needed]

They lost the Tag Team Championship to the Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) on October 27.[12][15] Subsequently, they fired Col. Parker and beat him up and became full-fledged faces. They then entered into a brief feud against Col. Parker's newest team The Amazing French Canadians, a feud they won.[15] In 1997, they feuded with Public Enemy (Grunge & Rocco), The Steiners, and the nWo. In fall 1997, they fired Sherri and added a new manager, Jacqueline. They were briefly put out of action by the nWo and returned to feud with the Faces of Fear (Meng and The Barbarian). Stevie then took five months off from WCW to recover from an ankle injury and Jacqueline left for the WWF.

World Television Champion (1997–1999)

Booker made the transition into singles action and won the WCW World Television Championship from Disco Inferno on the December 29, 1997 episode of Nitro.[12] Booker feuded over the title with Perry Saturn and Rick Martel culminating in a gauntlet match at SuperBrawl VIII. Martel, the man that was originally supposed to win the match, went down early due to a knee injury, meaning the finish and the remainder of the match had to be called in the ring.[16]

During spring 1998, Booker began feuding with Chris Benoit.[12] Benoit cost Booker the TV title during a match against Fit Finlay.[12] As a result, Booker and Benoit engaged in a "best-of-seven series" with the winner meeting Finlay for the title.[12][17] After seven matches and interference from Bret Hart and Stevie Ray, Booker T won the series, and on June 14, regained the Television Championship.[12][18]

Booker scored a clean pinfall victory over Bret Hart on the edition of February 22 of Nitro. The following month, he regained the TV Championship from Scott Steiner,[19] who, in turn, defeated Booker in the finals of the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship tournament.[19] Booker lost the Television title to Rick Steiner a month later at Slamboree.[19]

Harlem Heat reunion; Misfits In Action (1999–2000)

See also: Harlem Heat and Misfits In Action

By mid-1999, Booker had convinced his brother, Stevie Ray, to leave the nWo and reunite Harlem Heat.[12] Harlem Heat defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Kanyon for the WCW World Tag Team titles at Road Wild.[19] They lost the WCW World Tag Team titles to Barry and Kendall Windham on August 23,[citation needed] but Harlem Heat regained them about a month later at Fall Brawl.[20] When The Filthy Animals were stripped of the WCW World Tag Team belts due to an injury suffered by Rey Mysterio Jr., the title was put up in a three-way dance at Halloween Havoc. Harlem Heat claimed their tenth WCW World Tag Team title defeating Hugh Morrus and Brian Knobs and Konnan and Kidman.[20] By late 1999, a female bodybuilder named Midnight had joined Harlem Heat. Stevie neglected her help and started disputing with Booker over her.

Stevie Ray eventually challenged Midnight in a match that decided whether or not she would stay with Harlem Heat. After being defeated with a surprise small package, Stevie Ray turned on both Booker and Midnight to form Harlem Heat, Inc. with Big T, Kash, and J. Biggs. Stevie Ray and Big T dubbed themselves Harlem Heat 2000.[12] Throughout this period, Huffman was referred to simply as Booker, as Harlem Heat 2000 won the rights to the name "T" in a match with Big T against Booker on February 20, 2000 at SuperBrawl X.[21] Kidman and Booker T defeated Harlem Heat 2000 (Ray and Big T) at Uncensored 2000.[22]

When Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff formed The New Blood, Huffman eventually completely changed his in-ring persona, helping lead Captain Rection's military-themed Misfits In Action stable as G.I. Bro, reprising his gimmicks from his days in the WWA.[12] He defeated Shawn Stasiak at the Great American Bash in a Boot Camp match.[22] He returned to the Booker T name on the June 19 Nitro, promoting Rection to the status of General and demanding the Misfits start standing up to the New Blood.[12]

WCW World Heavyweight Champion (2000–2001)

Huffman was elevated to main event status in 2000. After WCW booker Vince Russo grew disgruntled with Hulk Hogan's politics, he fired Hogan during the live broadcast of Bash at the Beach on July 9, 2000 and announced an impromptu match between Jeff Jarrett and Huffman for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.[12] Huffman won the match, in the process becoming the second ever African American champion in WCW after Ron Simmons, and the third African American to win a World Heavyweight title.[22] He lost the title to Kevin Nash on August 28 on Nitro.[citation needed] He regained the title a few weeks later in a steel cage match with Nash at Fall Brawl,[22] but again lost the title, this time to Vince Russo himself in a cage match (Russo was speared out of the cage by Goldberg and won the title), Russo vacated the title and Booker won it for the third time in a San Francisco 49er Box Match against Jeff Jarrett on the October 2 episode of Nitro.[citation needed]

Booker's next feud was with Scott Steiner, to whom he eventually lost the title in a Straitjacket steel cage match. Steiner won by TKO when he put an unconscious Booker into the Steiner Recliner at Mayhem.[22] Steiner was WCW's longest reigning champion in years, while Booker was briefly out with an injury.[12] Booker returned to the roster and defeated Rick Steiner for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship at Greed. This made Booker the ninth WCW Triple Crown winner.[23] On the final episode of Nitro, he defeated Scott Steiner to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship for the fourth time.[24]

According to sports journalist Michael Landsberg, Huffman was salaried at "close to a million dollars a year" in WCW.[25] He won a total of twenty-one titles within the organization, making him the most decorated performer in its history. Booker was also the reigning WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and WCW World Heavyweight Champion when he accepted a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).[24]

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

The Alliance (2001–2002)

Main articles: The Invasion and The Alliance

After WCW was bought by the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001, Booker T made his debut at the King of the Ring pay-per-view in 2001 attacking WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin during his match, promptly injuring him in his very first move in the WWF.[26] He later turned heel and became a leading member of The Alliance during the Invasion storyline.[17][27] In his debut match in the company, Booker defended his WCW Championship against Buff Bagwell on the July 2 episode of Raw;[12][28] sports journalist Michael Landsberg reported that many have called this bout "the worst match ever".[25] At InVasion, The Alliance defeated Team WWF when Austin joined the Alliance.[citation needed] On the July 26 episode of SmackDown!, Booker T gave up his WCW United States Championship and handed it over to Chris Kanyon.[12] He later lost the WCW Championship to Kurt Angle, but he went on to win the title back on the July 30 episode of Raw.[12] Booker T kept the title until SummerSlam, when he lost it to The Rock after feuding with him over the similarity in their gimmicks and their identical finishing moves, the Book End/Rock Bottom.[12][26] Booker T won the WCW Tag Team Championship for an eleventh time, this time with Test,[12] and he also had a WWF Tag Team Championship reign with Test.[29] At the Survivor Series, Booker T was eliminated third by The Rock after a roll-up and eventually The Alliance was defeated, causing them to disband.[26]

In its aftermath, Booker remained a heel, and he joined forces with Vince McMahon and The Boss Man in December to feud with Steve Austin. After Booker T cost Austin a match against Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship at Vengeance,[26] Austin gained revenge in a brawl in a supermarket, in which Austin won, assaulting Booker T with food. The brawl cost the company 10,000 to 15,000 dollars in damage.[30] Then the week after Booker T vandalized Austin's truck causing Austin to chase Booker T around a bingo hall and a church.

Booker T's first WrestleMania appearance was at WrestleMania X8 against Edge, a match he lost.[12] They feuded over who would appear in a fictional Japanese shampoo commercial.[26] When the brand extension was introduced in March, Booker T was drafted to the Raw brand.[citation needed] At Insurrextion, Booker briefly held the WWF Hardcore Championship twice, defeating Stevie Richards only to lose it to Crash Holly seconds later. He then re-defeated Crash and lost the title to Stevie Richards a few minutes later.

Feud with Evolution (2002–2003)

Goldust began trying to start a tag team with Booker, but Goldust kept costing Booker matches. With the nWo now operating in WWE, Booker T was eventually invited into the faction.[12] His time there was short-lived, when he was kicked out of the group by Shawn Michaels after a superkick from Michaels.[12] Booker then turned face and found a partnership with Goldust and the pair teamed to battle the nWo.[12] Booker and Goldust had a WWE Tag Team Championship match against The Un-Americans (Christian and Lance Storm) at SummerSlam, but The Un-Americans retained after interference from Test.[31] At No Mercy, Booker and Goldust battled Chris Jericho and Christian for the World Tag Team Championship, but they lost the match with Jericho using the title belt on Goldust.[31]

He spent the rest of 2002 teaming with Goldust. They won the World Tag Team Championship at Armageddon in a Tag Team Elimination match defeating the teams of Christian and Chris Jericho, Lance Storm and William Regal, and the Dudley Boyz.[32] They held the belts for about three weeks, when they lost them to Regal and Storm.[32] Booker and Goldust lost the rematch and decided to go their separate ways.[12] The gimmick for Booker and Goldust was Goldust being a strange, yet dependable ally who Booker eventually warmed up to after initial skepticism. By 2003, however, Booker T's popularity had soared and he amicably separated from Goldust, at Goldust's request, in order to pursue the World Heavyweight Championship. In February 2003, he eliminated The Rock to win a battle royal to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XIX.[citation needed]

Booker targeted Evolution after Batista and Randy Orton attacked Booker's former partner, Goldust.[12] Several weeks before WrestleMania, the incumbent champion and Evolution's leader, Triple H, cut a controversial promo on Booker T. Triple H downplayed Booker T's WCW success, pointing out that the WCW World Heavyweight Championship had been held by non-wrestlers like booker Vince Russo and actor David Arquette, calling WCW and its title "a joke", despite the fact that, as World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H was holding the WCW World Heavyweight Championship's physical belt, the Big Gold Belt, and that Triple H's Evolution stablemate, Ric Flair, had been a multiple-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion. He said that "people like" Booker T would never win world championships in WWE. This promo is often interpreted as racist due to Triple H referencing Booker T's "nappy" hair and implying that Booker T was just in WWE to dance and entertain for "people like" Triple H. During the WrestleMania XIX press conference Michael Cole asked Triple H as to whether he had deliberately cut a racist promo, Triple H claimed this was not the case and that he was just referring to Booker's criminal past.[citation needed] A week later, Booker attacked Triple H in the bathroom and laid him out after Triple H had thrown a dollar bill at him, ordering Booker to get him a towel.[citation needed] However, Booker T lost to Triple H at WrestleMania.[32] For several weeks, he teamed with Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash in a feud against Triple H, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho.[12] At Backlash, Booker's team lost when Triple H pinned Nash after a sledgehammer shot.[32]

Various feuds (2003–2005)

Afterward, Booker set his sights on the newly reactivated Intercontinental Championship.[12] After losing a battle royal for the title at Judgment Day,[32] Booker feuded with the champion Christian.[12] After a few matches, Booker defeated Christian to become the new Intercontinental Champion on the July 7 episode of Raw.[33] About a month later, because of a nagging back injury, Booker lost the Intercontinental title back to Christian at a non-televised house show on August 10.[34] Booker, meanwhile, was out of action until October.[12]

Booker returned on the October 20 episode of Raw and subsequently joined Team Austin at Survivor Series for a match to determine whether Eric Bischoff or Stone Cold Steve Austin (both co-general managers) would be the sole General Manager of Raw.[citation needed] Team Bischoff won the match.[35] Booker then feuded with Mark Henry, who eliminated him in the Survivor Series match. Booker defeated Henry at Armageddon.[35]

On the February 16, 2004 episode of Raw, Booker T and Rob Van Dam defeated Ric Flair and Batista for the World Tag Team Championship.[12] Booker and Van Dam held the titles for a month, even defending the belts at WrestleMania XX in a Fatal 4-Way tag team match.[36] Eight days later on the March 22 episode of Raw, they lost the World Tag Team Championship back to Ric Flair and Batista. He and Rob Van Dam, never got their rematch due to Rob Van Dam being drafted to SmackDown! that very same night.

On March 23, 2004 he was "traded" (along with the Dudley Boyz) to the SmackDown! brand in exchange for Triple H, but as part of a new storyline, he appeared unhappy with the move calling SmackDown! "the minor leagues" and even disrespected Eddie Guerrero, the brand's WWE Champion, turning heel in the process.[12] Later on, Booker T bragged about how he was the biggest star on SmackDown! and feuded with The Undertaker.[12] Booker tried to utilize voodoo magic to try to overcome his "supernatural" foe;[citation needed] however, it did nothing to prevent him from losing to the Undertaker at Judgment Day.[36]

In mid-2004, Booker T set his sights on the United States Championship along with its champion, John Cena.[12] After Cena got on the bad side of General Manager Kurt Angle, he did his best to get the title away from Cena. Cena successfully defended the title at The Great American Bash in a four-way elimination match against Booker, René Duprée, and Rob Van Dam.[36] After Cena was stripped of his title by Angle for "laying a hand" on the GM,[citation needed] Booker took advantage of the situation and won an eight-man elimination match to win the vacant United States Championship, thus becoming the one-hundredth United States Champion in history, in a match that also featured Cena, Dupree, Billy Gunn, Charlie Haas, Luther Reigns, Kenzo Suzuki and Van Dam. Booker won by last eliminating both Cena and Van Dam in the course of less than 10 seconds[12] After Angle was fired by Mr. McMahon for embellishing his injuries, Theodore Long began his first tenure as SmackDown! General Manager, and booked a best-of-five series of matches for the United States Championship between Booker and Cena.[12] The first match took place at SummerSlam in Toronto and saw Cena gain the pinfall victory to go up 1–0 in the series. Booker would bounce back and win the next two matches, on the August 26 edition of SmackDown! in Fresno, California and a live event the next night in Sydney, Australia, to take a 2–1 lead. The next match in the series wouldn't come until the September 16 SmackDown! from Spokane, Washington, where Cena won and tied the series at two apiece. The series culminated at No Mercy, where Cena won the series 3–2, and thusly, the United States Championship.[citation needed]

On October 21, SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long placed Booker in a six-man tag team match with Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio against John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), René Duprée, and Kenzo Suzuki. JBL expected Booker to betray his partners, but instead Booker pinned him, thus turning face again.[citation needed] Booker T faced JBL for the WWE Championship at the Survivor Series on November 14, but lost after he was hit in the head with the championship belt.[36] The next night, Booker T demanded a rematch, citing Orlando Jordan's interference. He was then joined by Eddie Guerrero and The Undertaker who also wanted a shot at JBL's title, prompting Theodore Long to make a fatal four-way match for the WWE Championship at Armageddon.[12] Once again, Booker failed to win the title, as JBL retained it.[37] He then briefly teamed with Eddie Guerrero, at one point challenging Mysterio and Van Dam for the WWE Tag Team Championship, and feuded with Heidenreich.[12]

Booker won a 30-man Battle Royal dark match at WrestleMania 21 last eliminating Raw's Viscera and Chris Masters.[citation needed] Subsequently, Booker was part of the tournament to name a new number one contender and made it to the Final Four.[12] After Kurt Angle eliminated Booker, he returned the favor, costing Angle the match against JBL.[12] The storyline then turned to a sexual nature,[24] as Angle began stalking Booker's new wife, Sharmell. Booker defeated Angle at Judgment Day.[12] On the May 26 episode of SmackDown!, Booker participated in a "Winners Choice" Battle Royal, with the winner choosing his opponent for the next week. Kurt Angle won and wanted to wrestle Sharmell.[citation needed] Booker protested, and the match was made into a Handicap match. Angle won by pinning Sharmell in a sexual position.[citation needed] The next week, Booker gained revenge on Angle, defeating him with a Scissors Kick.[citation needed]

On the June 30 episode of SmackDown!, JBL defeated Christian, The Undertaker, Chris Benoit, Muhammad Hassan, and Booker T in a six-man elimination match for the SmackDown! Championship. During the match, Booker got specifically involved with Christian.[citation needed] Booker later defeated Christian at The Great American Bash.[citation needed]

United States Champion (2005–2006)

Booker T began teaming with Chris Benoit, eying his United States Championship again.[citation needed] Benoit was allowed to pick his next challenger to see who would face him at No Mercy, so Booker, Christian, and Orlando Jordan tried to impress Benoit by winning matches. He instead decided not choose one opponent, so he made it a fatal four-way for No Mercy, where Benoit successfully defended his title.[citation needed] On the October 21 episode of SmackDown!, Booker T defeated Benoit for the United States Championship, due to unseen help from Sharmell.[12] Theodore Long later showed footage of Sharmell interfering in Booker's matches. Booker went to apologize to Benoit and give him a rematch, but then attacked Benoit, busting him open with the United States title belt and turning heel once again.[12] Booker then boasted that he had been fully aware of what Sharmell had been doing and had been playing dumb to fool everyone.[citation needed]

On the November 25 episode of SmackDown!, Booker T defended the United States Championship against Benoit. The match ended when Benoit superplexed Booker and two referees made a three count on either competitor, claiming that their wrestler had won. Booker was stripped of the belt by Theodore Long, because of the confusion of who won since they pinned each other at the same time. Long decided to put Benoit and Booker against each other in a best of seven series, just as the two had in their WCW days.[citation needed] Booker took an early 3–0 lead.[12] In a must win match during Armageddon, Benoit was able to defeat Booker T to bring the series to 3–1.[citation needed] At a house show, Booker was injured,[12] and he did not wrestle again until after the "Best of Seven" series with Benoit was completed. Booker was scheduled to face Benoit in Match 5 of the Best of Seven Series at the December 30 taping of SmackDown!. At the beginning of the show, General Manager Theodore Long said that Booker would have to forfeit. Both Booker and Benoit protested, with Benoit not wanting a cheap victory. Booker managed to persuade Long to allow him to choose a stand-in for the matches. Booker chose Randy Orton as his replacement.[citation needed] Benoit was able to tie the series 3–3 after beating Orton in two consecutive matches on the December 30 and January 6, 2006 episodes of SmackDown!.[citation needed] Orton, however, was able to defeat Benoit in the final match on the January 13 episode of SmackDown! to win the series and the title for Booker T, who held the title until No Way Out where Benoit won it back.[38]

On the February 24 episode of SmackDown!, Booker and Sharmell provided guest commentary for a match involving The Boogeyman. After defeating his opponents, Boogeyman dumped a bucket of worms onto the announce table where they were sitting, frightening the two.[citation needed] Over the next few weeks, Boogeyman would stalk Booker and Sharmell. Booker and Boogeyman were set to face off on the March 18 Saturday Night's Main Event XXXII, but the match was canceled due to Booker faking a knee injury to escape competition.[citation needed] The feud eventually culminated at WrestleMania 22, with Booker and Sharmell losing to Boogeyman.[39] The couple received a restraining order against The Boogeyman on the April 7 episode of SmackDown!, ending the feud.[citation needed]

King Booker; World Heavyweight Champion (2006–2007)

Main article: King Booker's Court

Booker next entered the 2006 King of the Ring tournament on SmackDown!, advancing through to the finals due to a bye as his semi-final opponent, Kurt Angle, was unable to wrestle.[citation needed] The finals were held at Judgment Day where Booker defeated Bobby Lashley.[40] Upon winning the King of the Ring tournament, Booker began wrestling as "King Booker"[12] and began acting like he was an actual monarch ruling "The SmackDown! Kingdom". Booker formed a royal court that included his wife, Queen Sharmell, Sir William Regal, and Sir Finlay, and began including the mannerisms and attire of a stereotypical English-style king as part of the character, all the way down to wearing a crown and cape and speaking in a fake English accent.[41] However, whenever King Booker would get angry he would launch into a tirade in the style of Booker T (an example of this was an episode of SmackDown! where Theodore Long would inform him he would be facing The Undertaker), which lent some comedic aspect to the character; he even went as far as having Lashley kiss his "royal" feet.[citation needed]

 
King Booker's signature pose

After gaining his title of King, Booker continued to feud with Lashley. After Lashley defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) for the United States Championship at the end of May, Booker began chasing after the title and even resorted to making Lashley kiss his "royal feet" on the June 2 episode of SmackDown!.[citation needed] The feud ended after a steel cage match on the June 30 episode of SmackDown! where Lashley defeated Booker by escaping the cage to retain the United States Championship.[citation needed]

The next week, Booker entered a battle royal on SmackDown! with the winner to challenge Rey Mysterio for his World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash.[citation needed] Booker won the battle royal and then defeated Mysterio at The Great American Bash to win the World Heavyweight Championship after Chavo Guerrero betrayed Mysterio by hitting him with a steel chair.[42] This was Booker's first world championship since joining WWE and the win caused him to proclaim himself as the "King of the World".[citation needed] This win would also make Booker the sixteenth Triple Crown Champion and eighth Grand Slam Champion (under the original format) in the history of the WWE.

After Booker won the World Heavyweight Championship, he began a rivalry with the returning former champion Batista, who vowed to regain the title he was forced to forfeit due to injury. This rivalry spilled over to real life when the two got into a legitimate fistfight at a SummerSlam pay-per-view commercial shoot, reportedly due to Batista considering himself superior to the rest of the roster due to his quick climb to main event status. According to sources, both men were left bloodied and bruised, however Booker was reportedly praised by many wrestlers in the back for speaking his mind to Batista about his attitude.[43][44][45] At SummerSlam, Booker lost to Batista by disqualification after Queen Sharmell interfered on his behalf (thus retaining the title),[citation needed] but at No Mercy, Booker defeated Batista, Lashley and his own stablemate, Finlay, in a Fatal 4-Way match.[citation needed] Before the match, Booker assaulted Sir William Regal, resulting in the breakup of the King's Court.

Despite the break-up of his Court, Booker lost to Batista by disqualification on the October 20 episode on SmackDown!, due to interference from WWE Champion John Cena from Raw and ECW World Champion Big Show, the two of whom King Booker was to face at Cyber Sunday in a "champion of champions" match.[citation needed] At Cyber Sunday, the fans voted for the World Heavyweight Championship to be on the line. Booker retained after defeating Big Show and Cena with help from Kevin Federline.[citation needed]

After Cyber Sunday, the feud between King Booker and Batista continued with Batista unable to wrestle the title from Booker. Eventually this led to a match at Survivor Series on November 26, where Booker declared that if Batista failed to defeat him this time, it would be the last World Heavyweight Championship match he would receive as long as Booker was champion. At Survivor Series, SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long decided that if Booker got counted out or disqualified, he would lose the title. Late in the match, Queen Sharmell handed Booker his title belt while referee Nick Patrick was not looking. While she had Patrick distracted, Booker attempted to hit Batista with the belt. Batista moved out of the way, knocked the belt out of Booker's hands and hit him in the head with it, and King Booker lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Batista.[12] After losing the title, Booker feuded alongside former royal court member Finlay against Batista and John Cena, which led up to Armageddon where they lost.[citation needed]

While competing in the Royal Rumble match, King Booker was eliminated by Kane. A frustrated Booker returned to the ring illegally and eliminated Kane.[citation needed] This started a short feud between the two resulting in a match at No Way Out, which Kane won.[citation needed] On the February 23 episode of SmackDown!, Booker won a Falls Count Anywhere Money in the Bank qualifying match, defeating Kane (with assistance from The Great Khali) and earned himself a spot in the match at WrestleMania 23.[citation needed] At WrestleMania, Matt Hardy set up Sharmell for a Twist of Fate during the Money in the Bank match with the briefcase in Booker's grasp – thus forcing him to choose between a guaranteed title shot and his wife.[12] He chose to defend Sharmell and lost the match.[12] On the April 6 episode of SmackDown!, Booker attempted to take revenge. However, he lost the match against Matt Hardy, and Sharmell declared her disappointment in him and slapped him. In an attempt to impress Sharmell, Booker attacked The Undertaker but was Tombstoned on an announcers' table.[citation needed] Booker was removed from television to deal with a knee injury.[12]

WWE Championship pursuit and departure (2007)

On the June 11 episode of Raw, both King Booker and Queen Sharmell were drafted to the Raw brand as part of the WWE Draft.[12] He then began a short feud with John Cena over the WWE Championship, Booker would wrestle Cena in a Five Pack Challenge along with Bobby Lashley, Mick Foley and Randy Orton at Vengeance: Night of Champions for the title in a losing effort. Cena would retain at the event by pinning Foley. On the July 16 episode of Raw, King Booker came to the ring using Triple H's theme music "The King of Kings", even using his video. King Booker declared that neither Triple H nor Jerry Lawler could be known as "The King".[12] Booker began a feud with Lawler, defeating him on the August 6 episode of Raw where the loser had to crown the winner the next week.[citation needed] When the time came, Lawler refused, declaring that Triple H was still a king and announcing that King Booker would battle Triple H at SummerSlam. Booker attacked Lawler, throwing him into the ring post and hitting him with a television monitor.[citation needed] At SummerSlam, Booker lost to the returning Triple H.[citation needed] On the August 27 episode of Raw, Booker wrestled against John Cena in a non-title match, which he lost by disqualification when Randy Orton interfered.[12]

In August, he was linked to Signature Pharmacy, a company thought to be distributing performance-enhancing drugs.[46] He was suspended by WWE for violating its Wellness Policy.[46] He denied using any drugs and being a customer of Signature Pharmacy.[46] In October 2007, Booker T requested his and Sharmell's release from their WWE contracts due to the pressure he had in WWE and being burned out, which WWE granted.[47][40]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Feud with Bobby Roode (2007–2008)

 
Booker T (right) and Sharmell in TNA

At the Genesis pay-per-view on November 11, 2007, Huffman debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as Sting's mystery partner in a tag team match against Kurt Angle and Kevin Nash for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship,[48] reverting to his Booker T character. His wife Sharmell also debuted, interfering in the match on Booker and Sting's behalf when Karen Angle interfered on behalf of Kurt Angle and Nash.

On the November 29 episode of Impact!, Booker said he came to TNA to test his skills against the young talent, take TNA to a higher level, and win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Robert Roode came to the ring and challenged Booker to a match, claiming he has been pushed down by washed-up wrestlers and has-beens. Booker won his Impact! debut match, but afterwards, Christian Cage and Robert Roode beat down Booker until Kaz made the save.[citation needed] At Turning Point, Booker and Kaz defeated Roode and Cage when Booker pinned Cage.[citation needed] Booker and Sharmell won a mixed tag team match against Robert Roode and Ms. Brooks at Final Resolution. After the match, Roode punched Sharmell in the face,[citation needed] leading to a match at Against All Odds. While the punch was intended to be a work, Roode had in fact made contact with Sharmell during the punch, dislocating her jaw and causing her to be off TV for a few weeks, therefore making it into a shoot. The rivalry, however, went ahead as planned where Booker and Roode wrestled to a double-countout at Against All Odds, which saw them brawl to the parking lot.[citation needed] Roode defeated Booker in a strap match at Destination X after hitting Booker with a pair of handcuffs.[citation needed] On a special live episode of Impact!, Booker and Roode had another outing, this time with the fans being able to vote on the stipulation of the match. At Booker's request during a pre-match promo, the match became a First Blood Match, beating the Last Man Standing and I Quit stipulations. Booker T would go on to win the match-up. At Lockdown, Booker T and Sharmell defeated Robert Roode and Payton Banks after Sharmell pinned Banks with a roll-up.

Main Event Mafia (2008–2010)

Main article: Main Event Mafia
 
Booker T (left) as part of the Main Event Mafia in TNA. At this time Booker was the TNA Legends (later Television) Champion

Booker T turned heel for the first time in TNA at Sacrifice by attacking Christian Cage and Rhino from behind with a steel chair. This came about as a result of losing a tag team match up against Christian Cage and Rhino, with them furthering themselves in the Deuces Wild Tag Team Tournament.[citation needed] Booker then competed in the King of the Mountain match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Slammiversary. He was seconds away from winning the match, when Kevin Nash stopped him and performed a Jackknife Powerbomb; Samoa Joe would later go on to win the match. On the next Impact!, Booker challenged Joe to a title match at Victory Road, which Joe would later accept. Also around this time he reverted to a gimmick similar to his King Booker gimmick albeit while proclaiming himself a supposed king of Africa. The match at Victory Road ended in a draw after Sharmell replaced the referee and counted after the match was already over. At Hard Justice, Samoa Joe defeated Booker after a guitar shot, thus reclaiming physical possession of the title belt, which Booker had kept after Victory Road. Later he introduced the TNA Legends Championship and became the first official champion. Booker T successfully defended the title at Turning Point against Cage. At Final Resolution, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, and Sting defeated The TNA Front Line (A.J. Styles, Brother Devon, Brother Ray, and Samoa Joe) in an eight-man tag team match to allow Sting to retain his TNA World Heavyweight Championship. At Genesis, Booker T, Scott Steiner, and Cute Kip lost a six-man tag team match to Mick Foley, A.J. Styles, and Brother Devon. The next month at Against All Odds, Booker T defeated Shane Sewell to retain the Legends Championship. Booker T lost the title to A.J. Styles at Destination X. At Lockdown, Team Angle (Booker T, Kevin Nash, Kurt Angle, and Scott Steiner) lost to Team Jarrett (A.J. Styles, Christopher Daniels, Jeff Jarrett, and Samoa Joe) in a Lethal Lockdown match. At Sacrifice, Booker T received a rematch for the Legends Championship, but lost to A.J. Styles in a "I Quit" match.

 
Booker T on Impact! in 2008

Booker T went go on to form the Mafia's resident tag team with Scott Steiner, and at Victory Road, Steiner and Booker defeated Beer Money, Inc. to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship, marking Booker's 15th World Tag Team title reign overall. Then at Hard Justice, Booker T and Steiner retained the World Tag Team Championship against Team 3D. Prior to No Surrender, Booker, Steiner, and British Invasion won a match to gain the man advantage at No Surrender's Lethal Lockdown match against Team 3D and Beer Money, Inc. Even with the advantage, Booker T's team lost at No Surrender when James Storm of Beer Money pinned Doug Williams of The British Invasion.[49] At Bound for Glory, Booker and Steiner lost the TNA World Tag Team Titles to the British Invasion in a four way Full Metal Mayhem Tag Team match, which also included Team 3D and Beer Money; during the match Booker was taken out on a stretcher.[50] Afterwards it was reported that the PPV had been Booker's final appearance with the company, and his and Sharmell's profiles were removed from the official TNA roster. On May 21, 2010, Booker T made a one night return to TNA at a live event in Lake Charles, Louisiana, replacing A.J. Styles, who was unable to attend the event due to travel issues, and wrestled Rob Van Dam for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort.[51][52]

Puerto Rico and Mexico (2009–2010)

Booker T debuted in the International Wrestling Association (IWA) on Histeria Boricua, a special event held on January 6, 2009.[53] There he was booked against Chicano, the incumbent IWA Undisputed Heavyweight Champion.[53] The match was won by Cotto, who reversed a "Book End" attempt and scored a pinfall victory. On July 11, 2010, Booker T was booked by World Wrestling Council in a match against Carlito which also involved Orlando Colón and El Mesias. On September 16, 2010, Booker T made his debut for Mexican promotion Perros del Mal. In the main event of the evening he teamed up with Dr. Wagner Jr. and El Mesías, who represented rival promotion AAA, against El Hijo del Perro Aguayo, Damián 666 and Halloween. After Aguayo pinned El Mesías, Booker turned on Wagner, unmasked him and joined Perros del Mal.[54]

Return to WWE

Color commentator and part-time wrestler (2011–2012)

On January 30, 2011 Booker T returned to WWE to take part in the Royal Rumble. Booker entered the match at number 21 and was eliminated by Mason Ryan.[55] On the February 1 taping of SmackDown, Huffman debuted as the show's new color commentator, working beside Josh Mathews and Michael Cole, replacing Matt Striker.[56] He coached on the returning Tough Enough competition,[57] and at Elimination Chamber he introduced Trish Stratus as a fellow coach. At WrestleMania XXVII Booker T was on commentary during the Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole match. He would become involved in the match during the event. After the disqualification win for Cole, Booker T appeared in-ring post match alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin and Lawler and after a spinaroonie, received a stone cold stunner from Austin. On the June 6 episode of Raw, Booker wrestled his first match on the brand in four years, gaining a victory against Jack Swagger by count out. On the November 21 episode of Raw, Cody Rhodes threw water in Booker T's face after Rhodes allegedly heard Booker T criticize him, thus starting a conflict between the two. On the November 29 episode of SmackDown Booker was scheduled to face Rhodes in a match but it did not happen after Rhodes attacked him from behind him during a backstage interview.[58][59] On the December 9 episode of SmackDown, Rhodes attacked Booker again while heading to the announcer's table leaving him with paramedics. Later that night, Booker T attacked Rhodes during his match with Daniel Bryan, leading to an Intercontinental Championship match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs,[60] which Rhodes won.[61] On the December 26 episode of Raw, Booker defeated Rhodes in a non-title match.[62] On the January 6, 2012, episode of SmackDown, Booker challenged Rhodes a second time for the Intercontinental Championship, but once again failed to win the title.[63]

Booker T along with fellow commentators Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole all participated in the 2012 Royal Rumble. On the March 26, 2012 episode of Raw, Booker T saved Teddy Long from an attempted attack by Mark Henry, thus becoming the sixth and final member of Team Teddy at WrestleMania XXVIII, where Team Johnny emerged victorious.[64] This was his last official match for the WWE. On the July 9 episode of Raw, Jerry Lawler won by pinfall against Michael Cole in a WrestleMania XXVII rematch. However, Booker, who was subbing for Lawler on commentary, threw Cole back into the ring after he tried to escape. This caused the anonymous Raw General Manager to reverse the decision and give Cole the win as a result of a disqualification.

SmackDown General Manager and Hall of Fame (2012–2013)

On July 27, 2012, Booker T was appointed the new General Manager of SmackDown.[65] Booker would quickly add Eve Torres and Theodore Long to his staff, as his assistant and senior adviser respectively.

Booker was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his brother, Stevie Ray, the night before WrestleMania 29. On the April 19 SmackDown, Booker became angry with Long for making matches without his consent. Big Show arrived and thanked Long for doing a better job than Booker, further infuriating him. On the April 22 Raw, upset with Long for making a World Heavyweight Championship match at Extreme Rules, made it a Triple Threat match. Booker took time off for a torn distal triceps, and had surgery for it on June 12.[citation needed] On the July 19 SmackDown, he returned to continue as SmackDown General Manager, but soon lost the job to Vickie Guerrero, on Vince McMahon's orders.

Return to commentary and pre-show panelist (2014–present)

 
Booker T in March 2015

Since 2014, Booker T has commonly done work on the WWE Network, including the Raw pre-show and also being a part of the "expert panel" on Kickoff shows before each pay-per-view event.

On the 2015 premiere of Raw, Booker T replaced Jerry Lawler, who was suffering from diverticulitis, for commentating. However, it was later announced that Booker would be returning on a full-time basis to take Lawler's place on Raw, with Lawler moving to SmackDown.[66] On the March 30 episode of Raw, Booker, along with JBL and Michael Cole, were injured by Brock Lesnar after Seth Rollins refused Lesnar his WWE World Heavyweight Championship rematch. Booker was replaced by Byron Saxton for commentating as he became a coach for the sixth season of WWE Tough Enough.

On August 6, 2016, Booker T replaced Tommy Dreamer in an intergender tag team match for Dreamer's House of Hardcore promotion.[citation needed] Booker T returned to his old "King Booker" gimmick in a segment with the SmackDown Live Survivor Series tag teams where he gave a motivational speech and convinced Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango) to join the team.

In December 2016, after Jerry Lawler and Lita left the pre-show team, WWE ended their Raw and SmackDown pre-shows leaving Booker T to the WWE pay-per-view pre-shows and other WWE Network specials. Following the 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Booker T replaced David Otunga as color commentator on Raw. On the January 29, 2018 episode of Raw, Booker was replaced on commentary by the returning Jonathan Coachman. On the August 28 episode of SmackDown Live Booker T made a surprise appearance as "King Booker" in the opening segment when he interrupted and joined in on The New Day's "five timers" celebration, following the latter's fifth tag team championship win.[citation needed]

In 2020, Booker made his return by wrestling at the Reality of Wrestling promotion.

On October 6, 2022 WWE announced that they had shuffled their commentary and interview teams, with Booker T joining the NXT commentary team alongside Vic Joseph.[67]

Legacy

Longtime wrestler Kurt Angle said of Booker: "He's done it all... he legitimately is one of the top five best of all time."[68] In 2001, sports journalist Michael Landsberg stated that Booker was considered "one of the best wrestlers alive", capable of "any match, any style".[25] Industry veteran John Layfield later described him as "the best acquisition that WWE got when they bought WCW" in 2001.[69]

Booker's 21 WCW titles render him the most decorated wrestler in the company's history.[70] He was the first African American WCW World Television Champion.[69] Harlem Heat were recognized by WWE as being – along with The Steiner Brothers – WCW's greatest ever tag team.[71] Considering both Booker's WCW and WWF/E accoldades, WWE recognizes him as one of the most decorated performers of all-time.[72]

With his fifth WCW Championship win (which occurred in the WWF), Booker T became the second African-American to win a world championship in WWF/E (after The Rock), and the first to be of non-mixed race.[73] Booker was voted WWE's greatest World Heavyweight Champion in a 2013 viewer poll.[74]

Other media

In 2000, Booker appeared in the film Ready to Rumble, starring as himself. He has appeared in an episode of Charmed, called "Wrestling with Demons" alongside Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner. In 2001, along with several other WWE wrestlers, Booker competed on an episode of The Weakest Link, being eliminated second from the show. He also has appeared on Comedy Central and MTV.

On January 13, 2004, the album WWE Originals was released, featuring Booker T performing "Can You Dig It?". On April 21, 2007, Booker began hosting a radio show titled Tea Time with King Booker on KBME 790 AM in Houston.[75] During the week of November 5, 2007, he appeared on Family Feud with several other WWE wrestlers.[76]

On September 1, 2012, Booker released his first autobiography, Booker T: From Prison to Promise, with Medallion Press. Booker T made appearances to promote the book with The Score Television Network with Arda Ocal which aired on August 29, 2012.[77] He conducted a sixteen-page interview with Pro Wrestling Illustrated in the 2012 volume #50 issue.[78]

On March 10, 2015, Booker released his second autobiography, Booker T: Wrestling Royalty with Medallion Press.

In 2015, Booker T started a show on KILT (AM) that is also a podcast on Radio.com called "Heated Conversations – with Booker T".[79] The show is aired on Saturday nights locally in Houston, Texas, and covers subjects from wrestling, MMA, and boxing to many other sports. It has featured the biggest names from the WWE, as well as NBA stars like Dwight Howard.

In February 2019, Booker T sued video game company Activision over the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 character David "Prophet" Wilkes. The lawsuit claimed that the Black Ops character contained similarities to Booker's GI Bro comic book character.[citation needed]

On 19 September 2021, All41 Studios and Microgaming released WWE Legends: Link & Win,[80] a game for mobile and desktop browsers. Booker T was featured as one of four main characters alongside Macho Man Randy Savage, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Eddie Guerrero.

On May 9th,2022, Booker was the subject of the Biography: WWE Legends.

Video games

WCW Video games
Year Title Notes
1998 WCW Nitro Video game debut
WCW/nWo Revenge
1999 WCW/nWo Thunder
WCW Mayhem
2000 WCW Backstage Assault
WWE Video games
Year Title Notes
2002 WWE WrestleMania X8 Video game debut
WWE Road to WrestleMania X8
WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth Cover athlete
2003 WWE Crush Hour
WWE WrestleMania XIX
WWE Raw 2
WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain
2004 WWE Day of Reckoning
WWE Survivor Series
WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw
2005 WWE WrestleMania 21
WWE Aftershock
WWE Day of Reckoning 2
WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006
2006 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007
2007 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 Billed as "King Booker"
2011 WWE '12
2012 WWE '13
2014 WWE SuperCard
WWE 2K15 Motion capture
(Next-gen & PC)
2015 WWE 2K
WWE 2K16 Motion capture
(Next-gen & PC)
WWE Immortals
2016 WWE 2K17 Motion capture
(Next-gen & PC)
2017 WWE 2K18 Motion capture
WWE Champions
2018 WWE 2K19 Motion capture
2019 WWE 2K20 Motion capture
2020 WWE 2K Battlegrounds
2022 WWE 2K22 King Booker and Booker T
TNA Video games
Year Title Notes
2008 TNA Impact! Video game debut
Cover athlete
TNA Wrestling Mobile game

Personal life

Relationships and family

Huffman married his first wife Levestia on May 23, 1996. Booker presented her to the Nitro crowd the night after his WCW World Heavyweight Championship win at Bash at the Beach.[81] Levestia was also used to further the feud between himself and Jeff Jarrett when Jarrett hit her in the head with a guitar on Nitro on July 31, 2000. However, they divorced on May 8, 2001.[82]

Huffman has a son, from a previous relationship with a high school girlfriend, named Brandon (born in 1982),[83][9] with whom he has a strained relationship due to his time spent on the road.[84] Booker married his girlfriend of five years, Sharmell Sullivan, in February 2005.[85] The couple welcomed their twins, a boy named Kendrick and a girl named Kennedy, in 2010.[86] Huffman and his brother Lash opened a wrestling school in Houston in 2005.[24] He is also a fan of Formula One, and was in attendance at the 2012 U.S Grand Prix as a guest of Lewis Hamilton.

Reality of Wrestling

In 2005, Huffman started his own wrestling promotion in Houston, Texas, called Pro Wrestling Alliance. In 2012, the promotion rebranded to Reality of Wrestling. After his final 2013 event, Christmas Chaos, ROW was near to close, but Houston business man Hilton Koch, who assisted the event, became a partner with Booker.[87]

On February 21, 2015, Booker T and Stevie Ray reunited as Harlem Heat for one last match in Reality of Wrestling for the promotion's "The Final Heat" event. They defeated the Heavenly Bodies to win the ROW Tag Team Championship. On March 14, the titles were vacated.

In February 2020, Booker T returned to wrestle for the promotion in an eight-man tag team match.

Politics

On December 10, 2016, Huffman announced that he would be running in the 2019 Houston mayoral election.[88] He was quoted saying that, "2020 is going to be a new era in the city of Houston. We're going to be looked at now from a different perspective. The cool city, 2020 is coming."[89] Huffman was quoted in 2016, stating his focus for the three years leading up to the 2019 election would be concentrated on the city's "homeless, underprivileged, and low income areas."[89] However, in September 2019, Huffman was not among the 12 names listed who applied for the election ballot.[90]

Legal issues

Huffman spent nineteen months in prison after pleading guilty to armed robberies at Wendy's restaurants in Houston. He and his partners wore Wendy's uniforms during the holdups since they had been working there for 2½ years. Because of the gunmen's uniforms and familiarity with the fast food chain's operations, police suspected the robberies were inside jobs—and it did not take long before Huffman and three other men were found. He pleaded guilty in December 1987 to two aggravated robbery counts and was sentenced to five years in prison. Huffman was released after serving 19 months, and was placed on parole until April 1992.[9]

Championships and accomplishments

 
King Booker as World Heavyweight Champion, with his wife Queen Sharmell
 
Booker T as TNA Legends Champion

Notes

  1. ^ See:
    • "Booker T Plays WikiFact or WikiFiction". Reality of Wrestling. July 10, 2021. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021. My name is Booker T. Huffman Jr., and the 'T' stands for nothing; it's just 'T', period ... that's been my name since birth.
    • Oliver, Greg (September 26, 2012). "The book on Booker T ends too early". Slam Wrestling. Retrieved July 15, 2021. His father died shortly after he was born, so Booker T. Huffman Jr. — 'Junior' to his family — is raised by his mother ... .
    • "WWE Hall of Famer Booker T Announces Mayoral Run". TheWrap. December 13, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2021. Booker T's full name is Booker T. Huffman Jr.
    • . New York Daily News. July 24, 2015. Archived from the original on July 27, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2021. ... wrestler Booker T. Huffman Jr. ... .{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ Booker T's fifth WCW World Heavyweight Championship win overall and first under the WWF banner, where it was known as the WCW Championship.
  3. ^ Booker T's eleventh WCW World Tag Team Championship reign overall and first under the WWF banner, where it was known as the WCW Tag Team Championship.

References

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  2. ^ Caldwell, James (January 30, 2009). "Caldwell's AEW report 1/29: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV broadcast...on Friday afternoon". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  3. ^ "Booker T WWE bio". WWE. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  4. ^ "GI Bro vs. Mike Awesome - Ambulance Match: Nitro, May 29, 2000". WWE. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
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  6. ^ "Booker T.: Profile & Match Listing – Internet Wrestling Database (IWD)". Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
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  53. ^ a b Luis Santiago. . Archived from the original on January 21, 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
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External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Booker Huffman.
  • Booker T on WWE.com  
  • Booker T's profile at Cagematch.net, Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database
  • Booker Huffman at IMDb  
Preceded by King of the Ring tournament winner
2006 		Succeeded by

January 21, 2023
booker, wrestler, confused, with, booker, jones, booker, washington, booker, professional, wrestling, song, bunny, booker, song, booker, huffman, born, march, 1965, better, known, ring, name, booker, american, professional, wrestler, color, commentator, curren. Not to be confused with Booker T Jones Booker T Washington or Booker professional wrestling For the song by Bad Bunny see Booker T song Booker T Huffman Jr a born March 1 1965 1 better known by his ring name Booker T is an American professional wrestler and color commentator He is currently signed to WWE where he serves as a commentator on the NXT brand and is also the owner and founder of the independent promotion Reality of Wrestling ROW in Texas City Texas Booker has been frequently named by peers and industry commentators as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time he was voted WWE s greatest World Heavyweight Champion in a 2013 viewer poll Booker TBooker T in December 2018Birth nameBooker T Huffman Jr Born 1965 03 01 March 1 1965 age 57 Plain Dealing Bossier Louisiana U S 1 Spouse s Levestia Huffman m 1996 div 2001 wbr Sharmell Sullivan m 2005 wbr Children3RelativesStevie Ray brother Professional wrestling careerRing name s Black Snow 2 BookerBooker T 3 GI Bro 4 King Booker 5 Kole 6 Billed height6 ft 3 in 191 cm 7 Billed weight256 lb 116 kg 7 Billed from110th Street in Harlem New YorkHouston Texas 7 Trained byIvan Putski 8 Scott Casey 8 Debut1986Booker is known for his time in World Championship Wrestling WCW the World Wrestling Federation Entertainment WWF E and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling TNA now Impact Wrestling holding 35 championships between those organizations He is the most decorated wrestler in WCW history having held 21 titles including a record six WCW World Television Championships along with being the first African American titleholder and a record 11 WCW World Tag Team Championships 10 as one half of Harlem Heat with his brother Lash Stevie Ray Huffman in WCW most reigns within that company and one in the WWF with Test Booker was the final WCW World Heavyweight Champion and WCW United States Heavyweight Champion under the WCW banner Booker is an overall six time world champion in professional wrestling having won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship five times and WWE s World Heavyweight Championship once With his fifth WCW Championship win which occurred in the WWF Booker T became the second African American to win a world championship in WWF E after The Rock and also the first to be of non mixed race He is also the winner of the 2006 King of the Ring tournament the 16th Triple Crown Champion and the eighth Grand Slam Champion in WWE history As the ninth WCW Triple Crown Champion Booker is one of four men to achieve both the WWE and WCW Triple Crowns He has headlined multiple pay per view events for the WWF E WCW and TNA throughout his career Booker was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6 2013 by his brother Lash Both he and Lash were inducted together into the 2019 class on April 6 2019 as Harlem Heat making Booker a two time Hall of Famer Contents 1 Early life 2 Professional wrestling career 2 1 Early career 1986 1993 2 2 World Championship Wrestling 2 2 1 Harlem Heat 1993 1997 2 2 2 World Television Champion 1997 1999 2 2 3 Harlem Heat reunion Misfits In Action 1999 2000 2 2 4 WCW World Heavyweight Champion 2000 2001 2 3 World Wrestling Federation Entertainment 2 3 1 The Alliance 2001 2002 2 3 2 Feud with Evolution 2002 2003 2 3 3 Various feuds 2003 2005 2 3 4 United States Champion 2005 2006 2 3 5 King Booker World Heavyweight Champion 2006 2007 2 3 6 WWE Championship pursuit and departure 2007 2 4 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 2 4 1 Feud with Bobby Roode 2007 2008 2 4 2 Main Event Mafia 2008 2010 2 5 Puerto Rico and Mexico 2009 2010 2 6 Return to WWE 2 6 1 Color commentator and part time wrestler 2011 2012 2 6 2 SmackDown General Manager and Hall of Fame 2012 2013 2 6 3 Return to commentary and pre show panelist 2014 present 3 Legacy 4 Other media 5 Video games 6 Personal life 6 1 Relationships and family 6 2 Reality of Wrestling 6 3 Politics 6 4 Legal issues 7 Championships and accomplishments 8 Notes 9 References 10 External linksEarly life EditHuffman was born the youngest of eight children in Plain Dealing Louisiana though his birthplace is often misidentified as Houston Texas 1 By the time Booker was 13 both of his parents had died and he lived with his 16 year old sister He would move in with his older brother Stevie Ray at age 17 9 In high school Huffman was a drum major 8 He also played football and basketball 10 11 Professional wrestling career EditEarly career 1986 1993 Edit As a single father working at a storage company in Houston Texas Huffman was looking to make a better life for himself and his son 8 His brother Lash Stevie Ray suggested that he and Booker check out a new wrestling school being opened run by Ivan Putski in conjunction with his Western Wrestling Alliance organization 8 His boss from the storage company sponsored the money to pay for the wrestling lessons 8 Booker trained under Scott Casey who helped to turn Booker s background as a gangster and dancer into professional wrestling teaching the newcomer in ring psychology and ring generalship 8 Eight weeks later Booker debuted as G I Bro on Putski s Western Wrestling Alliance Live program 8 The character was a tie in to the raging Gulf War and the WWF s Sgt Slaughter angle 8 Even though the WWA met its demise some time later Booker continued to wrestle on the Texas independent circuit often with his brother Lash who performed as Stevie Ray 12 They were spotted by Skandor Akbar who hired them to work for the Global Wrestling Federation GWF where he and Eddie Gilbert were involved 12 8 Gilbert teamed Stevie Ray and Booker T together as the Ebony Experience 8 and they won the GWF Tag Team Championship on July 31 1992 During their time with GWF they held the tag title a total of three times 12 Subsequently Booker T and Stevie Ray left the GWF to work for World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling Edit Harlem Heat 1993 1997 Edit Main article Harlem Heat Booker and his brother Stevie Ray signed with World Championship Wrestling WCW after Sid Vicious recommended they sign with the company 8 In August 1993 they debuted as the tag team Harlem Heat with Booker renamed Kole and Lash renamed Kane 12 They became heels and were on Harley Race and Col Rob Parker s team in the WarGames match at Fall Brawl on September 19 against Sting Davey Boy Smith Dustin Rhodes and The Shockmaster 13 They lost the match but were over as heels because of the caliber of faces they wrestled In 1994 they acquired the services of Sensational Sherri dubbed Sister Sherri as their manager and changed their names back to Booker T and Stevie Ray at their request By the end of 1994 they held the WCW Tag Team Championship after defeating Stars and Stripes The Patriot and Marcus Alexander Bagwell in December 12 After dropping the title to The Nasty Boys Harlem Heat regained the belts on June 24 1995 Afterward Harlem Heat got into a feud with Col Parker s Stud Stable of Dirty Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck Parker and Sherri were carrying on a love affair and Parker eventually left the Stud Stable in favor of the Heat to be with Sherri Harlem Heat won the WCW World Tag Team titles at Fall Brawl 1995 defeating Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck 14 Their third title reign only lasted one day citation needed but the duo regained the tag team title nine days later from The American Males Buff Bagwell and Scotty Riggs On the June 24 1996 Nitro Harlem Heat defeated Lex Luger and Sting to capture their fifth WCW World Tag Team titles citation needed Three days after losing the tag team titles to the Steiner Brothers Harlem Heat regained the titles back from the Steiners on July 27 On September 23 Booker T and Stevie Ray were defeated by Public Enemy Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge but took the titles back for the seventh time on October 1 citation needed They lost the Tag Team Championship to the Outsiders Kevin Nash and Scott Hall on October 27 12 15 Subsequently they fired Col Parker and beat him up and became full fledged faces They then entered into a brief feud against Col Parker s newest team The Amazing French Canadians a feud they won 15 In 1997 they feuded with Public Enemy Grunge amp Rocco The Steiners and the nWo In fall 1997 they fired Sherri and added a new manager Jacqueline They were briefly put out of action by the nWo and returned to feud with the Faces of Fear Meng and The Barbarian Stevie then took five months off from WCW to recover from an ankle injury and Jacqueline left for the WWF World Television Champion 1997 1999 Edit Booker made the transition into singles action and won the WCW World Television Championship from Disco Inferno on the December 29 1997 episode of Nitro 12 Booker feuded over the title with Perry Saturn and Rick Martel culminating in a gauntlet match at SuperBrawl VIII Martel the man that was originally supposed to win the match went down early due to a knee injury meaning the finish and the remainder of the match had to be called in the ring 16 During spring 1998 Booker began feuding with Chris Benoit 12 Benoit cost Booker the TV title during a match against Fit Finlay 12 As a result Booker and Benoit engaged in a best of seven series with the winner meeting Finlay for the title 12 17 After seven matches and interference from Bret Hart and Stevie Ray Booker T won the series and on June 14 regained the Television Championship 12 18 Booker scored a clean pinfall victory over Bret Hart on the edition of February 22 of Nitro The following month he regained the TV Championship from Scott Steiner 19 who in turn defeated Booker in the finals of the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship tournament 19 Booker lost the Television title to Rick Steiner a month later at Slamboree 19 Harlem Heat reunion Misfits In Action 1999 2000 Edit See also Harlem Heat and Misfits In Action By mid 1999 Booker had convinced his brother Stevie Ray to leave the nWo and reunite Harlem Heat 12 Harlem Heat defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Kanyon for the WCW World Tag Team titles at Road Wild 19 They lost the WCW World Tag Team titles to Barry and Kendall Windham on August 23 citation needed but Harlem Heat regained them about a month later at Fall Brawl 20 When The Filthy Animals were stripped of the WCW World Tag Team belts due to an injury suffered by Rey Mysterio Jr the title was put up in a three way dance at Halloween Havoc Harlem Heat claimed their tenth WCW World Tag Team title defeating Hugh Morrus and Brian Knobs and Konnan and Kidman 20 By late 1999 a female bodybuilder named Midnight had joined Harlem Heat Stevie neglected her help and started disputing with Booker over her Stevie Ray eventually challenged Midnight in a match that decided whether or not she would stay with Harlem Heat After being defeated with a surprise small package Stevie Ray turned on both Booker and Midnight to form Harlem Heat Inc with Big T Kash and J Biggs Stevie Ray and Big T dubbed themselves Harlem Heat 2000 12 Throughout this period Huffman was referred to simply as Booker as Harlem Heat 2000 won the rights to the name T in a match with Big T against Booker on February 20 2000 at SuperBrawl X 21 Kidman and Booker T defeated Harlem Heat 2000 Ray and Big T at Uncensored 2000 22 When Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff formed The New Blood Huffman eventually completely changed his in ring persona helping lead Captain Rection s military themed Misfits In Action stable as G I Bro reprising his gimmicks from his days in the WWA 12 He defeated Shawn Stasiak at the Great American Bash in a Boot Camp match 22 He returned to the Booker T name on the June 19 Nitro promoting Rection to the status of General and demanding the Misfits start standing up to the New Blood 12 WCW World Heavyweight Champion 2000 2001 Edit Huffman was elevated to main event status in 2000 After WCW booker Vince Russo grew disgruntled with Hulk Hogan s politics he fired Hogan during the live broadcast of Bash at the Beach on July 9 2000 and announced an impromptu match between Jeff Jarrett and Huffman for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship 12 Huffman won the match in the process becoming the second ever African American champion in WCW after Ron Simmons and the third African American to win a World Heavyweight title 22 He lost the title to Kevin Nash on August 28 on Nitro citation needed He regained the title a few weeks later in a steel cage match with Nash at Fall Brawl 22 but again lost the title this time to Vince Russo himself in a cage match Russo was speared out of the cage by Goldberg and won the title Russo vacated the title and Booker won it for the third time in a San Francisco 49er Box Match against Jeff Jarrett on the October 2 episode of Nitro citation needed Booker s next feud was with Scott Steiner to whom he eventually lost the title in a Straitjacket steel cage match Steiner won by TKO when he put an unconscious Booker into the Steiner Recliner at Mayhem 22 Steiner was WCW s longest reigning champion in years while Booker was briefly out with an injury 12 Booker returned to the roster and defeated Rick Steiner for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship at Greed This made Booker the ninth WCW Triple Crown winner 23 On the final episode of Nitro he defeated Scott Steiner to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship for the fourth time 24 According to sports journalist Michael Landsberg Huffman was salaried at close to a million dollars a year in WCW 25 He won a total of twenty one titles within the organization making him the most decorated performer in its history Booker was also the reigning WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and WCW World Heavyweight Champion when he accepted a contract with the World Wrestling Federation WWF 24 World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Edit The Alliance 2001 2002 Edit Main articles The Invasion and The Alliance After WCW was bought by the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001 Booker T made his debut at the King of the Ring pay per view in 2001 attacking WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin during his match promptly injuring him in his very first move in the WWF 26 He later turned heel and became a leading member of The Alliance during the Invasion storyline 17 27 In his debut match in the company Booker defended his WCW Championship against Buff Bagwell on the July 2 episode of Raw 12 28 sports journalist Michael Landsberg reported that many have called this bout the worst match ever 25 At InVasion The Alliance defeated Team WWF when Austin joined the Alliance citation needed On the July 26 episode of SmackDown Booker T gave up his WCW United States Championship and handed it over to Chris Kanyon 12 He later lost the WCW Championship to Kurt Angle but he went on to win the title back on the July 30 episode of Raw 12 Booker T kept the title until SummerSlam when he lost it to The Rock after feuding with him over the similarity in their gimmicks and their identical finishing moves the Book End Rock Bottom 12 26 Booker T won the WCW Tag Team Championship for an eleventh time this time with Test 12 and he also had a WWF Tag Team Championship reign with Test 29 At the Survivor Series Booker T was eliminated third by The Rock after a roll up and eventually The Alliance was defeated causing them to disband 26 In its aftermath Booker remained a heel and he joined forces with Vince McMahon and The Boss Man in December to feud with Steve Austin After Booker T cost Austin a match against Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship at Vengeance 26 Austin gained revenge in a brawl in a supermarket in which Austin won assaulting Booker T with food The brawl cost the company 10 000 to 15 000 dollars in damage 30 Then the week after Booker T vandalized Austin s truck causing Austin to chase Booker T around a bingo hall and a church Booker T s first WrestleMania appearance was at WrestleMania X8 against Edge a match he lost 12 They feuded over who would appear in a fictional Japanese shampoo commercial 26 When the brand extension was introduced in March Booker T was drafted to the Raw brand citation needed At Insurrextion Booker briefly held the WWF Hardcore Championship twice defeating Stevie Richards only to lose it to Crash Holly seconds later He then re defeated Crash and lost the title to Stevie Richards a few minutes later Feud with Evolution 2002 2003 Edit Goldust began trying to start a tag team with Booker but Goldust kept costing Booker matches With the nWo now operating in WWE Booker T was eventually invited into the faction 12 His time there was short lived when he was kicked out of the group by Shawn Michaels after a superkick from Michaels 12 Booker then turned face and found a partnership with Goldust and the pair teamed to battle the nWo 12 Booker and Goldust had a WWE Tag Team Championship match against The Un Americans Christian and Lance Storm at SummerSlam but The Un Americans retained after interference from Test 31 At No Mercy Booker and Goldust battled Chris Jericho and Christian for the World Tag Team Championship but they lost the match with Jericho using the title belt on Goldust 31 He spent the rest of 2002 teaming with Goldust They won the World Tag Team Championship at Armageddon in a Tag Team Elimination match defeating the teams of Christian and Chris Jericho Lance Storm and William Regal and the Dudley Boyz 32 They held the belts for about three weeks when they lost them to Regal and Storm 32 Booker and Goldust lost the rematch and decided to go their separate ways 12 The gimmick for Booker and Goldust was Goldust being a strange yet dependable ally who Booker eventually warmed up to after initial skepticism By 2003 however Booker T s popularity had soared and he amicably separated from Goldust at Goldust s request in order to pursue the World Heavyweight Championship In February 2003 he eliminated The Rock to win a battle royal to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XIX citation needed Booker targeted Evolution after Batista and Randy Orton attacked Booker s former partner Goldust 12 Several weeks before WrestleMania the incumbent champion and Evolution s leader Triple H cut a controversial promo on Booker T Triple H downplayed Booker T s WCW success pointing out that the WCW World Heavyweight Championship had been held by non wrestlers like booker Vince Russo and actor David Arquette calling WCW and its title a joke despite the fact that as World Heavyweight Champion Triple H was holding the WCW World Heavyweight Championship s physical belt the Big Gold Belt and that Triple H s Evolution stablemate Ric Flair had been a multiple time WCW World Heavyweight Champion He said that people like Booker T would never win world championships in WWE This promo is often interpreted as racist due to Triple H referencing Booker T s nappy hair and implying that Booker T was just in WWE to dance and entertain for people like Triple H During the WrestleMania XIX press conference Michael Cole asked Triple H as to whether he had deliberately cut a racist promo Triple H claimed this was not the case and that he was just referring to Booker s criminal past citation needed A week later Booker attacked Triple H in the bathroom and laid him out after Triple H had thrown a dollar bill at him ordering Booker to get him a towel citation needed However Booker T lost to Triple H at WrestleMania 32 For several weeks he teamed with Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash in a feud against Triple H Ric Flair and Chris Jericho 12 At Backlash Booker s team lost when Triple H pinned Nash after a sledgehammer shot 32 Various feuds 2003 2005 Edit Afterward Booker set his sights on the newly reactivated Intercontinental Championship 12 After losing a battle royal for the title at Judgment Day 32 Booker feuded with the champion Christian 12 After a few matches Booker defeated Christian to become the new Intercontinental Champion on the July 7 episode of Raw 33 About a month later because of a nagging back injury Booker lost the Intercontinental title back to Christian at a non televised house show on August 10 34 Booker meanwhile was out of action until October 12 Booker returned on the October 20 episode of Raw and subsequently joined Team Austin at Survivor Series for a match to determine whether Eric Bischoff or Stone Cold Steve Austin both co general managers would be the sole General Manager of Raw citation needed Team Bischoff won the match 35 Booker then feuded with Mark Henry who eliminated him in the Survivor Series match Booker defeated Henry at Armageddon 35 On the February 16 2004 episode of Raw Booker T and Rob Van Dam defeated Ric Flair and Batista for the World Tag Team Championship 12 Booker and Van Dam held the titles for a month even defending the belts at WrestleMania XX in a Fatal 4 Way tag team match 36 Eight days later on the March 22 episode of Raw they lost the World Tag Team Championship back to Ric Flair and Batista He and Rob Van Dam never got their rematch due to Rob Van Dam being drafted to SmackDown that very same night On March 23 2004 he was traded along with the Dudley Boyz to the SmackDown brand in exchange for Triple H but as part of a new storyline he appeared unhappy with the move calling SmackDown the minor leagues and even disrespected Eddie Guerrero the brand s WWE Champion turning heel in the process 12 Later on Booker T bragged about how he was the biggest star on SmackDown and feuded with The Undertaker 12 Booker tried to utilize voodoo magic to try to overcome his supernatural foe citation needed however it did nothing to prevent him from losing to the Undertaker at Judgment Day 36 In mid 2004 Booker T set his sights on the United States Championship along with its champion John Cena 12 After Cena got on the bad side of General Manager Kurt Angle he did his best to get the title away from Cena Cena successfully defended the title at The Great American Bash in a four way elimination match against Booker Rene Dupree and Rob Van Dam 36 After Cena was stripped of his title by Angle for laying a hand on the GM citation needed Booker took advantage of the situation and won an eight man elimination match to win the vacant United States Championship thus becoming the one hundredth United States Champion in history in a match that also featured Cena Dupree Billy Gunn Charlie Haas Luther Reigns Kenzo Suzuki and Van Dam Booker won by last eliminating both Cena and Van Dam in the course of less than 10 seconds 12 After Angle was fired by Mr McMahon for embellishing his injuries Theodore Long began his first tenure as SmackDown General Manager and booked a best of five series of matches for the United States Championship between Booker and Cena 12 The first match took place at SummerSlam in Toronto and saw Cena gain the pinfall victory to go up 1 0 in the series Booker would bounce back and win the next two matches on the August 26 edition of SmackDown in Fresno California and a live event the next night in Sydney Australia to take a 2 1 lead The next match in the series wouldn t come until the September 16 SmackDown from Spokane Washington where Cena won and tied the series at two apiece The series culminated at No Mercy where Cena won the series 3 2 and thusly the United States Championship citation needed On October 21 SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long placed Booker in a six man tag team match with Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio against John Bradshaw Layfield JBL Rene Dupree and Kenzo Suzuki JBL expected Booker to betray his partners but instead Booker pinned him thus turning face again citation needed Booker T faced JBL for the WWE Championship at the Survivor Series on November 14 but lost after he was hit in the head with the championship belt 36 The next night Booker T demanded a rematch citing Orlando Jordan s interference He was then joined by Eddie Guerrero and The Undertaker who also wanted a shot at JBL s title prompting Theodore Long to make a fatal four way match for the WWE Championship at Armageddon 12 Once again Booker failed to win the title as JBL retained it 37 He then briefly teamed with Eddie Guerrero at one point challenging Mysterio and Van Dam for the WWE Tag Team Championship and feuded with Heidenreich 12 Booker won a 30 man Battle Royal dark match at WrestleMania 21 last eliminating Raw s Viscera and Chris Masters citation needed Subsequently Booker was part of the tournament to name a new number one contender and made it to the Final Four 12 After Kurt Angle eliminated Booker he returned the favor costing Angle the match against JBL 12 The storyline then turned to a sexual nature 24 as Angle began stalking Booker s new wife Sharmell Booker defeated Angle at Judgment Day 12 On the May 26 episode of SmackDown Booker participated in a Winners Choice Battle Royal with the winner choosing his opponent for the next week Kurt Angle won and wanted to wrestle Sharmell citation needed Booker protested and the match was made into a Handicap match Angle won by pinning Sharmell in a sexual position citation needed The next week Booker gained revenge on Angle defeating him with a Scissors Kick citation needed Booker at Tribute to the Troops On the June 30 episode of SmackDown JBL defeated Christian The Undertaker Chris Benoit Muhammad Hassan and Booker T in a six man elimination match for the SmackDown Championship During the match Booker got specifically involved with Christian citation needed Booker later defeated Christian at The Great American Bash citation needed United States Champion 2005 2006 Edit Booker T began teaming with Chris Benoit eying his United States Championship again citation needed Benoit was allowed to pick his next challenger to see who would face him at No Mercy so Booker Christian and Orlando Jordan tried to impress Benoit by winning matches He instead decided not choose one opponent so he made it a fatal four way for No Mercy where Benoit successfully defended his title citation needed On the October 21 episode of SmackDown Booker T defeated Benoit for the United States Championship due to unseen help from Sharmell 12 Theodore Long later showed footage of Sharmell interfering in Booker s matches Booker went to apologize to Benoit and give him a rematch but then attacked Benoit busting him open with the United States title belt and turning heel once again 12 Booker then boasted that he had been fully aware of what Sharmell had been doing and had been playing dumb to fool everyone citation needed On the November 25 episode of SmackDown Booker T defended the United States Championship against Benoit The match ended when Benoit superplexed Booker and two referees made a three count on either competitor claiming that their wrestler had won Booker was stripped of the belt by Theodore Long because of the confusion of who won since they pinned each other at the same time Long decided to put Benoit and Booker against each other in a best of seven series just as the two had in their WCW days citation needed Booker took an early 3 0 lead 12 In a must win match during Armageddon Benoit was able to defeat Booker T to bring the series to 3 1 citation needed At a house show Booker was injured 12 and he did not wrestle again until after the Best of Seven series with Benoit was completed Booker was scheduled to face Benoit in Match 5 of the Best of Seven Series at the December 30 taping of SmackDown At the beginning of the show General Manager Theodore Long said that Booker would have to forfeit Both Booker and Benoit protested with Benoit not wanting a cheap victory Booker managed to persuade Long to allow him to choose a stand in for the matches Booker chose Randy Orton as his replacement citation needed Benoit was able to tie the series 3 3 after beating Orton in two consecutive matches on the December 30 and January 6 2006 episodes of SmackDown citation needed Orton however was able to defeat Benoit in the final match on the January 13 episode of SmackDown to win the series and the title for Booker T who held the title until No Way Out where Benoit won it back 38 On the February 24 episode of SmackDown Booker and Sharmell provided guest commentary for a match involving The Boogeyman After defeating his opponents Boogeyman dumped a bucket of worms onto the announce table where they were sitting frightening the two citation needed Over the next few weeks Boogeyman would stalk Booker and Sharmell Booker and Boogeyman were set to face off on the March 18 Saturday Night s Main Event XXXII but the match was canceled due to Booker faking a knee injury to escape competition citation needed The feud eventually culminated at WrestleMania 22 with Booker and Sharmell losing to Boogeyman 39 The couple received a restraining order against The Boogeyman on the April 7 episode of SmackDown ending the feud citation needed King Booker World Heavyweight Champion 2006 2007 Edit Main article King Booker s Court Booker next entered the 2006 King of the Ring tournament on SmackDown advancing through to the finals due to a bye as his semi final opponent Kurt Angle was unable to wrestle citation needed The finals were held at Judgment Day where Booker defeated Bobby Lashley 40 Upon winning the King of the Ring tournament Booker began wrestling as King Booker 12 and began acting like he was an actual monarch ruling The SmackDown Kingdom Booker formed a royal court that included his wife Queen Sharmell Sir William Regal and Sir Finlay and began including the mannerisms and attire of a stereotypical English style king as part of the character all the way down to wearing a crown and cape and speaking in a fake English accent 41 However whenever King Booker would get angry he would launch into a tirade in the style of Booker T an example of this was an episode of SmackDown where Theodore Long would inform him he would be facing The Undertaker which lent some comedic aspect to the character he even went as far as having Lashley kiss his royal feet citation needed King Booker s signature pose After gaining his title of King Booker continued to feud with Lashley After Lashley defeated John Bradshaw Layfield JBL for the United States Championship at the end of May Booker began chasing after the title and even resorted to making Lashley kiss his royal feet on the June 2 episode of SmackDown citation needed The feud ended after a steel cage match on the June 30 episode of SmackDown where Lashley defeated Booker by escaping the cage to retain the United States Championship citation needed The next week Booker entered a battle royal on SmackDown with the winner to challenge Rey Mysterio for his World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash citation needed Booker won the battle royal and then defeated Mysterio at The Great American Bash to win the World Heavyweight Championship after Chavo Guerrero betrayed Mysterio by hitting him with a steel chair 42 This was Booker s first world championship since joining WWE and the win caused him to proclaim himself as the King of the World citation needed This win would also make Booker the sixteenth Triple Crown Champion and eighth Grand Slam Champion under the original format in the history of the WWE After Booker won the World Heavyweight Championship he began a rivalry with the returning former champion Batista who vowed to regain the title he was forced to forfeit due to injury This rivalry spilled over to real life when the two got into a legitimate fistfight at a SummerSlam pay per view commercial shoot reportedly due to Batista considering himself superior to the rest of the roster due to his quick climb to main event status According to sources both men were left bloodied and bruised however Booker was reportedly praised by many wrestlers in the back for speaking his mind to Batista about his attitude 43 44 45 At SummerSlam Booker lost to Batista by disqualification after Queen Sharmell interfered on his behalf thus retaining the title citation needed but at No Mercy Booker defeated Batista Lashley and his own stablemate Finlay in a Fatal 4 Way match citation needed Before the match Booker assaulted Sir William Regal resulting in the breakup of the King s Court Despite the break up of his Court Booker lost to Batista by disqualification on the October 20 episode on SmackDown due to interference from WWE Champion John Cena from Raw and ECW World Champion Big Show the two of whom King Booker was to face at Cyber Sunday in a champion of champions match citation needed At Cyber Sunday the fans voted for the World Heavyweight Championship to be on the line Booker retained after defeating Big Show and Cena with help from Kevin Federline citation needed After Cyber Sunday the feud between King Booker and Batista continued with Batista unable to wrestle the title from Booker Eventually this led to a match at Survivor Series on November 26 where Booker declared that if Batista failed to defeat him this time it would be the last World Heavyweight Championship match he would receive as long as Booker was champion At Survivor Series SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long decided that if Booker got counted out or disqualified he would lose the title Late in the match Queen Sharmell handed Booker his title belt while referee Nick Patrick was not looking While she had Patrick distracted Booker attempted to hit Batista with the belt Batista moved out of the way knocked the belt out of Booker s hands and hit him in the head with it and King Booker lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Batista 12 After losing the title Booker feuded alongside former royal court member Finlay against Batista and John Cena which led up to Armageddon where they lost citation needed While competing in the Royal Rumble match King Booker was eliminated by Kane A frustrated Booker returned to the ring illegally and eliminated Kane citation needed This started a short feud between the two resulting in a match at No Way Out which Kane won citation needed On the February 23 episode of SmackDown Booker won a Falls Count Anywhere Money in the Bank qualifying match defeating Kane with assistance from The Great Khali and earned himself a spot in the match at WrestleMania 23 citation needed At WrestleMania Matt Hardy set up Sharmell for a Twist of Fate during the Money in the Bank match with the briefcase in Booker s grasp thus forcing him to choose between a guaranteed title shot and his wife 12 He chose to defend Sharmell and lost the match 12 On the April 6 episode of SmackDown Booker attempted to take revenge However he lost the match against Matt Hardy and Sharmell declared her disappointment in him and slapped him In an attempt to impress Sharmell Booker attacked The Undertaker but was Tombstoned on an announcers table citation needed Booker was removed from television to deal with a knee injury 12 WWE Championship pursuit and departure 2007 Edit On the June 11 episode of Raw both King Booker and Queen Sharmell were drafted to the Raw brand as part of the WWE Draft 12 He then began a short feud with John Cena over the WWE Championship Booker would wrestle Cena in a Five Pack Challenge along with Bobby Lashley Mick Foley and Randy Orton at Vengeance Night of Champions for the title in a losing effort Cena would retain at the event by pinning Foley On the July 16 episode of Raw King Booker came to the ring using Triple H s theme music The King of Kings even using his video King Booker declared that neither Triple H nor Jerry Lawler could be known as The King 12 Booker began a feud with Lawler defeating him on the August 6 episode of Raw where the loser had to crown the winner the next week citation needed When the time came Lawler refused declaring that Triple H was still a king and announcing that King Booker would battle Triple H at SummerSlam Booker attacked Lawler throwing him into the ring post and hitting him with a television monitor citation needed At SummerSlam Booker lost to the returning Triple H citation needed On the August 27 episode of Raw Booker wrestled against John Cena in a non title match which he lost by disqualification when Randy Orton interfered 12 In August he was linked to Signature Pharmacy a company thought to be distributing performance enhancing drugs 46 He was suspended by WWE for violating its Wellness Policy 46 He denied using any drugs and being a customer of Signature Pharmacy 46 In October 2007 Booker T requested his and Sharmell s release from their WWE contracts due to the pressure he had in WWE and being burned out which WWE granted 47 40 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Edit Feud with Bobby Roode 2007 2008 Edit Booker T right and Sharmell in TNA At the Genesis pay per view on November 11 2007 Huffman debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling TNA as Sting s mystery partner in a tag team match against Kurt Angle and Kevin Nash for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship 48 reverting to his Booker T character His wife Sharmell also debuted interfering in the match on Booker and Sting s behalf when Karen Angle interfered on behalf of Kurt Angle and Nash On the November 29 episode of Impact Booker said he came to TNA to test his skills against the young talent take TNA to a higher level and win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship Robert Roode came to the ring and challenged Booker to a match claiming he has been pushed down by washed up wrestlers and has beens Booker won his Impact debut match but afterwards Christian Cage and Robert Roode beat down Booker until Kaz made the save citation needed At Turning Point Booker and Kaz defeated Roode and Cage when Booker pinned Cage citation needed Booker and Sharmell won a mixed tag team match against Robert Roode and Ms Brooks at Final Resolution After the match Roode punched Sharmell in the face citation needed leading to a match at Against All Odds While the punch was intended to be a work Roode had in fact made contact with Sharmell during the punch dislocating her jaw and causing her to be off TV for a few weeks therefore making it into a shoot The rivalry however went ahead as planned where Booker and Roode wrestled to a double countout at Against All Odds which saw them brawl to the parking lot citation needed Roode defeated Booker in a strap match at Destination X after hitting Booker with a pair of handcuffs citation needed On a special live episode of Impact Booker and Roode had another outing this time with the fans being able to vote on the stipulation of the match At Booker s request during a pre match promo the match became a First Blood Match beating the Last Man Standing and I Quit stipulations Booker T would go on to win the match up At Lockdown Booker T and Sharmell defeated Robert Roode and Payton Banks after Sharmell pinned Banks with a roll up Main Event Mafia 2008 2010 Edit Main article Main Event Mafia Booker T left as part of the Main Event Mafia in TNA At this time Booker was the TNA Legends later Television Champion Booker T turned heel for the first time in TNA at Sacrifice by attacking Christian Cage and Rhino from behind with a steel chair This came about as a result of losing a tag team match up against Christian Cage and Rhino with them furthering themselves in the Deuces Wild Tag Team Tournament citation needed Booker then competed in the King of the Mountain match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Slammiversary He was seconds away from winning the match when Kevin Nash stopped him and performed a Jackknife Powerbomb Samoa Joe would later go on to win the match On the next Impact Booker challenged Joe to a title match at Victory Road which Joe would later accept Also around this time he reverted to a gimmick similar to his King Booker gimmick albeit while proclaiming himself a supposed king of Africa The match at Victory Road ended in a draw after Sharmell replaced the referee and counted after the match was already over At Hard Justice Samoa Joe defeated Booker after a guitar shot thus reclaiming physical possession of the title belt which Booker had kept after Victory Road Later he introduced the TNA Legends Championship and became the first official champion Booker T successfully defended the title at Turning Point against Cage At Final Resolution Booker T Kevin Nash Scott Steiner and Sting defeated The TNA Front Line A J Styles Brother Devon Brother Ray and Samoa Joe in an eight man tag team match to allow Sting to retain his TNA World Heavyweight Championship At Genesis Booker T Scott Steiner and Cute Kip lost a six man tag team match to Mick Foley A J Styles and Brother Devon The next month at Against All Odds Booker T defeated Shane Sewell to retain the Legends Championship Booker T lost the title to A J Styles at Destination X At Lockdown Team Angle Booker T Kevin Nash Kurt Angle and Scott Steiner lost to Team Jarrett A J Styles Christopher Daniels Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe in a Lethal Lockdown match At Sacrifice Booker T received a rematch for the Legends Championship but lost to A J Styles in a I Quit match Booker T on Impact in 2008 Booker T went go on to form the Mafia s resident tag team with Scott Steiner and at Victory Road Steiner and Booker defeated Beer Money Inc to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship marking Booker s 15th World Tag Team title reign overall Then at Hard Justice Booker T and Steiner retained the World Tag Team Championship against Team 3D Prior to No Surrender Booker Steiner and British Invasion won a match to gain the man advantage at No Surrender s Lethal Lockdown match against Team 3D and Beer Money Inc Even with the advantage Booker T s team lost at No Surrender when James Storm of Beer Money pinned Doug Williams of The British Invasion 49 At Bound for Glory Booker and Steiner lost the TNA World Tag Team Titles to the British Invasion in a four way Full Metal Mayhem Tag Team match which also included Team 3D and Beer Money during the match Booker was taken out on a stretcher 50 Afterwards it was reported that the PPV had been Booker s final appearance with the company and his and Sharmell s profiles were removed from the official TNA roster On May 21 2010 Booker T made a one night return to TNA at a live event in Lake Charles Louisiana replacing A J Styles who was unable to attend the event due to travel issues and wrestled Rob Van Dam for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort 51 52 Puerto Rico and Mexico 2009 2010 Edit Booker T debuted in the International Wrestling Association IWA on Histeria Boricua a special event held on January 6 2009 53 There he was booked against Chicano the incumbent IWA Undisputed Heavyweight Champion 53 The match was won by Cotto who reversed a Book End attempt and scored a pinfall victory On July 11 2010 Booker T was booked by World Wrestling Council in a match against Carlito which also involved Orlando Colon and El Mesias On September 16 2010 Booker T made his debut for Mexican promotion Perros del Mal In the main event of the evening he teamed up with Dr Wagner Jr and El Mesias who represented rival promotion AAA against El Hijo del Perro Aguayo Damian 666 and Halloween After Aguayo pinned El Mesias Booker turned on Wagner unmasked him and joined Perros del Mal 54 Return to WWE Edit Color commentator and part time wrestler 2011 2012 Edit On January 30 2011 Booker T returned to WWE to take part in the Royal Rumble Booker entered the match at number 21 and was eliminated by Mason Ryan 55 On the February 1 taping of SmackDown Huffman debuted as the show s new color commentator working beside Josh Mathews and Michael Cole replacing Matt Striker 56 He coached on the returning Tough Enough competition 57 and at Elimination Chamber he introduced Trish Stratus as a fellow coach At WrestleMania XXVII Booker T was on commentary during the Jerry Lawler vs Michael Cole match He would become involved in the match during the event After the disqualification win for Cole Booker T appeared in ring post match alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin and Lawler and after a spinaroonie received a stone cold stunner from Austin On the June 6 episode of Raw Booker wrestled his first match on the brand in four years gaining a victory against Jack Swagger by count out On the November 21 episode of Raw Cody Rhodes threw water in Booker T s face after Rhodes allegedly heard Booker T criticize him thus starting a conflict between the two On the November 29 episode of SmackDown Booker was scheduled to face Rhodes in a match but it did not happen after Rhodes attacked him from behind him during a backstage interview 58 59 On the December 9 episode of SmackDown Rhodes attacked Booker again while heading to the announcer s table leaving him with paramedics Later that night Booker T attacked Rhodes during his match with Daniel Bryan leading to an Intercontinental Championship match at TLC Tables Ladders amp Chairs 60 which Rhodes won 61 On the December 26 episode of Raw Booker defeated Rhodes in a non title match 62 On the January 6 2012 episode of SmackDown Booker challenged Rhodes a second time for the Intercontinental Championship but once again failed to win the title 63 Booker T along with fellow commentators Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole all participated in the 2012 Royal Rumble On the March 26 2012 episode of Raw Booker T saved Teddy Long from an attempted attack by Mark Henry thus becoming the sixth and final member of Team Teddy at WrestleMania XXVIII where Team Johnny emerged victorious 64 This was his last official match for the WWE On the July 9 episode of Raw Jerry Lawler won by pinfall against Michael Cole in a WrestleMania XXVII rematch However Booker who was subbing for Lawler on commentary threw Cole back into the ring after he tried to escape This caused the anonymous Raw General Manager to reverse the decision and give Cole the win as a result of a disqualification SmackDown General Manager and Hall of Fame 2012 2013 Edit On July 27 2012 Booker T was appointed the new General Manager of SmackDown 65 Booker would quickly add Eve Torres and Theodore Long to his staff as his assistant and senior adviser respectively Booker was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his brother Stevie Ray the night before WrestleMania 29 On the April 19 SmackDown Booker became angry with Long for making matches without his consent Big Show arrived and thanked Long for doing a better job than Booker further infuriating him On the April 22 Raw upset with Long for making a World Heavyweight Championship match at Extreme Rules made it a Triple Threat match Booker took time off for a torn distal triceps and had surgery for it on June 12 citation needed On the July 19 SmackDown he returned to continue as SmackDown General Manager but soon lost the job to Vickie Guerrero on Vince McMahon s orders Return to commentary and pre show panelist 2014 present Edit Booker T in March 2015 Since 2014 Booker T has commonly done work on the WWE Network including the Raw pre show and also being a part of the expert panel on Kickoff shows before each pay per view event On the 2015 premiere of Raw Booker T replaced Jerry Lawler who was suffering from diverticulitis for commentating However it was later announced that Booker would be returning on a full time basis to take Lawler s place on Raw with Lawler moving to SmackDown 66 On the March 30 episode of Raw Booker along with JBL and Michael Cole were injured by Brock Lesnar after Seth Rollins refused Lesnar his WWE World Heavyweight Championship rematch Booker was replaced by Byron Saxton for commentating as he became a coach for the sixth season of WWE Tough Enough On August 6 2016 Booker T replaced Tommy Dreamer in an intergender tag team match for Dreamer s House of Hardcore promotion citation needed Booker T returned to his old King Booker gimmick in a segment with the SmackDown Live Survivor Series tag teams where he gave a motivational speech and convinced Breezango Tyler Breeze and Fandango to join the team In December 2016 after Jerry Lawler and Lita left the pre show team WWE ended their Raw and SmackDown pre shows leaving Booker T to the WWE pay per view pre shows and other WWE Network specials Following the 2017 WWE Superstar Shake up Booker T replaced David Otunga as color commentator on Raw On the January 29 2018 episode of Raw Booker was replaced on commentary by the returning Jonathan Coachman On the August 28 episode of SmackDown Live Booker T made a surprise appearance as King Booker in the opening segment when he interrupted and joined in on The New Day s five timers celebration following the latter s fifth tag team championship win citation needed In 2020 Booker made his return by wrestling at the Reality of Wrestling promotion On October 6 2022 WWE announced that they had shuffled their commentary and interview teams with Booker T joining the NXT commentary team alongside Vic Joseph 67 Legacy EditLongtime wrestler Kurt Angle said of Booker He s done it all he legitimately is one of the top five best of all time 68 In 2001 sports journalist Michael Landsberg stated that Booker was considered one of the best wrestlers alive capable of any match any style 25 Industry veteran John Layfield later described him as the best acquisition that WWE got when they bought WCW in 2001 69 Booker s 21 WCW titles render him the most decorated wrestler in the company s history 70 He was the first African American WCW World Television Champion 69 Harlem Heat were recognized by WWE as being along with The Steiner Brothers WCW s greatest ever tag team 71 Considering both Booker s WCW and WWF E accoldades WWE recognizes him as one of the most decorated performers of all time 72 With his fifth WCW Championship win which occurred in the WWF Booker T became the second African American to win a world championship in WWF E after The Rock and the first to be of non mixed race 73 Booker was voted WWE s greatest World Heavyweight Champion in a 2013 viewer poll 74 Other media EditIn 2000 Booker appeared in the film Ready to Rumble starring as himself He has appeared in an episode of Charmed called Wrestling with Demons alongside Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner In 2001 along with several other WWE wrestlers Booker competed on an episode of The Weakest Link being eliminated second from the show He also has appeared on Comedy Central and MTV On January 13 2004 the album WWE Originals was released featuring Booker T performing Can You Dig It On April 21 2007 Booker began hosting a radio show titled Tea Time with King Booker on KBME 790 AM in Houston 75 During the week of November 5 2007 he appeared on Family Feud with several other WWE wrestlers 76 On September 1 2012 Booker released his first autobiography Booker T From Prison to Promise with Medallion Press Booker T made appearances to promote the book with The Score Television Network with Arda Ocal which aired on August 29 2012 77 He conducted a sixteen page interview with Pro Wrestling Illustrated in the 2012 volume 50 issue 78 On March 10 2015 Booker released his second autobiography Booker T Wrestling Royalty with Medallion Press In 2015 Booker T started a show on KILT AM that is also a podcast on Radio com called Heated Conversations with Booker T 79 The show is aired on Saturday nights locally in Houston Texas and covers subjects from wrestling MMA and boxing to many other sports It has featured the biggest names from the WWE as well as NBA stars like Dwight Howard In February 2019 Booker T sued video game company Activision over the Call of Duty Black Ops 4 character David Prophet Wilkes The lawsuit claimed that the Black Ops character contained similarities to Booker s GI Bro comic book character citation needed On 19 September 2021 All41 Studios and Microgaming released WWE Legends Link amp Win 80 a game for mobile and desktop browsers Booker T was featured as one of four main characters alongside Macho Man Randy Savage Stone Cold Steve Austin and Eddie Guerrero On May 9th 2022 Booker was the subject of the Biography WWE Legends Video games EditWCW Video gamesYear Title Notes1998 WCW Nitro Video game debutWCW nWo Revenge1999 WCW nWo ThunderWCW Mayhem2000 WCW Backstage AssaultWWE Video gamesYear Title Notes2002 WWE WrestleMania X8 Video game debutWWE Road to WrestleMania X8WWE SmackDown Shut Your Mouth Cover athlete2003 WWE Crush HourWWE WrestleMania XIXWWE Raw 2WWE SmackDown Here Comes the Pain2004 WWE Day of ReckoningWWE Survivor SeriesWWE SmackDown vs Raw2005 WWE WrestleMania 21WWE AftershockWWE Day of Reckoning 2WWE SmackDown vs Raw 20062006 WWE SmackDown vs Raw 20072007 WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2008 Billed as King Booker 2011 WWE 122012 WWE 132014 WWE SuperCardWWE 2K15 Motion capture Next gen amp PC 2015 WWE 2KWWE 2K16 Motion capture Next gen amp PC WWE Immortals2016 WWE 2K17 Motion capture Next gen amp PC 2017 WWE 2K18 Motion captureWWE Champions2018 WWE 2K19 Motion capture2019 WWE 2K20 Motion capture2020 WWE 2K Battlegrounds2022 WWE 2K22 King Booker and Booker TTNA Video gamesYear Title Notes2008 TNA Impact Video game debut Cover athleteTNA Wrestling Mobile gamePersonal life EditRelationships and family Edit Huffman married his first wife Levestia on May 23 1996 Booker presented her to the Nitro crowd the night after his WCW World Heavyweight Championship win at Bash at the Beach 81 Levestia was also used to further the feud between himself and Jeff Jarrett when Jarrett hit her in the head with a guitar on Nitro on July 31 2000 However they divorced on May 8 2001 82 Huffman has a son from a previous relationship with a high school girlfriend named Brandon born in 1982 83 9 with whom he has a strained relationship due to his time spent on the road 84 Booker married his girlfriend of five years Sharmell Sullivan in February 2005 85 The couple welcomed their twins a boy named Kendrick and a girl named Kennedy in 2010 86 Huffman and his brother Lash opened a wrestling school in Houston in 2005 24 He is also a fan of Formula One and was in attendance at the 2012 U S Grand Prix as a guest of Lewis Hamilton Reality of Wrestling Edit In 2005 Huffman started his own wrestling promotion in Houston Texas called Pro Wrestling Alliance In 2012 the promotion rebranded to Reality of Wrestling After his final 2013 event Christmas Chaos ROW was near to close but Houston business man Hilton Koch who assisted the event became a partner with Booker 87 On February 21 2015 Booker T and Stevie Ray reunited as Harlem Heat for one last match in Reality of Wrestling for the promotion s The Final Heat event They defeated the Heavenly Bodies to win the ROW Tag Team Championship On March 14 the titles were vacated In February 2020 Booker T returned to wrestle for the promotion in an eight man tag team match Politics Edit On December 10 2016 Huffman announced that he would be running in the 2019 Houston mayoral election 88 He was quoted saying that 2020 is going to be a new era in the city of Houston We re going to be looked at now from a different perspective The cool city 2020 is coming 89 Huffman was quoted in 2016 stating his focus for the three years leading up to the 2019 election would be concentrated on the city s homeless underprivileged and low income areas 89 However in September 2019 Huffman was not among the 12 names listed who applied for the election ballot 90 Legal issues Edit Huffman spent nineteen months in prison after pleading guilty to armed robberies at Wendy s restaurants in Houston He and his partners wore Wendy s uniforms during the holdups since they had been working there for 2 years Because of the gunmen s uniforms and familiarity with the fast food chain s operations police suspected the robberies were inside jobs and it did not take long before Huffman and three other men were found He pleaded guilty in December 1987 to two aggravated robbery counts and was sentenced to five years in prison Huffman was released after serving 19 months and was placed on parole until April 1992 9 Championships and accomplishments Edit King Booker as World Heavyweight Champion with his wife Queen Sharmell Booker T as TNA Legends Champion Cauliflower Alley Club Tag Team Award 2018 with Stevie Ray 91 George Tragos Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2018 Global Wrestling Federation GWF Tag Team Championship 3 times with Stevie Ray 92 Las Vegas Pro Wrestling LVPW UWF Heavyweight Championship 1 time 93 Prairie Wrestling Alliance PWA Heavyweight Championship 1 time 94 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Inspirational Wrestler of the Year 2000 95 Most Improved Wrestler of the Year 1998 95 Tag Team of the Year 1995 1996 with Stevie Ray 95 Ranked No 5 of the top 500 wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2001 96 Southern Championship Wrestling Florida SCW Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship 1 time Texas All Pro Wrestling TAP Heavyweight Championship 1 time 97 Reality of Wrestling ROW Tag Team Championship 1 time with Stevie Ray 98 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling TNA Legends Championship 1 time inaugural 99 TNA World Tag Team Championship 1 time with Scott Steiner 99 TNA Year End Awards 2 times Memorable Moment of the Year 2007 100 Who To Watch in 2008 2007 100 World Championship Wrestling WCW World Heavyweight Championship 4 times 101 WCW World Television Championship 6 times 102 WCW United States Heavyweight Championship 1 time 103 WCW World Tag Team Championship 10 times with Stevie Ray 104 Ninth WCW Triple Crown Champion World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment WWE WCW Championship 1 time b World Heavyweight Championship 1 time 105 World Tag Team Championship 3 times with Test 1 Goldust 1 and Rob Van Dam 1 29 WCW Tag Team Championship 1 time c with Test WWE Intercontinental Championship 1 time 106 107 WWE United States Championship 3 times 103 WWF Hardcore Championship 2 times 108 King of the Ring 2006 109 Sixteenth Triple Crown Champion Eighth Grand Slam Champion under original format WWE Hall of Fame 2 times Class of 2013 individually 7 Class of 2019 as a member of Harlem Heat 110 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Most Underrated 2002 111 Worst Television Announcer 2017 112 Notes Edit See Booker T Plays WikiFact or WikiFiction Reality of Wrestling July 10 2021 Archived from the original on December 21 2021 Retrieved July 15 2021 My name is Booker T Huffman Jr and the T stands for nothing it s just T period that s been my name since birth Oliver Greg September 26 2012 The book on Booker T ends too early Slam Wrestling Retrieved July 15 2021 His father died shortly after he was born so Booker T Huffman Jr Junior to his family is raised by his mother WWE Hall of Famer Booker T Announces Mayoral Run TheWrap December 13 2016 Retrieved July 15 2021 Booker T s full name is Booker T Huffman Jr WWE CEO Vince McMahon once used N word in awkward comedy routine with wrestler Booker T New York Daily News July 24 2015 Archived from the original on July 27 2015 Retrieved July 15 2021 wrestler Booker T Huffman Jr a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Booker T s fifth WCW World Heavyweight Championship win overall and first under the WWF banner where it was known as the WCW Championship Booker T s eleventh WCW World Tag Team Championship reign overall and first under the WWF banner where it was known as the WCW Tag Team Championship References Edit a b c Huffman Booker T with Andrew William Wright 2012 Booker T From Prison to Promise Life Before the Squared Circle Aurora Ill Medallion Press ISBN 978 1605424682 Caldwell James January 30 2009 Caldwell s AEW report 1 29 Ongoing virtual time coverage of Spike TV broadcast on Friday afternoon Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved July 27 2021 Booker T WWE bio WWE Retrieved July 27 2021 GI Bro vs Mike Awesome Ambulance Match Nitro May 29 2000 WWE Archived from the original on December 21 2021 Retrieved January 26 2013 King Booker s bio World Wrestling Entertainment Archived from the original on July 17 2007 Retrieved July 16 2008 Booker T Profile amp Match Listing Internet Wrestling Database IWD Internet Wrestling Database Retrieved November 19 2017 a b c d Booker T bio World Wrestling Entertainment Retrieved November 19 2017 a b c d e f g h i j k l John Powell June 18 2000 Booker T Wrestling s consummate performer SLAM Wrestling Retrieved June 17 2008 permanent dead link a b c Mike Wise August 17 2017 Professional wrestler Booker T s raw life Andscape Retrieved November 19 2017 Scott Beeby The Life and Times of Booker T Huffman Bleacher Report Retrieved November 19 2017 WWE Wrestler Spotlight Booker T Today s Knockout Archived from the original on May 4 2016 Retrieved March 27 2016 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc John M Milner Andy McNamara and Greg Oliver June 2 2005 Booker T s bio SLAM Wrestling Archived from the original on July 18 2012 Retrieved July 15 2021 Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards p 139 Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards p 142 a b Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards p 144 Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards p 147 a b John F Molinaro September 8 2001 Booker T overwhelmed by WWF success SLAM Wrestling Retrieved June 17 2008 Martin Finn July 21 1998 Power Slam Magazine issue 49 Down and Out Great American Bash 1998 SW Publishing pp 19 21 He then connected with a Harlem sidekick and polished Benoit off with a missile dropkick to win the series by pinfall four matches to three a b c d Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards pp 149 150 a b Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards p 151 Power Slam Staff March 22 2000 Power Slam Magazine issue 69 Heroes of Wrestling 2 Superbrawl 2000 SW Publishing pp 23 25 a b c d e Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards pp 152 153 Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards p 154 a b c d Jason Clevett June 22 2005 Booker T to play two more years SLAM Wrestling Retrieved April 17 2008 a b c Booker T Off the Record with Michael Landsberg November 5 2001 TSN a b c d e Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards pp 108 110 Jon Waldman November 1 2001 Booker T looking beyond Alliance angle SLAM Wrestling Retrieved November 19 2017 World Wrestling Entertainment June 2 2001 Booker T Vs Buff Bagwell WWF Raw is War a b World Tag Team Championship history World Wrestling Entertainment Retrieved November 19 2017 Booker T Reveals Incredible Damage Costs from His Iconic Store Brawl with Stone Cold a b Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards p 111 a b c d e Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards pp 112 113 Championship History Intercontinental World Wrestling Entertainment Retrieved November 19 2017 TJ Madigan August 16 2003 Final chapter for Booker T SLAM Wrestling Retrieved November 19 2017 a b Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards p 114 a b c d Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents 2007 Wrestling almanac amp book of facts Wrestling s historical cards pp 115 117 Martin Finn January 21 2005 Power Slam Magazine issue 127 WWE Armageddon 2004 SW Publishing p 24 Sokol Chris Main events salvage No Way Out SLAM Sports Retrieved November 19 2018 The Boogeyman def Booker T amp Sharmell 2 on 1 Match WWE Archived from the original on January 17 2007 Retrieved November 13 2018 via Wayback Machine a b Booker and Sharmell released by WWE SLAM Wrestling October 16 2007 Retrieved November 19 2017 Tim Baines October 1 2006 Booker s fit to be a king Ottawa Sun Retrieved November 19 2017 Brian Elliott July 24 2006 Booker reigns after the Bash SLAM Wrestling Retrieved November 19 2017 Adam Martin May 10 2006 Huge correction on Booker T Batista WWE sources say fight was legit WrestleView com Retrieved November 19 2017 Adam Martin May 10 2006 Batista comments on Booker T It had been brewing for a long time WrestleView com Dave Batista Jeremy Roberts 2007 Batista Unleashed Simon amp Schuster p 249 ISBN 978 1 4165 4410 4 a b c Nick Tywalk December 11 2007 WWE departure left Booker T feeling unwell SLAM Wrestling Retrieved November 19 2017 permanent dead link Booker T Discusses His Decision to Leave WWE In 2007 Being Impacted by Eddie Guerrero amp Chris Benoit Situations How He Ended Up in TNA Nick Tywalk November 28 2007 Booker has long term plans as T in TNA SLAM Wrestling Retrieved November 19 2017 James Caldwell September 20 2009 Caldwell s TNA No Surrender PPV Report 9 20 Ongoing virtual time coverage of Kurt Angle vs Sting vs Matt Morgan vs A J Styles PWTorch Retrieved October 18 2009 Greg Parks October 18 2009 PARKS TNA BOUND FOR GLORY PPV REPORT 10 18 Ongoing virtual time coverage of the pre game and first hour of the show PWTorch Retrieved October 18 2009 Booker T Makes Surprise Appearance Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Archived from the original on May 23 2010 Retrieved May 22 2010 Larry Csonka May 22 2010 UPDATED Is Booker T Returning To TNA 411Mania Retrieved November 19 2017 a b Luis Santiago Resultados Histeria Boricua Bayamon 01 06 09 Archived from the original on January 21 2009 Retrieved February 19 2009 Alex Ruiz Glez September 17 2010 Perros del Mal Resultados 16 de septiembre Booker T se une a Konnan y a La Sociedad Dogs of Evil Results September 16 Booker T joins Konnan and The Society Super Luchas Magazine in Spanish Retrieved November 19 2017 Adam Martin January 31 2011 WWE Royal Rumble PPV Results Wrestleview com Retrieved November 19 2017 James Caldwell February 2 2011 WWE News Smackdown spoiler Booker T to begin new WWE role on this Friday s episode of Smackdown Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved February 1 2011 Caldwell James February 4 2011 WWE News Booker T joining Stone Cold Steve Austin as coach on Tough Enough contains Smackdown SPOILER Pro Wrestling Torch Retrieved February 4 2011 Joey Styles November 27 2011 Cody Rhodes picked the wrong man to anger in Booker T Richard Gray November 27 2011 WWE Continues To Build Booker T vs Cody Rhodes Retrieved November 19 2017 Jim Adler December 16 2011 Booker T returning to the ring at TLC WrestleHeat com Retrieved November 19 2017 Kevin Powers December 18 2011 Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes def Booker T WWE Retrieved November 19 2017 Untitled Archived from the original on August 17 2013 Dave Hillhouse January 7 2012 Smackdown The champs are here Slam Sports Canadian Online Explorer Retrieved November 19 2017 Tom Herrera March 26 2012 Booker T joins Team Teddy WWE p 7 Archived from the original on March 29 2012 Retrieved March 27 2012 Mr McMahon names Booker T the new SmackDown General Manager WWE July 31 2012 Retrieved November 19 2017 WWE Booker T has joined the announce team for Raw as part of a commentary shake up Sky Sports January 9 2015 Retrieved November 19 2017 Otterson Joe October 6 2022 WWE Sets New Commentary Teams for Raw SmackDown NXT EXCLUSIVE Variety Retrieved October 7 2022 Kurt Angle Full 2016 Interview Title Match Wrestling YouTube August 24 2016 Archived from the original on December 21 2021 Retrieved November 19 2017 a b Booker T Part 1 Legends with JBL August 1 2016 1 minutes in WWE Network WWE Booker Huffman IMDb Retrieved November 19 2017 Kevin Powers August 27 2012 WWE s Most Heated Sibling Rivalries WWE Retrieved November 19 2017 The 16 most decorated champions in WWE history WWE Retrieved October 15 2020 Martin Fin November 2006 The Firsts supplement Power Slam SW Publishing 148 5 The WWE Universe s picks for best champions ever WWE September 15 2013 Retrieved September 16 2013 Jen Hunt April 19 2007 King Booker rules the airwaves Retrieved November 19 2017 Kara A Medalis October 30 2007 Tune in to WWE week on Family Feud World Wrestling Entertainment Retrieved November 19 2017 Wrestler Booker T and Lawless Archived from the original on May 20 2013 Retrieved January 23 2013 Pro Wrestling Illustrated The Wrestler Inside Wrestling Volume 50 2012 Inside Zinio Digital Magazines Archived December 13 2015 at the Wayback Machine Zinio com Retrieved on October 21 2015 Heated Conversations Hosted By Booker T Radio com April 27 2018 WWE Legends Link amp Win Online Slot by Microgaming Play For Free amp Real Slot Gods September 13 2021 Retrieved October 28 2021 WCW Monday Nitro 7 10 2000 www ddtdigest com Texas Divorces 1968 2014 Ancestry com Permira ModusLink Global Solutions Retrieved November 19 2017 Nitro report on January 5 1998 Retrieved November 19 2017 Stated in the March 2002 issue of WWE Raw Magazine and in the book WWE Unscripted Booker T and Sharmell s Wedding Wrestling s Favorite Power Couple ESSENCE com March 19 2009 Archived from the original on January 31 2010 Retrieved July 23 2010 Rossen Jake The Newborn Identity of Booker T Crixeo Archived from the original on August 19 2017 Retrieved August 19 2017 Sean Pendergast April 2 2014 Booker T s Reality of Wrestling Gets a Second Chance Just as He Did Houston Press Retrieved November 19 2017 Brett Barrouquere December 12 2016 WWE Hall of Famer Booker T I m in for Houston mayor s race Houston Chronicle Retrieved November 19 2017 a b Booker T Talks His Run For Mayor of Houston Texas Newhoustonmusic com New Houston Music Outlet February 9 2017 Retrieved November 17 2017 Watkins Katie Rice Jen September 25 2019 Turner Leads Houston s Mayoral Race And Voters Support METRO Bond HPM KHOU 11 Poll Finds Houston Public Media Retrieved October 18 2019 Harlem Heat Will Be Honored in Las Vegas Cauliflower Alley Club www caulifloweralleyclub org Archived from the original on August 28 2018 Retrieved December 19 2017 GWF Tag Team Championship history Retrieved November 19 2017 TNA Wrestler profiles Booker T Bodyslamming com Archived from the original on October 6 2008 Retrieved October 17 2008 PWA Hysteria Results PWAWrestling com Archived from the original on July 6 2011 Retrieved October 12 2010 a b c PWI Awards Pro Wrestling Illustrated Kappa Publishing Group Retrieved November 19 2017 Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI 500 for 2001 Internet Wrestling Database Retrieved November 19 2017 Royal Duncan amp Gary Will 2000 Wrestling Title Histories 4th ed Archeus Communications ISBN 0 9698161 5 4 RoW Tag Team Title Houston Wrestling Titles com Retrieved January 28 2018 a b TNA championship histories Archived from the original on March 7 2010 a b Droste Ryan January 15 2006 Impact Results 1 14 06 Christian amp Rhino vs AMW Sting is heard WrestleView Retrieved June 20 2012 WCW World Heavyweight Championship history World Wrestling Entertainment October 17 2008 Retrieved November 19 2017 WCW World Television Championship history Retrieved November 19 2017 a b WWE United States Championship history Retrieved November 19 2017 WCW World Tag Team Championship history Retrieved November 19 2017 King Booker s first World Heavyweight Championship reign World Wrestling Entertainment Archived from the original on June 2 2012 Retrieved April 18 2009 Booker T s first Intercontinental Championship reign Retrieved November 19 2017 WWE Intercontinental Championship Retrieved August 5 2020 WWE Hardcore Championship history World Wrestling Entertainment Retrieved November 19 2017 King of the Ring Tournaments PPV amp TV Tournaments prowrestlinghistory com Melok Bobby March 11 2019 Harlem Heat to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2019 WWE Retrieved August 22 2020 Meltzer Dave January 26 2011 Biggest issue of the year The 2011 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards Issue Wrestling Observer Newsletter Campbell CA 1 40 ISSN 1083 9593 Alvarez Bryan March 15 2018 WOR 2017 WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER AWARDS DISCUSSION AND MORE Wrestling Observer Newsletter Retrieved March 15 2018 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Booker Huffman Booker T on WWE com Booker T s profile at Cagematch net Wrestlingdata com Internet Wrestling Database Booker Huffman at IMDb Preceded byBrock Lesnar King of the Ring tournament winner2006 Succeeded byWilliam Regal Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Booker T wrestler amp oldid 1132483509, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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