Club 520 - Booker T on WILD Hulk Hogan moment, Steve Austin supermarket brawl, WrestleMania

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Goodbye.

The Volume.

WWE World,

please welcome to the stage

your hosts,

Jeff Teague,

DJ Wells, and Brandon Hendricks.

Yo, yo, yo, what's going on? How y'all doing? We go by the name of Club 520. We come from Indianapolis, Indiana.
We out here in Vegas with it. WWE World.
WrestleMania, man. It's a blessing to be out here, man.
I got my stand co-host with me to my far left. I got my dog, Bishop B.
Heading out the pre-release. How you what, Nasty? What's up, baby? What's up, WrestleMania, Las Vegas? Yes, sir.
See my guys out there. What's up, boy? For sure, we locked in to my far right.
We got my dog, Young Nacho. Young T, how you what, brother? I'm cooling, bro.
Happy to be here, man. I'm excited.
We got a great show for you guys. Everything should be lit.
Man, we are excited, man.

Shout out to Chon for providing us

this wonderful opportunity, man.

But listen, man, it ain't just us.

We got a wonderful guest for y'all, man.

It's a time.

One of the best to ever do it.

Hall of Fame, one of the best.

Booker T, man.

Bring them on out.

Can you dig it, sucker?

Sucker.

Sucker.

Yeah.

Can you dig much, especially young Nacho over here, sir. Man, first and foremost, we wanted to say thank you, man.
We are honored to have a legend in our presence, man, on our platform. We talk about you so much, especially young Nacho over here, man.
So for you to be up here with us is a blessing, man. We appreciate you sliding on us, man.
Already, dog, already. It's WrestleMania.
Happy Mania, everybody. Yes, sir.
Oh, yes, man. A cosmic professional, man.
But listen, man, we're going to start the episode off right, man. Shout out to Tom.
It's called Making the Milestones. Now listen, we know you're a very successful man.
A constant professional, man. But listen, man, we're going to start the episode off right, man.
Shout out to Chon. It's called Making the Milestones.
Now, listen, we know you're a very successful man. You've done a lot of things in your career.
But I want to ask you, what's that first time where you were just like, all right, I made it? Maybe nothing crazy. Maybe not the home or the house, but it's just like, all right, I'm established now.
No, I never really thought about it like that. But I remember, I think, you know, it was actually like in 1991, actually.
It was when I first got started. And I started in this company called the Global Wrestling Federation.
And I was on ESPN, you know, every week on television. But I was only making like $100, you know, to do the show.
And I remember going to the Virgin Islands and everybody, all the brothers on the island knew me. I was like, oh shit, I'm here, you know what I mean? What's up, Quinn? Exactly, you know what I mean? I was like, I think maybe I need to quit my job, you know, I was working at this warehouse, and I was like, maybe I need to quit my job and really, really pursue professional wrestling.
And I think that's when the light bulb really went off. Man, that is dope, man.
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Make some noise for Chime one time for bringing us out here. So.
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One more time for Chime, man

Go pay the bills, man. Go to Bob, baby.
Look, I got a question. What's your question, Doc? Man, where did your first name come from, Black Snow, bro? Oh, man, Black Snow.
Where did Black Snow come from? Black Snow, man. Actually, I went to this hotel downtown, the W Hotel, I think it was downtown Houston.
And I went to go see the Spoken Word. And it was this brother, and his name was Black Snow.
And he did this awesome, awesome poem. And it was about Miss Jackson and her three boys.
And I was so enthralled with this dude, man, because he totally captured me. And I say, man, one day I got to bring Black Snow to the big stage.
You know what I mean? So that's all it was. I was just paying hummets to a brother who inspired me, man.
Okay, love, bro. Hey, man, that's fire.
Booker T orders. You was woke early on, big dog.
I also heard you was a drum major, too, man, in high school, bro. Yeah, man.
I was a dancer. Big stepper.
I was a dancer, man. I never played sports or anything like that.
But I used to be part of a crew. We used to be called the remote controls.
We was bad, man. We was bad.
Excuse me? That's a hell of a name, too. Yeah, right.
A hell of a name. That's when the remote control first came out.
What year was it? Hold on, Book. What year was it? We ain't gonna even talk about that.
What year was it? Black Snow, remote control crew. Y'all got some names for y'all on this book.
No, man. You know, but yeah, I was a drum major in school, man.
I was kind of like a nerd. I used to make my own clothes and stuff like that.
You know, but kind of like scoped me into the person I am today, though. Oh, okay.
That's where the Spinner Rooney come from. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I was breakdancing on my auntie's front porch, man. We had the cardboard box, man.
It used to be cold out there. I remember that's what I remember most about, you know, the Spinner Rudy, those cold, cold nights, you know, working, trying to figure it out on the patio because we couldn't do it in the house, you know, on the patio, man.
But no, man, great memories. What music was y'all dancing to? Craftwork, man.
Craftwork, Numbers. Okay.
That song called Numbers was one of the hottest songs back in the day. This group called Craftwork.
I think that was from Japan. And Bad, Bad, man.
So if y'all ever get a chance, check out some Craftwork. You millennials.
You millennials. All right.
Listen, we got a lot of questions about your origins, but I think for B-Him, myself, and T,

and probably the fans as well,

we have one question that we got to start off with.

Yeah.

Come on, man.

Hulk Hogan.

We coming for you.

Man, what happened right there?

Iconic moment in wrestling history.

What happened right there, man?

Hey, man. I'm from the neighborhood.
I'm from the neighborhood. And that's a word that, you know, just to educate, just to educate everybody.
That's a word in my neighborhood that was used on a regular basis. But I can tell you, other than that one moment, that's the only time that any of my peers has ever heard me say that word.
And the reason why, I feel like that was perhaps the most memorable moment in my career from a negative standpoint, because I got so many young black kids looking up to me and if they they see booker t they say if booker t can say that word it's cool for them to say it and my thing is with young black kids i always try to teach them that you got to know how to change your levels you know what i mean when you're going for a job interview you got to know how to conduct yourself when you're on television in front of millions of people you got to know how to conduct yourself. When you're on television in front of millions of people, you got to know how to conduct yourself.
And for me, that word, I feel like should be eradicated from all of our vocabularies as black folk, because we are the only ones that look at ourselves and look down on ourselves. That's why I feel like that moment, for me, was one of the worst moments in my career because so many young black kids, as well as white kids, Mexican kids, Bad Bunny, Bad Bunny, you know, as a kid, looked up to Booker T.
So I just want to make sure I represent properly. Most definitely.
Now, it's interesting that you say that because, you know what I'm saying, a lot of us love that moment, obviously, just because we've all been there from a mental standpoint. Just seeing it happen is like that.
No doubt. But then we look at other situations like with Kirk Angle and saying his preferred choice of a name.
Saying, I know you guys revere that, but that's something that hurts me. So for hearing you say that, it's like, you know, yeah, you guys love that, but that's like not one of my proudest moments.
That's just an interesting perspective from that situation for sure. I mean, like I say, I'm from the neighborhood.
Yes, sir. But like I say, I wouldn't have made it this far in this business.
35 years, guys. Make some noise for that.
35. 35 years.
I know I still look like I'm in my 30s. I get it.
He only 35. It's the hair color.
I'm 35. You've been in the business since I was a kid.
Exactly my point. But you don't make it that far by osmosis.
You don't make it that far by slipping on a banana peel. I mean, preparation is the only luck you're going to have in life, let alone this business.
For sure. But we got to take back.
I'm a fan fan. I've always watched wrestling since I was a little kid, and I remember you back in the WCW days, and I fell in love with you with Harlem Heat and Stevie Ray.
You and your brother, y'all came out with that theme song and that music, and like you said, as a young black kid, I seen y'all on TV, and'm like, oh, shit. Like they wrestle.
Yeah. And that moment right there made me fall in love with wrestling.
So when they said we had Booker T on the show, I'm like, he was. I was fanned out and they make fun of me because I lift weights and he called me Booker.
No, man. Representation, man, is very, very important.
You know, when I was coming up, I got a chance to watch jyd the junkyard dog he was he was my guy that i looked at and say man i want to be like that dude man i want to represent like that dude and for me and my brother we got that chance you know we say let's just get our foot in the door that's the only thing we need just let us get our foot in the door and we'll do the rest. And, man, we had a hell of a run.
Ten-time WCW Tag Team Champions along with our sister, Sherry Martell. Man, and we beat the hell out of Buff Bagwell and the Patriots.
The nasty boys, the Steiners. Man, we beat the hell out of all those guys, man.
And it felt damn good being able to go out there and, you know, put ourselves in a position where, like, young people like yourself was watching us, but so many others around the world to inspire, to be able to inspire, to be able to be the best that you possibly could be in this world, man. But, no, I appreciate that.
Did you introduce your brother to wrestling? No, no, my brother introduced me to wrestling, actually. I came home.
Everybody knows my story. I came home from prison.
But my brother, he always wanted to be a wrestler. And he knew this guy opening a wrestling school, a guy by the name of Ivan Pusky, who's a WWE Hall of Famer as well.
And he was like, hey, man, you want to go to this wrestling school? And I was like, man, I'd love to, but it was $3,000. And I didn't have the money to go to the school.
And my boss that I was working for sponsored me to go to the school. And my brother and I, we went at the same time.
But I always say that I'm living my brother's dream. This is something my brother wanted to do.
And then my brother had a tryout, and I just followed my brother to the tryout. And one of the guys by the name of Hot Stuff, Eddie Gilbert, was there.
And he said, who's this guy? And he goes, that's my brother. Is he a worker? He goes, yes, but we're looking for a tag team.
Boom. There it is.
The beginning of the M&E experience, which came along later on to become the Harlem Heat. Yeah, man.
Great time. Yeah.
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What's up, man?

You got to know their first name, though.

What?

Yeah.

Ebony.

Ebony Experience, man.

The what? The Ebony Experience. Bad, man.
Booker T and Stevie, right? The Ebony experience. That's just like the remote controls, man.
That's innovative. Now, you know why we would say the Ebony experience? It was this black wrestler back in the day.
He used to wear a mask, and his name was Mr. Ebony.

And he used to get his ass whooped every time.

We'd say, we going to represent for Mr. Ebony properly.

And that became the Ebony experience.

All right, that's hard.

Because I got something called the Hendrix Experience.

That's also what we wanted to say.

All right.

It was definitely.

For sure.

It might be two different programs, though.

Definitely two different. Word.

Most definitely. Listen, man.

So many questions about a historic career.

I know we talked about this.

When you kind of had first transition over from WCW

to WWE now,

you were part of one of the most historic matches.

And we see a lot of these people on Instagram

now. They're doing, like, the independent wrestling type situation where they out in the airport with it.
They out in the streets with it. But y'all was one of the first to go to the supermarket with it.
Yeah, yeah. Please talk to you about that historic match situation, man.
Nah, man. The grocery store fight with Steve Austin.
You know, it was an iconic moment. I never imagined it, you know,

weathering the storm and, you know, lasting

more than 20 years.

I never imagined that or anything.

Steve and I, we were just going out and

creating, you know, work,

creating some magic

and doing what we do best.

That's entertain the fans.

At that point in time,

that was called

the payoff, which, you know, it was, that was called the payoff,

which, you know,

it was time for me to

put Steve Austin

in the proper position.

And for me to do it

to the best of my ability.

I watched that video

literally six months ago

for the first time.

Wow.

All right?

Six months ago,

the first time I watched

the Stone Cold Steve Austin

and Booker T in the grocery store.

And I swear to God,

I cried real tears from the beginning of it to the end because it was that damn funny. I did some of my best work because I was crying.
I was begging. I was bargaining.
I was bleeding. I was doing everything to get out of that ass whooping.
But at the end of it, man, it was some really, really beautiful work. And one of WWE's most iconic moments to where they play it every year around this time.
I know we skipped over to WWE, but I like to take it back to WCW when you actually won the championship. And I know it was in a controversial way with Vince Russo and Hulk Hogan when they did what they did, but Jeff Jarrett came out and lay down, but then you fought later that night and won a championship.
Like, what was that moment for you? You know, that, that night with, when I won the championship, you know, the stuff went went down with Hogan and Vince Russo.

I really feel like if that wouldn't have happened,

my championship win wouldn't have been as big.

I think I really needed all of that chaos

in order for people to really understand

what was really, really going on

when I finally won the championship. But it was a great moment.
It was a great moment. I had about literally five to ten minutes to prepare for winning the World Heavyweight Championship my first time.
But I thank Jeff Jarrett more than anything. I thank Jeff Jarrett because, man, he was such a professional.
He went out there and made me feel so comfortable and put me in the perfect position to go out there and become the World Heavyweight Champion for the first time. If it wasn't for Jeff Jarrett, I don't know if it would have ever happened.
I really thank that dude, man. What was going through my mind was I tell you, it was a surreal moment because winning the World Heavyweight Championship was a moment that I never thought about.
I never put myself in that position. I always just wanted to be the best damn wrestler in that locker room.
I always used to tell the guys, go follow that. You know what I mean? I'm top five in the world.
That's what I used to say. And then when it came time for me to actually win it, I questioned myself because I wondered if the fans would actually take me being in that position as world heavyweight champion.
And I remember winning that night, and I went to my hotel room, and I sat on the edge of my bed for, I don't know, maybe an hour. And I didn't even go out, and I didn't party or anything.
I didn't have one drink that night. And I sat on the edge of my bed for, I don't know, maybe an hour.
And I didn't even go out and I didn't party or anything. I didn't have one drink that night.
And I went to sleep and I woke up the next morning. I had TV for Nitro.
And man, I realized everybody had partied for me that night. Everybody was so freaking glad I won the World Heavyweight Championship.
And man, that really put a stamp of approval on that moment for me. It really did.
You talk about it being one of the most celebrated wrestlers around, not even from the fans who obviously love you, but from your peers. Because what people don't know is, that's a grind.
If you could, could you tell us what a day in the life as a professional wrestler is like? You know, well, actually it's a grind. A day is really hard to explain.
Maybe, say, years. Okay.
I never, like, throughout my whole wrestling career, every time I was watching football on Sunday,

it was in an arena.

It was never at home.

All right?

So I was on the road constantly.

I remember when I joined and signed with WWE,

I used to have a boat in WCW,

and I used to go on my boat every weekend.

I'd be out fishing, hanging out,

drinking a beer, having fun.

Then I signed with WWE.

And I worked, grind, grind.

And one day I wanted to go fishing on my boat, all right?

So I had to go get a new sticker put on my boat.

And I realized it was 2005, four years later. That's how much I had been working.
I hadn't been out on my boat in four years. So it's a grind.
It's a constant grind. You got to have blinders on.
It's one of those, when you hear no days off, that's a true statement. I remember watching the documentary with Jake to Snake Roberts, Beyond the Mat.
And he said, you know, when you signed that WWE contract, he was talking to his daughter. He said, when you signed that WWE contract, baby, you are obligated to work every day.
That's the grind. So for me, I never took any vacations or anything like that throughout my career.
My wife and I, we got married. I didn't take a honeymoon.
All of that stuff came later. It was all about getting through this thing, finishing it properly, and getting to the other side, and then enjoying the fruits of the labor like I'm doing right now.
I'm living my best life. Just turned 60, and I feel that way.
Happy birthday, bro. Happy birthday.
Looking good, brother. Looking good.
Yeah. That's something you can relate to, Jeff.
Obviously, with being a professional athlete, you know what I'm saying? Y'all schedules are so crazy. People don't understand the sacrifice that goes into that for your craft.
Yeah, you definitely sacrifice a lot, especially your family time, but it's nowhere near being a wrestler. I mean, like he said, it's every single day.
We get almost five to six months off in the summer to have that time to spend with your family and stuff like that. But for him, to do it all year around and for the fans, we really appreciate it because we're fans.
We love it. But man, that's unbelievable.
There's no way in hell I could do it. Well, you know, it's about bandaging that time too because, you know, it's not a matter of if you're going to get hurt.
It's just a matter of when. You know, so for me, I always thought about, you know, working a certain way on the house show, working a certain way on TV overseas, you know what I mean, pay-per-view.
Everything was different. Structuring, you know, the workouts, you know, like on the road, I would just do push-ups and the rubber band, a lot of baby oil.
No diddy. No diddy.
No diddy, man. Go on now.
Go on, Booker City. No diddy.
Hey, why y' Clamping for baby oil Y'all out of pocket My fault No no My fault No doubt What hobbies You got now though Post retirement man What you pick up What you doing Like to you know Entertain yourself now Like what Ret? Retirement.

Retirement?

He talking about retirement.

He ain't retiring.

You ain't retiring.

I'm talking about from the ring, though.

I'm sure you got a little bit more down.

I just had a match like two months ago.

I just beat the hell out of Zillify 2,

the next big star coming up in this business.

Are you wrestling for?

I'm busy with my wrestling school,

Reality of Wrestling.

If you guys haven't tapped in to Reality of Wrestling, make sure you subscribe, you know what I mean? You know, and click, you know, all that stuff. We're trying to get up to a million YouTube subscribers right now.
We're at 850,000 subscribers now. But I'm working with my own television show, working with my students.
I've had my school now for 20 years.

Wow.

Congratulations.

I love playing golf, you know what I mean, getting out on the golf course,

you know, hitting the links, you know, just to, you know,

stay stress-free more than anything.

Staying in the gym, that's one of my all-time hobbies that I hope to have

as long as I live.

I ask God, you know, just give me my health more than anything. I don't ask for money.
You know, man, make the money. You know what I mean? Just give me my health, and I'll get the work done.
I ask God, you know, just let me finish my work, you know, and then we'll meet in the middle. You know what I mean? But no, man, I'm all about, you know, retirement is not something I think about.
You know, when I retire, I think I'll be six feet under. It's about, you know, staying on the grind.
It's about what's next. It's not about the past.
You know what I mean? It's truly about the future and what's next. You know, so I'm thinking about my 10 year plan, man.
I'm working my 10-year plan. What's going to happen over these next 10 years? What can I create over these next 10 years more than anything? Now, who does Booker T model his golf game after? Probably, definitely not a Tiger Woods or anything like that.
I'm way on the down. I'm way down here.
All right. Tiger and Charles Barkley.
I would say Charles Barkley. I ain't that far down.
I'm in the middle. I'm in the middle somewhere.
I would say it's Charles and Tiger. I'm in the middle.
So, nah, I wanted to ask like I said

I'm a huge fan

your first

Wrestlemania moment

when you came over

from WCW

and you had your chance

to be at Wrestlemania

we here

Wrestlemania weekend

what was your first moment like?

man

it was

it was surreal

being in Canada

yeah going against Edge. I remember walking out the curtain.
Before I walked out the curtain, I remember Undertaker, he was sitting in what we call the gorilla position. He said, make sure you take it all in.
I really didn't think about that before he said that. Then I walked out on stage and I stopped and I just looked around.
It was like 70,000 people. And I was like, wow, man, this is awesome.
Because you've got to think about it, 70,000 people coming to see that 20 by 20 square foot. That's it.
That's it. You know what I mean? It's not a football field or anything like that.
It's 20 by 20. And for them to come to see you, the ones that have those sides up, you know what I mean? It's awesome.
It's the most adrenaline rush you're ever going to have. Nothing.
Nothing is ever going to top that moment. So get that out of your head when it's all over with.
Take it and savor that moment, and hopefully you'll get a few more of those moments, you know and for me, you know, I definitely got a chance to have many more of those WrestleMania moments, but for young people that's getting into this business that's, you know that think about it and wonder about it, I say, man go out there and work your ass off to really make it happen, to have that WrestleMania moment at least just one time. Trust me, man.
Something you'll remember for the rest of your life. That's right.
I ain't going to lie. I'm still mad.
I know you won a chip before here. You became champion one time, but at WrestleMania when you you fought Triple H, you were so over.
Like, you were supposed to be the champion that night. You know what? A lot of, so many people, a lot of office guys told me, man, you should have won that night.
I thought you should have won. You know what I mean? And with the angle, yeah, perhaps I should have won that night.
For sure. You know, but honestly, I never really, I never really, I never really lost any sleep over it or anything like that.
I always looked at wrestling a certain way. I always looked at it as a performance.
And I always say, guys, I always say,

if they give me that damn check every time,

I'll take the hill.

Okay.

Because that was a monster check, man.

You feel me?

Yeah.

Hey, he took the sunglasses off.

That's real.

And I need that chicken.

Run that bag for sure. Come on, man.
I feel that. I feel that.
I definitely feel that. All right, but you did win a championship.
No, but I tell you what. I left everything in the ring that night.
No, you did. I went out and performed my ass off.
I didn't win, but I still won. I still won because I'm a kid.

I'm a kid from South Park, Texas

who dropped out of school

in the 10th grade, who went

to prison, all right?

Got locked up, came out

and found myself in the main

event of WrestleMania, all right?

Yeah.

That's a win.

Any way you look at it, any way you look at it, that's a win. Nah, for sure.
That's definitely a win That's a win Nah for sure Any way you look at it Any way you look at it That's a win Nah for sure That's definitely a win But you did win a championship And you won it in my hometown Indianapolis, Indiana I happen to be watching But I was sick I couldn't be there But shout out to Chime I'm able to be at WrestleMania now But I was mad I couldn't be there For the Great American Bash, but I'm glad you won that championship.

It was overdue for us,

WWE fans,

Booker T fans.

I was excited.

Glad you had that moment.

What was that like?

You said,

you just said something earlier,

too.

You said,

when I,

at WrestleMania 19

against Hunter,

you said I was over.

Yeah.

I should have won.

Yeah.

It was shit.

In 2006,

I was way more over than him, bro. King Booker.
I mean, come on. I mean, the greatest king of them all.
The most revered king of them all. You know what, man? That was like some of the best time.
The best time in my wrestling career with my lovely queen, Charmel, at my side where she actually won Miss Black America in Indianapolis, Indiana as well. That was a moment for us, man.
Rey Mysterio, I give him big props, man, because what a worker. What a worker, man.
I couldn't have did it without him. But that moment, that was my crowning moment.
That was the moment for me that really put the icing on the cake as far as my career goes, you know. Oh, tasty high note.
Oh, hi. Don't mind me.
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I don't know if you guys know the stats or anything like that,

but out of the history and the annals of times,

as far as the king of the ring tournament,

I'm the only king to ever win the heavyweight championship.

I'm the only one.

And that wasn't by accident or anything like that.

That was by design.

I said,

after King Booker,

they're going to have to

break the damn mold

because there'll never be

another king

like me ever again.

And I proved that.

I proved that.

I proved that.

So, nah, man,

it was a great time

in my career.

I wouldn't change it

for anything.

Most definitely.

I want to ask you this question because, you know, as a fan,

we see everybody about to come out.

First thing we do, we hear that music.

How did you settle on your theme music?

Because we all know, obviously, when you came out,

you know what I'm saying, we got the flares going.

Everybody geeked about it.

What's that moment you just like, nah, this is it.

This is what I'm about to pull up to work every day with?

I remember back in 91, late 91, when they first, oh, there it is right there too. When they first approached us with this sound right here, it was just out of an abundance of music that we just had to pick from.
And as soon as we heard it, man, I was like, man, that's it. That's the soul.
Just because I wouldn't. It's very, very important as far as the music you have, your name, like such as Booker T and Stevie Ray, championship names, championship names.
We wanted championship music as well. And I wanted everybody, all of the fans to have an experience when they heard that music.
And that music was so unique. It wasn't rap.
You know what I mean? It had its own feel, its own flavor. And when you heard it, you go, oh, man, here come them boys.
And they about to come out here and do some work. You know, so, nah, man, that music, still to this day, man, it hypes me up, man.
My wife got that on her phone. So I got to hear it every day.
You know, but it's awesome. It really is.
That's why I say every time you call a wife, that's what you hear. That's tight.
But what was it like, though, when you changed it, when you became King Booker? Well, no, the royal music, it was majestic, man. I couldn't even call myself Booker T.
It had to be King Booker. It had to be royal.
It had to be majestic. You can't forget the pinky.
When I became King Booker, I had to believe it. I had to believe in it 100%.
I had to believe that somebody hit me on the head and I had amnesia and really woke up believing that I was a king. For two years, for two years, after I was King Booker, I could go to a restaurant and I would never pay for a meal.
I would never pay for a drink because somebody would say, King Booker, please let me get that for you. You know, every time I still to this day.
I'm about to change my name. Right.
That's far. That's far.
You know, so, man, it was so cool playing that role. Plus, I was thinking about Hollywood at that time, and I was thinking about, man, some director, some producer,

they gotta be watching this.

They gotta be seeing it. Oh, man, you know,

this is some great work.

What's your most memorable moment in the ring

with your brother?

Man,

most memorable moment with my brother,

along with

Sister Sherry, would be

Sturgis, South Dakota, Hogwild, against the Steiner brothers. And the reason why, we was the only black guys in Sturgis, South Dakota.
It was crazy. It was the stupidest thing in the world.
I kept asking myself, how did I get here?

It was like freaking being in the Wizard of Oz.

I'm serious.

It was that crazy.

Because, like I said, we was the only brothers there who was going against the Steiner Brothers.

And circled around the ring.

Everybody was on motorcycles.

And they rode out on their Harleys.

And we beat the hell out to Steiner Brothers.

We're going to be talking about the show. around the ring, everybody was on motorcycles.
And they rode out on their Harleys. And we beat the hell out to Steiner.

We almost started a riot, man.

They started throwing rocks

at us, man,

and everything.

Security had to get us

out of there.

I remember telling the fans,

like I say,

it was nothing but bikers.

And I remember getting

the microphone

and I said, listen, I don't like rednecks and you people are rednecks Booker you out of pocket you out of pocket but you was asking for a book I had to act tough just to see if it will work.

I swear to God.

I don't know what I was thinking.

I really don't.

But it worked.

You got those guys.

They were so riled up, man.

It made that match so freaking awesome.

Just getting out of there was the problem.

I can't imagine.

The real match happened after match. For sure.
I'm sure they didn't pick up the tag in there. Now I want to ask you this question, obviously, with the wonderful progression.
Listen, we live at WWE World. What's it like as you see the progression with the company and then you start seeing yourself getting branded so many different places, especially like with video games.
I know for all of us going up playing video games, like it's some classic wrestling games. What's that like when you were part of that now? Because now you got a whole different market.
Nah, man, it's awesome. You know, seeing how far we've come, especially from a video game perspective.
You know, I was, I read into a guy last night. He was like, man, I used to play you in a video game, man.
You know, it was just so cool. I just got an email just last week, you know, about perhaps being a voice, you know, from a commentating perspective, you know what I mean? So I've never had a million years, just like from an action figure, you know what I mean? I remember my first action figure, it was like a cutout, you know, just like a plastic cutout, you know? I thought it was so friggin' awesome to have something like that.
And now I got maybe, you know, 40 action figures, 40 different action figures, you know. So, nah, man, to see the progression of WWE, you know, just from a talent perspective, it's been like so freaking awesome.
For me, having a hand in, you know, working with a lot of that talent and, you know, trying to put a little bit of light like on Trick Williams, you know, working with Trick Williams, like, you know, get a little beat, you know, you know, ad libs, you know, when he come out, you know, to add a little bit, you know, Stephanie Vakira, she's doing so awesome.

up with a little ad lib on some of her stuff.

But now seeing the growth, man, of these young guys and the talent, you know, it's been awesome,

especially in NXT with Shawn Michaels and his team working with that next generation of stars man um i'm so living my best life right now because i think teaching is like my wheelhouse you know coaching is like my wheelhouse i love you know being able to work with the young guys and try to get their full potential out of them. You know what I mean? So, for me, man,

awesome, awesome time right now.

Wouldn't change for anything. Most definitely.
Especially when you talk

about the RLW work. Like you said, using all your experience

and being able to pour back into the next generation

is definitely dope to see. Because, like, you got a lot of people

who get older in the situation. They're like, eh, I don't care.

You can tell your energy's really still there for

those people. You know what?

When I started my wrestling school

20 years ago, I wouldn't

hire nothing but young kids.

You know, I'm the oldest guy on my

Thank you. those people you know what uh when i started my wrestling school 20 years ago i wouldn't hire nothing but young kids you know i'm the oldest guy on my crew by design um because they give me a lot of energy um i got a lot of young kids and like just say for instance you get some bad apple some old head in there they want to tell some stories from back in the day that's just bitter from the business, the way it treated them.
We create

new stories.

This is a different journey. This is the way

you guys are going to remember it.

For me, having a part in that

is so freaking

awesome. My right-hand man

at Reality of Wrestling

started with me when he was

18 years old.

Now he runs Reality of Wrestling.

My partner

I'm not sure. at Reality of Wrestling started with me when he was 18 years old.
And now he runs Reality of Wrestling.

My partner,

Brad Gilmore, on my

Hall of Fame show, my podcast,

started with me when he was

18 years old.

Now he's 33 years old, a grown man.

You know, graduated from college.

You know what I mean?

These guys are going to take over Reality of

Wrestling one day.

Long after I'm gone,

We're going to take over reality of wrestling one day. You know, when I'm, long after I'm gone, reality of wrestling is still going to be here all due to the way, you know, we've created it.
You know, the young guy, the young guy going to learn from this guy and he's going to keep passing it on and keep passing it on. And forevermore reality of wrestling is going to be a staple here, hopefully, on this earth.
Just because, man, for me, it's all about the young guys. I've had my time to shine.
But the thing is, I'm still having fun. I'm still having fun.
One of my kids, he went to Japan last year. It was his first trip to Japan, and I was able to help facilitate that.
And just to think from my perspective, man, he's going to be running around Rupunki. You know what I mean? He's going to be at the Kiyo Plaza.
He's going to go to the Hard Rock. You know what I mean? He's going to get on that bus and go around.
Just like I did. And see, the same things I did back did back.
This life don't stop, man.

It don't stop.

It keeps going.

And for me, to be able to, you know,

pass it on, man, it's awesome.

You know what's so dope about this?

Because, like, even now,

we got my man B here,

he now tapped into the wrestling scene heavy.

Man, when he saw you with Sexy Red, man.

Oh, man.

That's what got me back into it.

I had sent it to Jeff.

I'm like, nah. He got sexy out there at Booker Clowning.
That's what got me back into it. I had sent it to Jeff.
I'm like, nah.

He got sexy out there at Booker clowning.

That's why I thought you retired.

I thought you was done.

Out there fooling with sexy.

How was that, man? Oh, man.

I'm telling you, man.

I told my wife, I'm just acting.

So that's my boy right there.

Like, I literally call Jeff Booker T all the time, bro.

So to see you do that, bro, that really turned me up for real.

That showed me that you still tapped into the youth.

Thank you. So that's my boy right there.
Like, I literally call Jeff Booker T. all the time, bro.
So to see you do that, bro, that really turned me up for real. That showed me that you still tapped into the youth.
Oh, man. If you don't know how to change with the times, the times will truly pass you by.
You know what I mean? So for me, it's all about... I quoted Little Baby last week.
What you saying? I don't call myself a goat. I leave that up to the people.
That's a bar. That is a bar.
That's a bar. That's a bar, bud.
I was scared because he got a lot of lyrics. I don't know if you can repeat.
My boy, he was like, you just quoted Little Baby. That's hard, man.
That's hard. And I know the kids that you're around and the youth, like, appreciate that, though, that you can still be relatable to them, too.
You know why, man? It ain't about me. It really isn't.
I swear, I love what I do. I love who I am.
I love, you know, everything about what's going on. But it ain't about me, man.
I've had my time, you know, and for me to see the young guys doing it, but for me to still be here, I did not expect to still be doing this 35 years later. I did.
I thought, you know, 15 years ago, this thing would have been over with and I would have been doing something else. But for some reason, I'm still here.
God put me in this position for some reason. And I'm going to just keep doing it and I'm going to keep doing it to the best of my ability.
But it's just like working the NXT with Vic Joseph. Yeah.
Vic Joseph, I'm his right-hand man. I'm his co-pilot He's the guy That's Running Running the whole Whole board You know what I mean And I'm gonna try to make That dude look As best As I possibly can That's my job You know what I mean And I appreciate The young guys Man That That know You know why I'm here, know what I'm doing, and know that I'm here for them 100%.
Know that they can come to me for anything. I'm going to be there for them.
So, nah, man. Like I say, this is a great time in my life.
Seriously. I wouldn't change it for nothing.
Nah. I'm tapped in, but I've been watching LFG.
Yeah, yeah. Legends of Future Greats.
It's a heck of a show. But like you said, you tapped in with the youth and, you know, seeing you on that show and how you relate to the wrestlers and how the guys really embrace you.
You could tell that you was meant for this. You know what? Those shows, man, I love doing LFG.
I'm perfect for shows like that. Working with Bubba Ray, working with Mickey James, Undertaker.

It's been really, really cool.

But being able to tap into the young guys

and really get into the head to let them understand

what this thing is about,

how big this opportunity really, really is,

and an opportunity like this don't come around too often. It's few and far between.
So take it as serious as you possibly can. Look at this like it's a job, like you're waking up in the morning and you go and do your, your nine to five, because if you're not looking at it like that, you slip it, you know what I mean? Because, you know, if you're not preparing, trust me, somebody else is preparing a little bit harder than you, you know, so for me to really tap in on screen as well as off screen, you know, because those guys, they call me, you know, we do film study, you know, when nobody's around, you know, because I'm about winning, you know what I mean? I want my team to win at the end of the day.
You know what I mean? So, nah, man. LFG is something that has been, you know, so awesome to be a part of.
And I can't wait to season two. Most definitely.
Listen, Booker, we appreciate your time. And make some more.
It's Booker T. One more time.
Five times, baby. Five times.
Listen, we appreciate y'all for coming out. Shout out to Chon for making this wonderful event happen.
It's Club 520. We'll see y'all next time.
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