Nov 5 2001 Booker T talks about going from WCW to "WWF" and how he got started in wrestling. I recorded this interview myself for the TH-cam audience it is no rip off
Booker T is arguably the most successful African-American wrestler in the history of the business. He has accomplished more in the wrestling business in terms of tag-team and singles titles between WCW and the WWE than any other black wrestler. This brother's legacy is etched in stone. A future Hall of Famer for sure.
One of my best. Really. He inspired me and my brother so much. As two black mixed boys who watched wrestling religiously every Saturday evening, every Monday night, and even Thursday when Smackdown came on, watched both leagues, we liked all wrestlers but we felt it was a white league. We felt like for colored wrestlers, especially black the most there was a glass ceiling and these guys could never make it to the top. In spite of that we always loved watching Harlem Heat, and The Rock with Nation of Domination. Even if these guys were heels they were still our heroes. We knew they were great and if they could go as far their real potential would allow them with no limitations, we knew they could make it to the top. To see black people strive in white leagues they inspired us. Rock became the biggest star ever in wrestling, he made it to the top, and left and made movies that grossed probably over $6 billion in revenue. No other wrestler can do that. Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold can't even crack into acting like that.
Of all the guys HHH buried, the way he buried Booker T at WM XIX was disgusting. After kicking HHH's ass almost the entire match, HHH lands one pedigree and then takes almost a full minute to crawl over and cover him and then STILL gets the 1,2,3. Ridiculous.
@@kamfisher1714 The fact that you wrote that shows you know nothing about the wrestling business. That match is almost universally recognized as one of the worst burials of all time. I watched that event live and remember thinking at the end of that match “Are you kidding”. And to make matters worse they were no rematches on pay-per-view after that. It’s the worst one I’ve ever seen and nothing really comes that close to it.
@@tonyc7301 You’re a smark with a warped internet mentality, if you actually watched the match it was physical. Booker t didn’t dominate the whole match and if you actually knew what you were talking about, booker t won more times in the feud. Triple h was more over and the best heel in the business and had a bigger reaction than booker at wrestlemania and he was a babyface, look at the tape and educate yourself.
@@kamfisher1714 I guess you missed the part when I wrote "I watched the event live", so I have watched the match and replayed it several times. Booker landed every move he had, even the Harlem Hangover, which he didn't use often at that point. Then HHH lands one pedigree, takes a very long time to cover Booker and still got the pin. Total burial. At WM guys kick out of each others finishers at least once. And given the racist promos leading up to the match (which Booker just stood there and took without attacking HHH) and then to still lose the match in a way that made him look totally weak is a huge burial. To say it isn't is just you saying the sky is purple. It isn't and everyone knows it, except you I guess.
Sadly there are people that still won't push an African American professional wrestler. If I had it my way...the top superstars would be great workers, great in ring performers, and great on the mic. Booker T. is flawless when it comes to being a professional wrestler. Another flawless superstar..was Eddie guerrero.
he grew into being an all-arounder, for the better part of the 90s he was just an amazing worker without a real way of drawing well until the early 2000s
Jeremey Potter Old school Wrestling used to be of who you know more than you being perfect. WCW was very like that with Hogan and Flair friends running the place. Some real talent was destroyed along the way for sure.
I, as a black man, feel leery of using the race card and I try not to, but if you looked at Booker T's career from his athleticism to awesome control of the mic and his awesome uses of catchphrases, I seriously can't hold myself to believe that race wasn't a factor in Booker not climbing higher. Had he had been a fair skinned blond haired blue eyed man, he would have been bigger than Triple H.
Could have been racial, could have been anti-WCW sentiment. Either way he still managed to turn in a damn fine career. His two HoF inductions went some way to cementing his legacy as an all-time guy.
Booker T my mom made me always say Please and Thank you, No Sir and No Mama.. My mother was a single parent and died at 46. She made me sit down and write thank you cards if I received a gift from family. Man I miss my mama. RIP to both of ours.
This guy - how'd he land this job? Always cutting people off from their answers. I can't stand this dude. Booker, man, ya should've given him the bookend right through that glass table.
+almightycinder Time slot is not an excuse to interrupt your guests. One shouldnt ask questions if one doesnt want the answer. He doesnt cut them off because of time he cuts them off because of another point they bring up but that point was not a focus of the original question. If he was indeed worried about time, that is why a host picks specific tooics to talk about and allow for something more organic than what by all accounts is more akin to an interrogation. But Booker T took it well. Blah blah blah. Yeah yeah yeah.
True dat! Booker T came up from nothing! I love his story, and the fact that, despite his rough beginnings, he MADE something of himself. I got tons of respect for him.
Booker T great wrestler as well a great Tag Team with his brother Stevey Ray he seems like a cool down to earth kinda guy not a bad commentator as well 💪💪🖒🖒
Booker T is a legit tough guy, and a real guy. There's no pretense about him. He was always 5 times the wrestler his brother was, and deserves every bit of fame hes gotten..Im glad he went to WCW first..it being Atlanta and having already had Ron Simmons (deservedly) as champion. Idk who was the first African American WWWF/WWF/E champion..? I know Rocky Johnson/Tony Atlas were the first black tag team champs..whose been the WWE champ? I know the Rock..was Booker T ever champ?
That is why people should appreciate a guy like Landsberg who can actually do a legit interview with professional wrestlers other guys don't know anything about the business or don't care at all because its not a real sport whereas Landsberg knows quite a bit about the wrestling business.
the best black wwe wcw superstar ever ,the reason he never became wwe champ is because his character never really changed from wcw over the years his catch phrase was 5 time wcw champion I think that hurt him progressing in the wwe when he finally changed his character and became king booker he was at the end of his career ,if he made the changes earlier in his career he would of been wwe champion for sure .vince likes to make his own superstars and booker should of realised that and not even mentioned wcw in his character and started fresh ,never mind he still made it into the hall of fame and thats what really counts
No, Booker was great! Booker get what he deserved because of a combination of three things 1. He skin is too dark. (As silly as that sounds it's true) 2. He was a WCW guy. 3. And most importantly HHH didn't want him too.
Nikyle McIntosh I am sick and tired of playing the black race card , he was the world heavyweight champion multi tag intercontinental us champ king of the ring he had done it all , if wwe was racist he wouldn't have had any tittle reigns or even booked on raw at all . he WAS PLACED IN THE HALL OF FAME FOR FUCK SAKE
***** The WHC was already elevated at that time. HHH had it for a long time at the beginning. Then Benoit, Goldberg, Batista, Booker, Taker, Edge, it was a be deal back then.
JOHN Race is still a issue with certain stereotypes,and as far as the things that are mentioned regarding his skin colour,coming from WCW and Triple H probably not feeling him at first is true.WCW guys were treated like the enemy untill some of the guys turned around,Triple H was known to be favouring some guys over other and most likey didn't see Booker as champion or want to put him over.And being a Black man in a so called white business isn't easy.As heard in this interview the stereotypes given to Black wrestlers among the other politics that go down is something they have to overcome.So it's not playing a so called race card,it's just veing real about the situation.The problem lies with whites not listening when Blacks speak on issues that are real to them and try to act like these problems don't exist.If one doesn't acknowledge the problem you can't solve it.
This show was dope!Lansberg interviewed some of the biggest stars.I think along with this one his interview with Bret Hart was one of his best ones with Pro Wrestlers on TSN
God bless you! That is the best damn comment I've seen on this entire comment page directed towards Booker T.! You couldn't have spoken the God honest truth better than what you've already said! That was a 5-star comment with 2 thumb's up!!!!
OK I remember Triple Has saying that the WWE Championship is for people who has the look hence besides the Rock there has never been an black WWE champion. However he also stated that the World Heavyweight Championship is for people with technical ability. I was flattered but offended by that comment. Flattered that there had been numerous black word champions. But offended because he basically said black men don't have the look to be the face of the WWE. However they have also merged the two championships so we most likely will never see a blackface for the WWE. Sorry to say but unfortunately some people still live in the past.
The rock was wwe champion and dont give me that Samoan crap because I'm a black man he is to but I do agree that was not a lot of black WWE title holders besides rock
For me I saw the rise of Booker in WCW and he will always be one of my favorite wrestlers. He carried the WCW to its end and that is hard to do. And he is arguably one of the best heels ever. ND he said NIGGA in a promo. RESPECT!
Definitely, only person that could come close would be The Rock. However, The Rock has the benefit of being not only half Samoan, but also being a member of one of the biggest wrestling families in the entire industry. Booker became what he is today with no legacy and the help of his brother, Stevie Ray(Lash). Some of my best memories of WCW were watching this man. I hope WWE publicly recognizes his worth and inducts him into the HOF.
I bought the shoot interview 2 years ago from a website called Highspots and yes it's still available for purchase. I even wrote comment's on how good his shoot interview DVD was. So check out the website as soon as you get the chance!
True dat, but Ron Simmons definitely paved the way as the first African-American world champion. I was glad to see Simmons get inducted in the Hall of Fame last year. Definitely deserving.
No doubt. When Ron Simmons won the WCW world title in 1992, he opened the door for other great black wrestlers like Booker T, the Rock and others to follow in his footsteps. Junkyard Dog (R.I.P.), definitely one of the greatest of all time, a trailblazer no doubt.
Booker T is a class act, and very under rated in the business.
Branch Tana agreed. Awesome dude
Branch Tana he's one of my all time favorites
He's a hall of fame'r isn't he?!
Sad curse of the wcw. 86 overall in 2k19. Needs to be a 90 damn you 2k!!!!
@super coolguy he did get a run as world heavyweight champ and got to wrestle triple h at mania for the world heavyweight championship
Booker T... freakishly athletic...
Booker is a legitimately cool guy. If you ever meet the guy, he's down to Earth and has a great mind for the business.
He's kinda like Sting and Undertaker in the sense that nobody has anything but good things to say about him.
@@jpalvarez4972 this didnt age well
@@Vegeta_1990 How so?
Love Booker T. He is a legend and as a Houstonian, I am very proud of him.
Booker T is arguably the most successful African-American wrestler in the history of the business. He has accomplished more in the wrestling business in terms of tag-team and singles titles between WCW and the WWE than any other black wrestler. This brother's legacy is etched in stone. A future Hall of Famer for sure.
The rock, but I get it
Booker t is one of my favorite wrestlers
Booker has IMMENSE respect for the biz.
One of my best. Really. He inspired me and my brother so much. As two black mixed boys who watched wrestling religiously every Saturday evening, every Monday night, and even Thursday when Smackdown came on, watched both leagues, we liked all wrestlers but we felt it was a white league. We felt like for colored wrestlers, especially black the most there was a glass ceiling and these guys could never make it to the top.
In spite of that we always loved watching Harlem Heat, and The Rock with Nation of Domination. Even if these guys were heels they were still our heroes. We knew they were great and if they could go as far their real potential would allow them with no limitations, we knew they could make it to the top. To see black people strive in white leagues they inspired us. Rock became the biggest star ever in wrestling, he made it to the top, and left and made movies that grossed probably over $6 billion in revenue. No other wrestler can do that. Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold can't even crack into acting like that.
Of all the guys HHH buried, the way he buried Booker T at WM XIX was disgusting. After kicking HHH's ass almost the entire match, HHH lands one pedigree and then takes almost a full minute to crawl over and cover him and then STILL gets the 1,2,3. Ridiculous.
Yes but his career outside of that was awesome
You don’t know anything about wrestling or the wrestling business. Triple didn’t bury booker.
@@kamfisher1714 The fact that you wrote that shows you know nothing about the wrestling business. That match is almost universally recognized as one of the worst burials of all time. I watched that event live and remember thinking at the end of that match “Are you kidding”. And to make matters worse they were no rematches on pay-per-view after that. It’s the worst one I’ve ever seen and nothing really comes that close to it.
@@tonyc7301 You’re a smark with a warped internet mentality, if you actually watched the match it was physical. Booker t didn’t dominate the whole match and if you actually knew what you were talking about, booker t won more times in the feud. Triple h was more over and the best heel in the business and had a bigger reaction than booker at wrestlemania and he was a babyface, look at the tape and educate yourself.
@@kamfisher1714 I guess you missed the part when I wrote "I watched the event live", so I have watched the match and replayed it several times. Booker landed every move he had, even the Harlem Hangover, which he didn't use often at that point. Then HHH lands one pedigree, takes a very long time to cover Booker and still got the pin. Total burial. At WM guys kick out of each others finishers at least once. And given the racist promos leading up to the match (which Booker just stood there and took without attacking HHH) and then to still lose the match in a way that made him look totally weak is a huge burial. To say it isn't is just you saying the sky is purple. It isn't and everyone knows it, except you I guess.
Booker T is awesome.
this is a cool brotha
BookerT's character was at his best in T.N.A. because they let him be himself. He was a major reason to tune in on Thursday nights.
This man deserves a DVD. It's a damn shame he may never get one.
MegaManZeroV1 yeah i agree
Sadly there are people that still won't push an African American professional wrestler. If I had it my way...the top superstars would be great workers, great in ring performers, and great on the mic. Booker T. is flawless when it comes to being a professional wrestler. Another flawless superstar..was Eddie guerrero.
he grew into being an all-arounder, for the better part of the 90s he was just an amazing worker without a real way of drawing well until the early 2000s
lion JUDAH mmm no
Jeremey Potter Old school Wrestling used to be of who you know more than you being perfect. WCW was very like that with Hogan and Flair friends running the place. Some real talent was destroyed along the way for sure.
5 Time WCW Champion!!!
Booker T never had a bad match... except against Buff Bagwell.
Monsieur Melancholy that wasn't a bad match.
@Zedrik Allen That wasn't bad either
@Zedrik Allen Yeah he got buried was a shame
@@jayburke813 yeah it was
That wasn't bad
Booker one of the goats
Most of Booker T's WCW career was as a tag team Harlem Heat.
"Can you dig it sucka!"
"Yes mam, please, thanks you, yes sir, no sir, WE COMING FOR YOU NIGGA"
Lol
ballshok funny i like that
THIS is the Booker T I wish we would see and hear on commentary every weeek...
I, as a black man, feel leery of using the race card and I try not to, but if you looked at Booker T's career from his athleticism to awesome control of the mic and his awesome uses of catchphrases, I seriously can't hold myself to believe that race wasn't a factor in Booker not climbing higher. Had he had been a fair skinned blond haired blue eyed man, he would have been bigger than Triple H.
g brown ain't no black dude saying race card tf is a race card anyways a term made by racist white supremacistd
Could have been racial, could have been anti-WCW sentiment. Either way he still managed to turn in a damn fine career. His two HoF inductions went some way to cementing his legacy as an all-time guy.
Booker has came a long way now hes runnin Smackdown, the show that guided the WWE through evolution
Booker T needs a REALITY SHOW
Well he now has his own wrestling show now. Cool dude. Stand up guy.
Booker one of the greatest wrestling talents ever. Should've been the real first black WWE Champ
Booker is The Man! 🍻
Booker is a real class arc.
Act
Booker T my mom made me always say Please and Thank you, No Sir and No Mama.. My mother was a single parent and died at 46.
She made me sit down and write thank you cards if I received a gift from family.
Man I miss my mama. RIP to both of ours.
Booker is a fucking legend.
THATS MY BOOOOOY!!!BOOKER TTTTTTT!!!5 TIME,5 TIME,5 TIME !!!WCW CHAMPION!!AND 2 TIME WWE CHAMPION!!
A great interview, Booker T, pure class.
I really enjoyed watching him as a kid. He’s a great guy and extremely talented.
This guy - how'd he land this job? Always cutting people off from their answers. I can't stand this dude. Booker, man, ya should've given him the bookend right through that glass table.
he's on a time slot bro
If you don't interrupt them, they'll keep talking and you end up with only one question for the entire interview.
Lmao. Calm down homie. Lol..
+almightycinder Time slot is not an excuse to interrupt your guests. One shouldnt ask questions if one doesnt want the answer. He doesnt cut them off because of time he cuts them off because of another point they bring up but that point was not a focus of the original question. If he was indeed worried about time, that is why a host picks specific tooics to talk about and allow for something more organic than what by all accounts is more akin to an interrogation. But Booker T took it well. Blah blah blah. Yeah yeah yeah.
Ha ha ha
True dat! Booker T came up from nothing! I love his story, and the fact that, despite his rough beginnings, he MADE something of himself. I got tons of respect for him.
8:31 diddy in da background lol
Dudes hands are *gargantuan*!!
I'm proud of you Booker T
never seen this awesome thankyou for uploading this
Booker T great wrestler as well a great Tag Team with his brother Stevey Ray he seems like a cool down to earth kinda guy not a bad commentator as well 💪💪🖒🖒
Booker T is really well spoken, can really tell a story.
My favorite of all time is 1) stone cold 2) Booker T 3) the rock. And to this day I still believe WCW missed the mark with Booker t!!!!!
I'd like to hear more from you on what ways you felt WCW could have better utilized him. WCW was all over the place in 2000.
Booker T is a legit tough guy, and a real guy. There's no pretense about him. He was always 5 times the wrestler his brother was, and deserves every bit of fame hes gotten..Im glad he went to WCW first..it being Atlanta and having already had Ron Simmons (deservedly) as champion. Idk who was the first African American WWWF/WWF/E champion..? I know Rocky Johnson/Tony Atlas were the first black tag team champs..whose been the WWE champ? I know the Rock..was Booker T ever champ?
Booker T should have been a WWF title contender, he's a phenomenal performer his talent is comparable to Triple H or Undertaker!
5 time 5 time 5 time 5 time 5 time WCW CHAMPION!
Most underrated wrestler
such a legend
That is why people should appreciate a guy like Landsberg who can actually do a legit interview with professional wrestlers other guys don't know anything about the business or don't care at all because its not a real sport whereas Landsberg knows quite a bit about the wrestling business.
the best black wwe wcw superstar ever ,the reason he never became wwe champ is because his character never really changed from wcw over the years his catch phrase was 5 time wcw champion I think that hurt him progressing in the wwe when he finally changed his character and became king booker he was at the end of his career ,if he made the changes earlier in his career he would of been wwe champion for sure .vince likes to make his own superstars and booker should of realised that and not even mentioned wcw in his character and started fresh ,never mind he still made it into the hall of fame and thats what really counts
No, Booker was great! Booker get what he deserved because of a combination of three things 1. He skin is too dark. (As silly as that sounds it's true) 2. He was a WCW guy. 3. And most importantly HHH didn't want him too.
Nikyle McIntosh I am sick and tired of playing the black race card , he was the world heavyweight champion multi tag intercontinental us champ king of the ring he had done it all , if wwe was racist he wouldn't have had any tittle reigns or even booked on raw at all . he WAS PLACED IN THE HALL OF FAME FOR FUCK SAKE
***** The WHC was already elevated at that time. HHH had it for a long time at the beginning. Then Benoit, Goldberg, Batista, Booker, Taker, Edge, it was a be deal back then.
+Nikyle McIntosh Taker, Edge, Y2J....It's had a few good years afterwards.
JOHN Race is still a issue with certain stereotypes,and as far as the things that are mentioned regarding his skin colour,coming from WCW and Triple H probably not feeling him at first is true.WCW guys were treated like the enemy untill some of the guys turned around,Triple H was known to be favouring some guys over other and most likey didn't see Booker as champion or want to put him over.And being a Black man in a so called white business isn't easy.As heard in this interview the stereotypes given to Black wrestlers among the other politics that go down is something they have to overcome.So it's not playing a so called race card,it's just veing real about the situation.The problem lies with whites not listening when Blacks speak on issues that are real to them and try to act like these problems don't exist.If one doesn't acknowledge the problem you can't solve it.
Booker T kicked ass! He should've been WWF Champion!
Value those dollars, don't worship them.
Terry Miller yes u make thw monwy dont let it make u
Damn. Like countless others, Booker was so much more coherent 20 years ago. Tough business.
20 years less of politics an koolaid
Always enjoy listening to Booker.
i love these episodes
one of the greatest spots in wrestling history. the supermarket spot was the best ever.
after 6 months since you made that great statement. now booker t is going to hall of fame. all hail king booker!
i love those off the record vids.
Booker T is so damn Awesome 😀❤️
Such a humble dude.
Maybe the most deserving wrestler never to be WWE Champion (not WHC)
Should have been champ in 2003. The son in law buried him.
This show was dope!Lansberg interviewed some of the biggest stars.I think along with this one his interview with Bret Hart was one of his best ones with Pro Wrestlers on TSN
Booker t talks good here. I was expecting the way he talks on the wwf show.
Daniel Macias talks good
Like Michaels, Angle and others I think Booker now has some degree of brain damage from all the bumps. This interview was decades ago.
God bless you! That is the best damn comment I've seen on this entire comment page directed towards Booker T.! You couldn't have spoken the God honest truth better than what you've already said! That was a 5-star comment with 2 thumb's up!!!!
OK I remember Triple Has saying that the WWE Championship is for people who has the look hence besides the Rock there has never been an black WWE champion. However he also stated that the World Heavyweight Championship is for people with technical ability. I was flattered but offended by that comment. Flattered that there had been numerous black word champions. But offended because he basically said black men don't have the look to be the face of the WWE. However they have also merged the two championships so we most likely will never see a blackface for the WWE. Sorry to say but unfortunately some people still live in the past.
but Booker was the wwe champion
Jacob Towns he was World Heavyweight Champion but not WWE Championship
The rock was wwe champion and dont give me that Samoan crap because I'm a black man he is to but I do agree that was not a lot of black WWE title holders besides rock
The Rock is Half Black though. Lol. Yes we are going to give you that argument that he’s half black. Because that’s exactly what he is.
@Anthony Lockhartmust be white
the 5 dislikes are the 5 people Booker beat to become a 5 TIME WCW CHAMPION!!!
Booker T is one of the greatest in ring talents wrestling has ever seen. I wish WWE would give him at least one more run.
i hope they dont forget other black wrestlers like tiger conway jr. , sweet brown sugar, thunderbolt patterson and bobo brazil in the HOF.
For me I saw the rise of Booker in WCW and he will always be one of my favorite wrestlers. He carried the WCW to its end and that is hard to do. And he is arguably one of the best heels ever. ND he said NIGGA in a promo. RESPECT!
Booker is just pure class.
Proud of u Booker T 😘
Ron Simmons was able to be the champ in WCW in the early 90's
Booker absolute legend T 🔥🔥
five time five time five time wcw champion!!!!!!!!!! booker t...one of the greatest entertainers of all time!!!!!!!!!!!
5 Tiem WCW Champion, Love the way he said that at the start!
hes pretty down to earth man
Waitaminute! Officer Gattis was the officer at Hartman Middle School when I was coming up. He was very old. I'm 38 now.
Pez Whatley, as well. Bobo Brazil is already in the Hall of Fame, but you make a great point!
Very cool guy
love booker t love this man
i have to look up bash at the beach now,respect to Booker T.
Definitely, only person that could come close would be The Rock. However, The Rock has the benefit of being not only half Samoan, but also being a member of one of the biggest wrestling families in the entire industry.
Booker became what he is today with no legacy and the help of his brother, Stevie Ray(Lash). Some of my best memories of WCW were watching this man. I hope WWE publicly recognizes his worth and inducts him into the HOF.
I bought the shoot interview 2 years ago from a website called Highspots and yes it's still available for purchase. I even wrote comment's on how good his shoot interview DVD was. So check out the website as soon as you get the chance!
There REALLLLY should be a Booker T DVD!!!!
Fine as Hell
Real cool guy
AMEN !!!
Booker T., much respect!!
The interviewer is a jerk. And unfunny.
good interview man
Ice ice ice! Cold cold cold!
Andrew Bowman yes yes yes no no no
He has massive hands.
It's not the size that matters...
i went to ryan jr high with booker in fact he was in my homeroom class
A class act.
At least in WCW Booker was a main eventer you'll never get that in WWE.
yea mister gattis had a heart attach my 8th grade yr chasin some dudes skippin glass he was a crazy ass dude
True dat, but Ron Simmons definitely paved the way as the first African-American world champion. I was glad to see Simmons get inducted in the Hall of Fame last year. Definitely deserving.
"Vince knows talent when he sees it"
Oh, Booker, you so funny. :D
A real class act
No doubt. When Ron Simmons won the WCW world title in 1992, he opened the door for other great black wrestlers like Booker T, the Rock and others to follow in his footsteps. Junkyard Dog (R.I.P.), definitely one of the greatest of all time, a trailblazer no doubt.
💝💝💝💝💝
You see Booker here,he speaks very well,but when he commentates,OH MAH GOODNESS!
Handsome ....
i llike booker so much