Booker T Interview Highlights

Promoting his autobiography, From Prison to Promise: Life Before the Squared Circle, Booker T spoke to Joshua Modaberi of Wrestling101.com to discuss the book, his twenty-plus year career in professional wrestling and more. Highlights from the interview are as follows: Being backstage on the night Jerry "The King" Lawler suffered a heart attack during Raw: "I was in the back watching on the monitor and then realised something wasn’t right and I’ll tell you it was scary and we just have to thank God Jerry is a strong man and a fit guy to pull through that, most guys his age wouldn’t have been able to pull through but Jerry Lawler has always been pretty straight laced, he’s never been a drinker, he’s always lived his life clean. "The WWE doctors were right there and in the right position to take care of him, and when they brought him to the back I was only a few feet away and it was really scary seeing the doctors beating on his chest trying to keep him alive." His personal highlights in World Championship Wrestling: "Starting from the beginning and having Sherri Martel as our manager, and I think she was the greatest manager in the business, to having us under her wing definitely gave us the belief that we were legitimate stars because everybody Sherri had been with before us all of those guys were stars, so we just fell into good company. "As for some of the matches as Television Champion, I had great matches with Chris Benoit and Fit Finlay, then going on to win the big one, the World Championship, against Jeff Jarrett, that was a highlight in my career. But there have been so many highlights in my career it is hard to single out one and say that was it. But to start off in WCW at the bottom of the totem pole and to finish off on the final night right at the top of the totem pole that gave me self-gratification." His two-year run with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling: "The way I would explain my time in TNA would be like a vacation, I was detoxing from the rigorous WWE schedule and the hours spent on the road. I just needed time to step back and not think about myself so much but try to help the next lot of guys coming up in the business. That’s what I went to TNA for, I was hoping to help the next generation of stars come up and it was great working with guys like Bobby Roode, AJ Styles and Samoa Joe and giving them some of my knowledge. "However the company then started to focus on the older guys and my experience there was a good experience but I don’t feel I got as much out of it as I could have." Why he doesn't want to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame until he reaches a certain age: "Yeah, that’s just my thing, I don’t think I’m ready for it, I’m not ready for the Hall of Fame yet. I’m not ready to make that walk, I’m not ready to make that speech yet, I really can’t tell you why because I’m not sure but do I think I have a ton of wrestling days left in me, no, that’s not it at all. "I just think guys should reach a certain prestige before they get inducted into the Hall of Fame. People talk about what I’ve done in the business with all the accolades and the titles but I still think there is something left for me to do. Maybe it’s going to do a speaking tour, talking to kids in trouble and turning their lives around or some charity work. I’m just not ready for it just yet, and I want to be ready when it happens." Booker T also discusses the wrestlers who inspired him to become one himself, tag team wrestling, the major difference between WCW and WWE, working with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, his role as General Manager of SmackDown, and his career highlight in WWE, among other topics.

WWE DVD Review - Falls Count Anywhere

WWE DVD Review : Falls Count Anywhere In recent years many loyal WWE fans have complained about the company embracing a PG rated format and thus (the once prominent of old) blood and violence becoming second fiddle to story line's and more. This new release (Falls Count Anywhere) gives those fans old and new a wonderful trip back in time to see what the federation once delivered on a regular basis. Over the course of the discs we get to see all manner of matches that have strayed beyond the normal realms of regular bout style and for that we must welcome this addition to the WWE DVD release calendar. Across the discs we get to see some of the finest and most brutal match-ups from not only the WWE roster (across the decades), but the WCW and ECW ones too. These are (for the main) matches that we the fans have yet to own on DVD and also ones that perfectly highlight just how each promotion at the time handled such matches that took things beyond the norm. As WWE release go this is one of the best to appear this year. This set features violence, blood and some very brutal moves. All of which just go to show how the world of wrestling has changed in recent years. 'Falls Count Anywhere' showcases such athletes as Mick Foley, Sting, Ric Flair, Triple H and many others in its duration. Each one receives a worthy accolade along the way too. Newer fans may struggle to learn who some older grappler's are, but for anyone interested in the industry this is a release that will appeal to many . WWE Falls Count Anywhere is on general release now. Www.silvervsion.co.uk By Phil Allely

Booker T Interview Highlights

Current SmackDown G.M and multi-time World Champion, Booker T, took to the hot seat with AllWrestling.com’s show host, Dan the Cannon. In a 2.5 hour long interview, he talked about various things ranging from his autobiography to personal and professional life. Highlights from the interview are given below: On His Book (From Prison to Promise): About his autobiography that released on Sep. 1st, he says that he wanted to write it for a long time. According to him, it is an honest book that talks about his troubles and eventual triumph. On His Early Life: He shares how difficult his early life was. He lost his parents at a very young age and had difficulty in making friends. He also shares his jail experience and in his words he learned a lot from that experience and wouldn’t like to change that. On Family and Son: He discusses how he had to fight for his son and prove that he was worthy of being a father to his son. On the prospects of his son joining wrestling, he cleared that he hasn’t talked about it with his son. He also discussed working with Sharmell and the ‘King and Queen’ gimmick they had together. Booker T spoke about being on the road without a break and how the schedule affects his family life. On Early Career: He says that he’d always dreamt of becoming a wrestler and that wrestling has totally changed his life. He also thanks his fans for their continuous support. He also says that he was never greedy about the belts. He also discusses his time in the Texas Indy scene and the racial issues he had to face in GWF, and how things eventually changed. On His Gimmicks: He talks about the multiple characters he has played over the years, including G.I. Bro, and King Booker. Also, according to him, Spinaroonie helped him win over fans. He also discusses how the move was born and how it immediately changed people’s reaction towards him. Time in WCW: He was spotted by Sid Vicious, who brought him into the company from where his true success story began. He also sheds light on his first title reign, backstage environment and the difficulties he had to face to reach the position he has reached. He also credited many people, such as Vince Russo, for his success in WCW. Time in WWE/F: He explains how he had to go through a character development session when he joined the ‘E. He also sheds light on working with names, such as Steve Austin and Kurt Angle. He discussed his early feuds and famous scenes, such as the supermarket brawl with Austin. Time in TNA: He discusses his stint in TNA, where he was a part of a famous stable, Main Event Mafia. He also praises the up and coming TNA stars, such as James Storm and Robert Roode. On Current Phase: On the PG era, he says that things have changed and one has to make every move carefully. He also said that he enjoyed his stint as a commentator and he always wanted to try his hands at it. He also talked about the social media rage and how it affects the business. According to him, people have to be responsible regarding social media and be careful with their words. On Relationship with Colleagues: He talks about Chris Benoit in detail, and also states that he has great respect for JR, who helped him a lot in his career. Talking about friends, he says that he considers JBL and Michael Cole great friends, and has good relationship with backstage people. He also appreciated The Rock and says that he has no problem with Dwayne working in the ‘E. Other Things: He discusses his time as a trainer, and how much fun he had training the newcomers. He says that he considers himself a ‘teacher’ and not a trainer. He also discusses being the general manager and how he was not prepared for it. On Future: He says that in his opinion the business is in good hands and he has great expectations from guys like Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler. However, he says that he has yet to see the next ‘superstar’. On his own future plans, he says that he is thinking of coming up with an improved wrestling school so that he can churn out talent. As far as HOF is concerned, he says that he has never thought about it, but it would be great to be inducted. Other than this, he talked about various other controversial topics including his favorites, the firing of Abraham Washington, regrets in his life, possible DVD, invasion angle and many more. You can listen to the complete interview here.

DieHard Wrestling Interviews WWE Superstar Booker T

DieHard Wrestling Interviews WWE Superstar Booker T




Right before Booker T decided to return to the WWE, DieHard Derek had the chance to sit down and talk with one of the most decorated wrestlers in history. In this 20 minute interview, Booker T discusses some of the things that interested him and inspired him to get involved in the wrestling business. He recalls his first match in the WWE with former WCW alumni Buff Bagwell and the botchfest that ensued during his debut. Booker shares some thoughts on the ill-fated WCW invasion angle and how he worked harder to make sure that his career didn’t carry the stench. What you’ll enjoy the most is Booker’s side of the story as he discusses the backstage altercation between himself and Batista during a SummerSlam promo shoot, as well as the night that he accidentally called Hulk Hogan the “N” word on a live telecast.



After watching this video, you grow to appreciate how decent and humble of a human being Booker really is and how he exudes nothing but positive energy to the people he works with and the fans that he works for. It will be interesting to see how Booker T adapts to his new roles in the WWE as a trainer on Tough Enough and as an eventual color commentator. Don’t be too fast to shake your head at the thought of Booker behind the mic. Aside from him having a great mind for the business of pro wrestling – think back at how many other former pro wrestlers and managers became legends behind the mic such as Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan and Jesse Ventura. As long as Booker is able to stray from keeping his dialect vanilla – and what I mean by that is, refraining from giving an insightful opinion and having no quarrels about being opinionated in an effort to verbally push the talent, the product and the company. Then again, in this day and age where Vince McMahon is having a conniption if someone refers to his business as wrestling rather than sports entertainment, Booker may just be better off going with whatever “the man” tells him to say. I’m just glad that Booker T wasn’t associated or affiliated to any organization at the time of this interview, that way he didn’t have to hold anything back in fear of any repercussions. Enjoy the video!

http://player.vimeo.com/video/16324639?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=ff9933
 
http://www.diehardprowrestling.com

WWE Elimination Chamber 2011 PPV Review

WWE Elimination Chamber 2011 Pay-Per-View Review




By Phil Allely



The Elimination Chamber is one of the WWE’s best gimmick matches and one that harks back to the glory days of the cage match, where feuds ended inside the steel confines of the cage and old scores were settled with a lot of violence and hefty dose of blood. These days of course the WWE is PG rated and blood is something they try their best not to show on screen if they can. That however doesn’t stop cage and gimmick matches being intensely enjoyable and great live entertainment.



Following hot on the heels of the Royal Rumble Elimination Chamber 2011 was another step along the road to Wrestlemania for many involved and made for very good viewing too, as storylines continued, title chases built and some surprises kept us all on our toes.



Things kicked off nicely with Royal Rumble winner Alberto Del Rio facing off against Intercontinetal Champion Kofi Kingston. The action was crisp, Del Rio and Kingston blending well together to make a nice opener for the PPV. The rising star that is Del Rio finally winning with his arm breaker finisher to out the non-title match to bed and progress with momentum onto this years Mania.



Next up was the first Elimination Chamber bout, this one was the Smackdown brands chance to shine as Drew McIntyre, Kane, Rey Mysterio and Big Show (replacing the fired Dolph Ziggler) all went on the attack within the steel structure to wrestle the World Heavyweight Championship from Edge.



There were some pretty decent exchanges as each man entered the fray and the fight began to pick up speed. Edge held his own form the start and even as the bodies began being pounded, battered and flung onto as much exposed steel as possible it always looked as if he could achieve the impossible and leave the match as champion. As the eliminations started to reduce opponents it was Edge who was able to outsmart Mysterio to retain his gold.



His celebrations were short lived though, as Del Rio ran in to began to assault him, luckily Edge’s (storyline brother) Christian made his timely return to the WWE and chased off Del Rio.



Booker T then made his way to the ring to introduce another perosn who will join him as trainer on the upcoming Stone Cold Steve Austin hosted series of WWE Tough Enough, it was none other than former Women’s Champion Trish Stratus. Booker and Trish had some fun in the ring to the enjoyement of all in attendance before the action started again.



The unlikely and yet amazingly ‘over’ tag team of Vladimir Kozlov and Santino Marella were defending their gold against members of new faction The Corre (Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel), with Ezekiel Jackson in their corner too, things were one-side for the defending champs in this one. Kozlov and Marella did have their moments, but this was all Corre, Gabriel was able ti pull off the win and net the belts after a nice 450 splash on Kozlov.



A fun segment then saw Vickie Guerrero face off against Teddy Long over the firing of her beau Dolph Ziggler, Kelly Kelly made her return to the company. LayCool made a run-in to attack Kelly, fortunately Trish Stratus made the save and unleashed a beautiful double bulldog on the pair to round off a fun return by two of the fans favourite Divas.



Up next was the match many of us have been waiting for decades to see, Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler in a WWE Title match on PPV and this time he just may have a chance to raise the one title that has eluded him over the years. Lawler’s feud with WWE Titlist The Miz and colour commentator Michael Cole had already hit fever pitch by their point and the crowd were as pumped up as 61 one year old Lawler was.



The match itself was very good considering The King’s age and Miz’s relative newness to this level of bout. Both men traded the advantage, Lawler hit some nice moves for near falls and of course Cole and Miz’s second Alex Riley got themselves into the mix at times too. All of which set up nicely the finishing sequence, after missing a piledriver Lawler was hit by a big kick and then a ‘Skull Crunching Finale to see his dreams of WWE gold slip through his fingers one more time (although his now planned match with Cole at Wrestlemania will see him achieve that dream of appearing on the biggest event in the WWE year).



The main event was of course the Raw Elimination Chamber, there was no title belt on the lien this time, just the small matter of being able to go to Wrestlemania and take on the champ for the gold. With a prize such as that on offer hopes were high indeed for this one.



Shaemus and John Morrison started things off and got the pace going for the others. They were soon joined by Randy Orton, CM Punk, R Truth and eventually John Cena. A malfunctioning pod saw Punk get eliminated and re-instated (by the ever present RAW GM computer), this let everyone have a fair shot at the match it seemed and all went for it with gusto. The final three remaining were Morrison, Punk and Cena, after some nice sequences Punk eliminated Morrison and felt the force of an Attitude Adjustment from Cena on the steel for his trouble. Cena was then easily able to pin Punk and win his spot on the Wrestlemania card.



Elimination Chamber 2011 was a fun and interesting event, the build up to Mania was well paced and the return of Trish and Kelly were nice to see. The addition of Booker T to the commentating roster and the tag Title change are fresh and welcomed ones too. Miz not laying down for Lawler was a disappointment to many, the king fully deserves a title run, even a short one for his dedication to the sprt, but perhaps he himself is happy enough to be in a title match and to know that he will make it to Wrestlemania at long last.

John Cena Experience DVD Review

The John Cena Experience - WWE DVD Review




By Phil Allely



John Cena is one of the WWE’s most popular and most reliable superstars, he has been the company’s most dedicated spokesperson since his star rose there and he has of course stood stop the roster as champion on numerous occasions. This box set is probably the most comprehensive tribute to a grappler (alive or dead) that the WWE will ever produce, taking in many aspects of his private life and showcasing his many high points during his relatively short WWE run to date as well.



Whilst he is one of the most popular superstars in the WWE Cena has got his fair share of critics and people who loathe his act/style and persona. Although his ever faithful army of Cenation fans counteract them with ease. Saying that this DVD set goes some way to help those people understand just what makes him tick. It also highlights the huge amount of good Cena does for the general public and emphasises just how determined and hard-working he really is outside of the ring.



Apart from the two discs of matches on offer here the first disc is the one that will either make you buy the set or not. This disc is a breakdown of some of the activities Cena participates in on a day to day basis and showcases his life, home life and the charitable deeds he does in his role as a high profile WWE superstar.



There are looks at what work goes into the Wrestlemania experience, Cena’s movie work to date and the effect they have on him, the WWE toy range, his being a spokesperson for the WWE, make a wish appearances and his collection of classic cars. All of these pieces give you an insight into the life of one of the most well known men on the planet and lets us into his world for a while. It also lets you the viewer understand what being a WWE superstar or top level performer in any sport means to the individuals themselves.



One the match front there are a wealth of them to choose from, most are well known modern classics and feature some of Cena’s most best opponents and foes. Of course one of the problems with releases like this is that we already may own some if not all of the bouts included in the set. Luckily the range of matches on offer here make the likelihood of that minimal (as they cover 2004-2009 and take in various major and minor PPV events), look out for brawls with Rated RKO, Booker T, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, Great Khali and Cena’s triumphant return to the WWE at Royal Rumble 2008, amongst others.



The John Cena Experience is out now on DVD and Blu-Ray, available from www.silvervision.co.uk and all good retailers.



Future WWE Releases include the Big Show starring movie Knucklehead (on release February 14th)

Booker T Update

Booker T's talks with WWE about a return go back to the Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view in Houston, Texas in December. Booker was backstage visiting and expressed interest in returning. No contract was signed then and while he kept talking with TNA, a deal was in place with WWE for him to be a Royal Rumble surprise.


As noted previously, Booker T will now be an announcer on Friday Night SmackDown. Booker is expected to do the occasional storyline and match, similar to Jerry Lawler.

Booker T Autobiography Details

Booker T will be releasing his own autobiography after signing a deal with Medallion Press. It is titled "From Prison to Promise" with the press release stating that the book "will detail (Booker's) struggles with family and crime in urban Houston before becoming one of the world’s most recognized and successful athletes." It is currently scheduled for a September 2010 release. "I’m at that point in my life where I feel maybe someone else can benefit from hearing what I’ve been through," Booker said in the press release. "You know, whether their parents passed away at an early age, or they got into some serious trouble with the law, there’s no doubt in my mind people will not only relate to what I went through, but maybe I can even help keep some of them from going down the same path." Check out more on this at MedallionPress.com.

TNA Rumours - Old Stable to Reunite?

TNA officials are currently finalizing plans to bring back The Main Event Mafia with Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Sting, Samoa Joe and other members. Officials would like for Booker T or Scott Steiner to return but nothing is a lock on either of them yet. AJ Styles and other stars are also being discussed to join the group.




The Mafia will be returning to feud with Immortal as the top babyface group in TNA. One of the main reasons they’re being brought back is because Spike TV requested it. The Main Event Mafia brought some of iMPACT’s highest rated segments when they were around.



With the return of the group, all signs point to Kevin Nash re-signing with the company. However, if he doesn’t re-sign, TNA officials aren’t worried about having to replace him in the group

AWR Tour of France November 2010

by Phil Allely

AWR: American Wrestling rampage have annunced some dates for this coming November in France. The cards will feature a host of former WWE and TNA stars. They include Booker T, Charlie Haas, Rene Dupree, Shelton Benjamin, Scott Steiner and The Sandman.