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.

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.