For those of you who missed it, WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T recently went off on Corey Graves during an episode of his Heated Conversations radio show on Sports Radio 610 in Houston, Texas. The former WCW World Heavyweight Champion blames Graves for not being on the RAW commentary team anymore, stating WWE officials were afraid he’d ‘jump on’ him sooner or later.
Now Booker will likely only be used for pre and post-show panels. He also threatened to attack Graves if he sees him outside the realm of a WWE production before challenging him to a legit fist fight. More on that here. Graves later indirectly responded to Booker’s comments on Twitter with the following:
“Thus the expert in battle moves the enemy, and is not moved by him.”
Graves took things a step further during last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW. During Bayley’s entrance to face Asuka in singles action, Graves told Booker T’s replacement on the commentary team, Jonathan Coachman, the following:
“You better be careful Coach, watch your tongue or you might be doing afternoon radio locally.”
This of course was a reference to Booker’s Heated Conversations show on Houston Sports Radio 610. If fans are hoping that this is a work and a match between the two is coming, that’s very unlikely. Graves is unable to get cleared by WWE doctors to compete due to his history of concussion-related injuries. It looks like the heat between the two is very real.
WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T was recently replaced on the Monday Night RAW commentary team by the returning Jonathan Coachman. Over the past few months there has been a ton of friction between Booker and now-former fellow commentator Corey Graves at the announce desk.
On a recent episode of his podcast, Heated Conversations, Booker stated that he believes Graves is the reason he’s no longer on Monday Night RAW. He claimed some people believed he would eventually jump Graves for always poking at him on TV, which is why he was removed from commentary:
“People ask me about Corey Graves. Corey Graves is good at what he does, you know? Corey Graves, he’s thrown jabs at me, I’ve thrown jabs back, you know? And you know, the thing is Corey Graves, of course, yeah, he’s a college educated young man. His vernacular is a little different than mine. You see that word I just used? Threw that out there – just want you people to know, I ain’t studied this, it’s just something that we just threw out. But I tell you, if I got Corey Graves into a fisticuffs, I would beat him down like he stole something. I would be whooping his ass all day long.
“Because that’s the thing – my thing is this. I’m a nice guy, until you get on my bad side. Corey Graves, right now, I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s on my bad side, but he’s the reason that I’m not on Monday Night Raw right now. Because, you know what, a lot of people in the company thought I was gonna jump on him, I was gonna do something bad to him, I was gonna drag him, I was gonna take him out to the woodshed, I was gonna beat that man so bad, I was gonna beat him until this man say, ‘Please, please, please, just don’t beat me any more”
Booker then went on to challenge Graves to a match at WrestleMania 34, before changing his mind and challenging him to a legitimate fist fight off TV. He said that if he runs into Graves on the streets, away from any sort of company production, he’s going to jump on him:
“That’s how hot I was getting. That’s how close I was getting. So, they said, ‘Hey, Book. We’re gonna take – step back a second, alright? We’re gonna regroup, alright, we’re gonna press the rewind button. We’re gonna send you back to the Kickoff show of SmackDown, Monday Night Raw pay-per-views and cool you down for a second. Cause we don’t want you to do anything to Corey Graves, because we know what you could do to him. We know Corey Graves could do… he’s sitting there for a reason, man. He’s sitting there for a reason, and Corey Graves knows it. You know what? I’ll tell you this here. I want all you people out there to know, you heard it right here Heated Conversations, Sports Radio 610, it’s probably gonna make all the dirt sheets like Meltzer and all those guys.
“But if I catch Corey Graves on the street, I’m gonna do something to him. Alright? I ain’t gonna do it at the office or anything like that. But if I catch him… not gonna do it in the airport, nah, I’m not gonna do that. But if I catch Corey Graves on the street? You see that little bouffant hairdo he got? I’m gonna rearrange it for him. Alright? I’m just saying. I’m just saying… Let me catch him at Starbucks. I’m a tattoo him… He’s one of those guys gonna have to walk it like he talk it… Me personally, everybody knows my reputation… I get mean, when you mess with my green.
“And right now, my green is being messed with, you know what I mean? So, me and Corey Graves… WrestleMania coming up, right? There’s room for one more match. Right now, on my show, Heated Conversations, Sports Radio 610, I’m calling Corey Graves out to a fight. Not a match. Not a pre-show posedown or anything like that. I’m calling Corey Graves out to a fight.”
You can listen to Booker T’s comments on Heated Conversations by clicking this link here.
Survivor Series is tomorrow night and the WWE has put together quite the card for professional wrestling fans. One of the premiere match-ups on the card is a bout between WWE Champion AJ Styles and Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. WWE Hall Of Famer and Monday Night RAW commentator Booker T recently took to his Houston sports radio show, Heated Conversations, to give his thoughts on the match.
The former WCW World Champion expressed his displeasure for the pairing, and also praised the now-former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal’s run. Here are the highlights:
AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar:
“As far as AJ Styles [vs.] Brock Lesnar; I don’t like that matchup. I don’t like that matchup. You know, Brock Lesnar is a beast. We know AJ Styles, they don’t call him the Phenomenal One for nothing… the guy is actually that good. But to step up to Brock Lesnar’s level, it’s almost like a middleweight going up against a heavyweight. A heavyweight that can move like a middleweight. So, that’s why I don’t like the balance of that one right there.”
Jinder Mahal:
“I think Jinder Mahal has had a great run. I think Jinder Mahal has brought legitimacy to the championship. I think with Jinder Mahal as champion, people look at the WWE Championship now as, you know, we gotta get the title off this guy. It’s almost like that Iron Sheik when he had it back in the day, and Hogan had to get it off of him. Drop the big leg drop, bring America the title back home. I like this dynamic. It’s almost like when Sgt. Slaughter had his heel run. People hated him. I love it. This is professional wrestling, what he’s doing… Jinder Mahal has done a great job, and I think he’s been a great champion.”
You can listen to Booker T on Heated Conversations by clicking here.
Booker T constantly dogs Jason Jordan on Monday Night RAW from the commentary booth, and while some may think that it’s all for kayfabe, it turns out that the former WCW Champion actually isn’t a fan of the storyline son of Kurt Angle. He recently took to his Houston radio show, Heated Conversations, to voice his grievances with the former American Alpha member, who he says hasn’t proven himself yet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRm0C_zQ0vA
“I’m not a huge fan of Jason Jordan or anything like that. I’m not going to hate on him or anything like that, opportunities in this business are few and far between. I’m not heeling on him, if I like you, I like you, if I don’t like you, I don’t like you. It’s that simple. To me, he has not proved himself to be a top guy on Monday Night RAW. I don’t see one sign in the audience that says Jason Jordan is ‘my guy.’ If you ain’t got no signs out there, it tells me one thing; you ain’t that hot or people just don’t care about you. Right now, Jason Jordan is lukewarm.”
You can listen to Booker T on Heated Conversations by clicking this link here.
– WWE has posted a new video of Booker T where he talks about the WarGames match. In the video as seen below, Booker said that it’s a historic match and claimed that he still has bumps & bruises from the WarGames match he and Stevie Ray competed in at WCW Fall Brawl 1993:
It’s worth mentioning here that Booker T will be appearing at the upcoming NXT Takeover: WarGames event in his hometown of Houston. His role on the event is not known but he will likely be a part of the pre-show panel on the show.
– WWE has a new poll on their official website asking fans who they would want Kurt Angle to face if he were to wrestle another match in WWE Following his in-ring return at the recent TLC PPV.
The options include AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, Cesaro, RAW Tag Team Champion Dean Ambrose, Finn Bálor, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon, John Cena, Kevin Owens, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, RAW Tag Team Champion Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura and WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz.
As of this writing, AJ Styles is leading the poll with 33% votes. Cesaro has the second spot with 11% votes followed by Brock Lesnar (9%) and Shane McMahon (8%). Interestingly Bray Wyatt has 0% share of votes and is at the bottom.
Former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) star Stevie Ray was recently a guest on The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast to talk about his time alongside his brother as a member of the tag team Harlem Heat.
During the appearance Ray discussed his new podcast “Stand Up For Greatness with Stevie Ray,” his reaction to his brother Booker’s ‘N’ word botch on Hulk Hogan, how viral it has gone on social media, inducting his brother into the Hall Of Fame, and eventually becoming the leader of NWO Black and White. You can check out the highlights here (quotes via WrestleZone):
His new podcast, “Stand Up For Greatness with Stevie Ray”:
“How many wrestling stories can you tell? People out there that are fans and are really wanting to know what you are thinking about and there are people that are not fans that want to know what is really going on in this guy’s mind about certain things. I can do that. I can be truthful if a question comes up or a topic comes up I’m going to give it to you the only way I can give it to you and that is how I feel. That is the only way I know how to be.
“I know that I am just not one to want to hear the same stories over and over again and the same conversations over and over. How many times can you tell a story, a behind the scenes story that is pretty “run of the mill”? I told a story on my podcast how Rick Rude when me and my brother first came into WCW and we were on the road, Rick Rude was on the same towns as us and early in the afternoon he would gather us around and tell us stories and we always remembered that. I always remembered that he always had a punchline at the end of it and it was always funny, so I figured that is how I want to tell stories just like how Rick Rude used to do with us.”
Preparing for professional wrestling broadcasting during his time as a color commentator:
“Tony Schiavone and Mike Tenay kind of gave me and would sit me down and make me more comfortable at what I was doing and so on and so forth. I tell those guys every time I see them that I owe them a lot and a lot of people don’t realize that actually I was going to go to school for that and I wanted to go into radio. As I got older I had lost interest in it because I used to DJ in clubs back in my younger days but I kind of grew out of that and never thought that it would all come back around years later. When WCW came to me and asked me to start broadcasting, I used to do the play by play in the dressing room sometimes with my brother and I. We would do play by play in the dressing room and someone got light of it and next thing you know I am out there doing it in front of the people.”.
His reaction to Booker T’s ‘N’ word botch on Hulk Hogan:
“I really don’t care about that question because that’s got nothing to do with me. That is more of my brother’s thing. That is more of a question he might have gotten tired of. When people ask me about and ask what was I thinking? I wasn’t really thinking about it because I am getting ready to do my lines. It doesn’t really bother me that much and it’s funny (man) but people ask me what was I thinking? I wasn’t even listening. I am waiting to do my lines so in essence I’m not sitting there and listening to him like a fan at home is listening to him, I am listening to him subconsciously because I am waiting to do my lines for when Mean Gene comes to me.
“I am not sitting there listening to him word for word and I didn’t even realize that he had did it for a minute because with the clip on YouTube it cuts off before Mean Gene gets to me but if you watch the show I had a little soliloquy of what I was saying but I know we had to say something about Hulk Hogan and it is right before we had to go out and work so that is probably why it got so messed up because I think my brother was thinking about two different things entirely. But that is more of my brothers shtick, not mine.”
How viral it has gone on social media:
“In all actuality, I had actually forgotten about that until it came out on YouTube several years later. People started telling me about it but it was just a night. I swear to God, I was just doing a story last night on my podcast and somebody sent in a question that made me remember a story that I didn’t remember until I read it. It triggered something in my head. That is just me. I’ve told people a thousand times that I have never taken pro wrestling home with me and it is just the job that I go to and when I am there I am all in and when I am not I am all out.”
Getting to induct his brother into the Hall Of Fame:
“We had a great time. It was just electric. Everyone kept asking me am I nervous? How do I feel? This was all before the show and it is such a big production and I said NO! I’ve been in front of so many big audiences that it doesn’t bother me. I was prepared and I am looking at guys in the back going over their speeches with their reading glasses on and people were asking me where were my notes? I said they are in my head.
“When I came out and everybody gave me the ovation and started rooting “STEVIE RAY” I almost forgot everything that I was prepared for. I wasn’t expecting that and it threw me off. I looked in the audience and I see all these guys that I used to work with staring at me and that moment I was not ready for so I just put my head down (not looking at them) and everything kind of came back to me and I started everything up. I’ll never forget that and it threw me off because I was so ready until I walked out there. It was a very cool night.”
Eventually becoming the leader of NWO Black and White:
“I had a lot of fun. It was really cool and different than what I had been doing. It was cool to me and I really loved being in the nWo. People say to me that I was the leader at one time and I told this one day on my podcast, I felt like Fonzie with Richie and Ralph Malph and all the guys down at Al’s Diner (on Happy Days) with Potsie and Chachi that is what it was kind of like that being in the nWo. Me and Virgil, Scott Norton, Horace Hogan, Bryan Adams that was our gang. We hung together too so it was kind of cool and we had a good time.”
Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, WWE Hall Of Famer, and Monday Night RAW commentator recently took to his radio show, Heated Conversations, to talk about his run with Global Force Wrestling (GFW) (also known as TNA or Impact Wrestling) and explained why he left, why he refused to put over Matt Morgan, his tenure with the company being like a ‘vacation,’ and much more. You can check out the highlights here below:
His schedule while working with GFW:
“TNA was like a vacation. You know what I mean? That’s why I don’t give it a whole lot of props, man, because it was like a vacation man. It wasn’t like I was really working for that money, man. You know what I mean? I was only working like 50 days a year. I had a two-year contract, you know what I mean. It was in Disney. You know, we went to do the tapings down there, so, I was on the rides half the time when I was supposed to be working. You know what I’m saying. So, it was a nice, nice vacation… It was cool working for TNA. It was great.”
GFW not being very accommodating:
“I remember doing a pay-per-view right here in my own hometown. I was working Samoa Joe, and they wanted me to do media. Go around to all the television stations. I was like, man, I don’t mind doing that. And I remember one of the reps, I ain’t gonna say his name, he called me and he said, ‘Booker. You ready to do the media?’ And I go, ‘Yeah. I’m ready. I’ll text you my address.’ He goes, ‘No, just meet me at this hotel.’ It was right off the southwest freeway. And I live in Friendswood, so he wanted me to drive out there, about a 45-minute drive.
“He wanted me [to] meet him, and we go on all the media tour. I go ‘What you driving?’ and he goes, ‘I have a rental car.’ And I go, ‘I ain’t going nowhere in no rental car, and I ain’t gonna come out there when it should be a rental car coming to my house and pick me up!’ I say, that’s not gonna happen, so he goes, ‘Let me make a phone call.’
“So he calls the office, the office calls me. They say ‘Book. What’s going on? I heard you don’t want to go do the media.’ [I told them], ‘I don’t mind going to do the media, but I’m not driving.’ I said someone should come pick me up. The guys goes, ‘Well, you got some nice cars, don’t you?’ I go, ‘Yeah I got some nice cars. I got five of them. And a Winnebago. And they all gonna stay at home.’ I say, come on man. Every time I had a talent from TNA come to Reality of Wrestling, the flagship of Texas Wrestling, every time I’ve had one come down, they’ve all got limo treatment.
“Picked up at the airport. Brought to the arena. Took back to the hotel, they got a basket in the room. With all kind of fruits and Red Bulls and all kind of stuff in it. And you guys are a major company and you want me to drive myself around? I’m like, come on. Come on. That’s not the way you do business. And I really think that’s one of the reasons why TNA is in the dire straits that they are [now].”
Why he refused to put over Matt Morgan:
“I remember doing a pay-per-view right here in my own hometown. I was working Samoa Joe, and they wanted me to do media. Go around to all the television stations. I was like, man, I don’t mind doing that. And I remember one of the reps, I ain’t gonna say his name, he called me and he said, ‘Booker. You ready to do the media?’ And I go, ‘Yeah. I’m ready. I’ll text you my address.’ He goes, ‘No, just meet me at this hotel.’ It was right off the southwest freeway.
“And I live in Friendswood, so he wanted me to drive out there, about a 45-minute drive. He wanted me [to] meet him, and we go on all the media tour. I go ‘What you driving?’ and he goes, ‘I have a rental car.’ And I go, ‘I ain’t going nowhere in no rental car, and I ain’t gonna come out there when it should be a rental car coming to my house and pick me up!’ I say, that’s not gonna happen, so he goes, ‘Let me make a phone call.’
“So he calls the office, the office calls me. They say ‘Book. What’s going on? I heard you don’t want to go do the media.’ [I told them], ‘I don’t mind going to do the media, but I’m not driving.’ I said someone should come pick me up. The guys goes, ‘Well, you got some nice cars, don’t you?’ I go, ‘Yeah I got some nice cars. I got five of them. And a Winnebago. And they all gonna stay at home.’ I say, come on man. Every time I had a talent from TNA come to Reality of Wrestling, the flagship of Texas Wrestling, every time I’ve had one come down, they’ve all got limo treatment.
“Picked up at the airport. Brought to the arena. Took back to the hotel, they got a basket in the room. With all kind of fruits and Red Bulls and all kind of stuff in it. And you guys are a major company and you want me to drive myself around? I’m like, come on. Come on. That’s not the way you do business. And I really think that’s one of the reasons why TNA is in the dire straits that they are [now].”
You can check out the full episode of Heated Conversations by clicking this link here.
H/T WrestleZone for the transcriptions
Posted August 14th, 2017 in WWE. Tagged: Booker T.
We all know that LaMelo Ball dropped a few ‘N-bombs’ during his appearance on Monday Night RAW alongside brother Lonzo and father LaVar, however, this is definitely not the first time we’ve heard the word on WWE programing. One of the most famous instances involved WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T, who cut a promo on Hulk Hogan backstage before accidentally saying “Hulk Hogan! We coming for you n****”.
During last week’s episode of SmackDown Live, The New Day decided to parody this with Big E saying “Listen up and put this flava in your ear. We want that gold sucka and at Battleground, we comin’ for you…” – right before getting cut off by Xavier Woods. Booker T took to his podcast, Heated Conversations, and expressed his displeasure for The New Day’s segment:
“I just want to make it publicly known that I don’t condone that at all especially coming off of Monday Night. We as a people, we gotta know when it’s time to speak up and when it’s time to shut up. My mother taught me that a long time ago. If you don’t know, it’ll come back and haunt you. [The WCW promo blooper] has haunted me for this many years. You put yourself in a situation for something to happen, just like Mike Tyson did, something can happen. For these young kids to understand and realize and be able to speak up for themselves…you know…then again, I spoke up because I was talent.
“I spoke up because I knew that I could speak up. I implore these young people out there to know exactly what they’re doing and how they are affecting our young people that are coming up. That’s the most important thing as far as I’m concerned. Me personally, I know I’ve made mistakes. That word that I said on national television in front of the world – I wish I could go back and erase it. I wish that I could take it back. I wish that WWE would never do something like that ever again.”
“Me personally, I don’t appreciate it. I don’t know if [WWE] knew that the parody was gonna go down because I know those guys do a lot of their own stuff. I don’t think that we as a company need to go that route. I think that parody should not have ever been shown on television because it wasn’t a great moment for us as black people. For us as black people, it was one of our worst moments. Just like the [Lamelo] Ball thing. The kid is 15-years old [and] I don’t blame him or anything like that. It was something that slipped out just like myself [in 1997], it was something that slipped out. For me as a person that’s trying to set an example for us as black people and for me to let so many people down – even the ones that thought it was the cool – even the ones that thought it was an anthem…
“…I want them to know that it was my worst day that I could have ever had being a black man and letting so many of our people down by calling us that word or saying that word in any realm [or] any form was definitely not right by any means. I wish I could take it right back. That one blemish is the only thing they have over my head that they could put out there to try to make me look bad in any way shape, form, or fashion. Of course, I could put a spin on it… … but does that make it right? No, it doesn’t make it right. It’s still a stain, a blemish, a mark that no surgical procedure could ever repair. So I just want young people to know exactly what they’re saying and when they’re saying it.”
Booker T recently discussed the alleged situation between JBL and Mauro Ranallo on his Heated Conversations radio show and the “fire JBL” chants on SmackDown. Booker said that a lot of people love and respect Mauro, and the stories have triggered a “flash mob” of backlash against JBL. He added that he still likes Mauro even though Mauro “unfollowed” him on Twitter, but that he took issue with some of fellow ex-WWE announcer Justin Roberts’ stories about JBL. Booker also took issue with the term “bullying” being applied to the locker room in WWE.
“I think [bullying] pretty much goes away when you’re a grown man and you’re able to take up for yourself and throw hands, or go and talk to someone,” Booker said. “Say ‘hey, I don’t feel like I’m being treated right with this commentator, maybe you need to move me somewhere else otherwise there could be problems.’ […] But I don’t think the “bullying” rule should fall under grown men having an issue with each other.”
He mentions that he came up in the business around The Steiner Brothers, The Nasty Boys, and Brian Pillman, and if one of them had messed with him he would have settled it himself.
Former WWE announcer Justin Roberts recently released an autobiography detailing his experiences with JBL. It should be noted that Mauro himself hasn’t publicly made any allegations against JBL.
Daniel Bryan Tweets About Final Match & Tyson Kidd Responds
Yesterday was the two year anniversary of Daniel Bryan’s final WWE match. Bryan teamed up with John Cena to face Tyson Kidd & Cesaro. Bryan has made it known in several interviews that he may look to wrestle elsewhere once his WWE contract expires. For now, he serves as the GM of Smackdown and co-host of Talking Smack. Bryan sent out a tweet acknowledging the two year anniversary of his last match and Tyson Kidd responded to it.
Kurt Angle Is Excited Booker T Is Doing Commentary For RAW
As noted earlier, new RAW announcer David Otunga will miss the next six weeks of WWE RAW to film his new movie “Katrina”. Booker T was announced as his temporary replacement on the RAW commentary team. RAW GM Kurt Angle seems to be a fan of that decision and sent out the following tweet:
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T will be joining Michael Cole and Corey Graves at the broadcast table on Monday nights for the next 6 weeks. Booker T will be filling in for David Otunga, who is out filming a movie until late May.
Otunga was ‘traded’ to RAW this past week during the Superstar Shake-Up in exchange for Byron Saxton, who joins the SmackDown Live team next week.
Booker T had a stint as a WWE RAW announcer back in 2015 before moving to SmackDown for the remainder of the year. Since SmackDown moved to the USA Network last year, Booker T has been a regular on WWE’s kickoff-show panels.
As noted on Thursday, David Otunga will star in the new film “Katrina” and it is set in 2005 New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Otunga will play the role of edgy DEA Agent James “World” Lawson.
– The WWE UK Championship will apparently be a big part of NXT this year. UK Champion Tyler Bate made his NXT debut last week in a non-title win over Oney Lorcan but he will be defending the championship against Trent Seven on the 2/15 NXT episode. UK competitors Pete Dunne and Mark Andrews will then compete on the 3/1 NXT episode. These matches were recently taped with full UK graphics on display inside Full Sail.
– Below is video of former WWE Superstar Ted DiBiase Jr’s return to the ring at a recent ProWrestling EGO event in Pearl, Mississippi. The event was held as a law enforcement fundraiser and marked Ted’s first match since late 2013. The event- which was to benefit Rankin and Hinds County Honor Guard- saw DiBiase take on Calvin Rose, Monty Warbucks, and Joey Abel in street clothes, sporting a walking boot, alongside Mike Carter and Fuego Del Sol. This video was just released a few days back but the event took place o 12/3.
– In the videos below, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T stars in new commercials for Hilton Furniture and Mattress of Houston, Texas:
– A new episode of WWE Ride Along will premiere on the WWE Network this Monday night with James Ellsworth, Daniel Bryan and Slater & Rhyno. The description reads like this:
“Rhyno and Heath Slater form a unique bond, while James Ellsworth looks to avoid Daniel Bryan’s cold, all in the Lone Star State of Texas.”
– In the video below, Booker T talks to TMZ Sports about a potential WWE return for Hulk Hogan. Booker says every man deserves a second chance and that Hogan just made a mistake with the racist comments scandal from last year. Booker says he will support Hogan 100% because Hogan supported him in WCW.
– MMA Legend Tito Ortiz and comedian Luenell were among those in attendance for last night’s WWE house show at the Staples Center in LA. Below are a few photos from backstage:
On a recent episode of his Heated Conversations radio show, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T talked about his decision to run for Mayor of Houston in 2019. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Staying Relevant:
“I love embracing where I am at in life. Right now, at this stage of my life, it is awesome. To still be part of WWE. I was talking to a guy last week and I told him that, it’s cool to still be relevant. Still be who I am to be able to do what I do. He looked at me and said, you know, I don’t like the word relevant. For you, that’s not a good word. I said, what I mean by staying relevant is that you have so many young guys coming up and doing so many incredible things, we have to take a step aside and tell them, hey man, go for it.”
“Do what you do; and to stay relevant during that storm, and people still wanting to see you do the Spinaroonie, and do the 5-Time, and want to take a photo of Booker T when he walks out of the house; that means a whole lot to stay relevant within the storm of everything going on because you can actually get lost in that storm and never be heard of or seen ever again, and like I said, for me, I’ve had a 26 year career like a snowball going downhill, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Now, you’ve heard it–in 2020 I’m preparing myself to run for the Mayor of the city of Houston, and I’m going to need a lot of support for that, and as long as I keep becoming the person that I am right now, I think I can get a lot of support towards my election.”
Gearing Up To Run For Mayor:
“You go with your gut instinct, your intuition. I think that has to do with, as for me and the decisions I make, I think running for Mayor came for me in the middle of the night–in a vision. I said that this is something that I had to do, just a couple of nights ago when I was at a Boxing event. It came to me at this Boxing match that I have to run for Mayor of the city. I called my wife and I told her that I’m running for Mayor, and she started laughing. It was like the biggest laugh in the world.”
“I went home, and told her again that I’m running for Mayor. She’s still laughing at me. She knows how stupid I am, and then I woke up the next morning talking to somebody on the phone about it, and she goes, are you still talking about that nonsense about you running for Mayor? I said, baby, I have to do this. She said, do you know how much work I’m going to have to do? She already does all the work now for Reality of Wrestling, and everything else, along with my bookings and everything, she’s the one doing it. I definitely think I have a chance. I think that the time is now, and it’s no better time than right now for Booker T to make a run for it.”
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. Huffman has formally announced his bid to become the Mayor of Houston, Texas by 2020.
“My love for our city and my desire to be a positive change agent for Houston is not new, in fact, it has been a significant motivator in my life for decades,” he declared. “After losing my father before my first birthday and my mother at the age of thirteen, I was given no choice but to fight for survival.”
Booker T vows to fight as hard for Houstonians as he’s fought for himself and his family over the last 30 years.
Additional announcements will be coming in the weeks and months ahead regarding his campaign and his team.
– The final RAW before WrestleMania 33 will take place on 3/27 from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The pre-sale code is WWERAW.
– Ahead of Thursday’s WWE press conference from the O2 Arena in London, there’s a rumor that WWE could be announcing a WWE Network show featuring all UK talent. Triple H, Finn Balor and William Regal will be on hand. It’s also worth noting that British wrestling legend Johnny Saint just announced that he’ll be moving to Orlando soon to work as a trainer at the Performance Center for 6 months.
– WWE Hall of Famer Booker T will be making an announcement this afternoon.
I will be releasing a statement today regarding my future plans at 2pm central.
– Vader tweeted some good news on Tuesday, noting that one of his doctors has given him a brighter outlook as it relates to his health. Vader revealed last month that doctors had given him 2 years to live as a result of congestive heart failure.
I got good news this week ,seen a 4th Dr he suggest the the gloom and doom the previous3 Drs have diagnosed may not be the case Well
Booker T has officially announced his plans to run for Mayor of Houston in 2020. The WWE Hall of Famer made the announcement on Saturday night on his Sports Radio 610 show.
“You heard it, 2020 I’m preparing,” he said. “I’m preparing myself to run for mayor of the city.”
Booker discussed his decision on the air with Rhyno, who recently ran for a seat in the Michigan House Of Representatives. Rhyno believes that Booker would be a great Mayor, and thinks the WWE Hall of Famer is “over qualified for the job.”
“Wrestling not only prepares you for life, but it prepares you for positions like that,” Rhyno said. “You feel the emotion from the people, you know what they want. You’ve built yourself from where you were to where you’re at now.”
If successful, Booker T will join Jesse Ventura on the very short list of pro wrestlers who have transitioned to public office.
– Charly Caruso just announced on Twitter that she and Booker T are the new RAW Pre-show hosts on the WWE Network. No word yet on who will be hosting the SmackDown Pre-show. The previous hosts for RAW and SmackDown were Booker, Lita, Jerry Lawler and Scott Stanford. It was also announced that the pre-show will air at 7:50 instead of 7:30
The brand-new #Raw preshow starts tonight…your hosts: me and @BookerT5x! Starts at 7:50 ET–find it same places as old pre show! 🙌🏽
– Triple H announced today that the first NXT road trip house shows of 2017 will take place in Indianapolis, Louisville and Nashville. Details are below:
– The Rock and Under Armour have released their new “Humble Hungry” line of gear in time for the holidays. The Rock tweeted the following on the new collection:
– WWE announced on Monday that Snickers will be the exclusive presenting partner of WrestleMania for the second consecutive year. Michelle Wilson, WWE Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer, stated in a press release, “We are excited to partner with SNICKERS for the second straight year as we aim to raise the bar in bringing their award-winning ‘You’re Not You When You’re Hungry’ campaign to life in entertaining ways that only our WWE Superstars can.”
Earlier this year, Snickers’ WrestleMania 32 campaign resulted in more than 1.5 billion impressions for Snickers across WWE’s and NBCUniversal’s global platforms, including TV integrations, digital and social media, retail activation, and appearances by WWE Superstars.
– During a recent “mailbag” episode of his Heated Conversations podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T spoke about The Undertaker’s return and how much gas the dead man has left in the thank. “He’s battle-tested, bruised, he’s battered, and he [has] been out of the game for quite some time. And he [has] been in the WWE for over 20 years solid. This guy [has] been in all of the big matches as far as the Hell In A Cell, every match you could possibly, exactly, you could think of, Undertaker has been there. And the thing is, he [has] held up. He has gone in there and he [has] pulled it off each and every year he’s asked to go out and perform and I commend Undertaker for that. But I tell you, there’s going to be a day Undertaker has to lay down and say, ‘I’m done with it’. There’s going to be that time when he goes into that casket and closes the lid on the career.”
Booker T also named Shawn Michaels as the one opponent he wanted to work with but never got a chance to.
– NXT Superstar Oney Lorcan wrestled his first main roster TV match at last night’s SmackDown 900 from Wilkes-Barre, losing to Kalisto. Below is video from the debut:
– WWE Hall of Famer Edge reunited with “EdgeHeads” Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins backstage at SmackDown 900 last night. They appear together in this Fallout video:
– Below is another backstage Fallout video with American Alpha talking about how they will still be gunning for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships after Survivor Series:
– Bill Goldberg is scheduled for tomorrows episode of “First Take” on EPSN 2, where he’ll be discussing Brock Lesnar and his return to the squared-circle at Survivor Series.
– Former WWE Superstar and founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, Chris Nowinski, was ringside at last night’s WWE Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in Boston Massachusetts. He tweeted:
#HIAC is amazing tonight! You're missing out if you're not watching. Love coming back and seeing it in person pic.twitter.com/xpUf4wgWTi
– A brand new “Table for Three” is scheduled to air following this week’s episode of WWE RAW, featuring WWE Hall of Famer Booker T, Goldust, and R Truth. Below is a preview for the show:
– This week’s WWE Top 10 celebrates Halloween with the Sneakiest Superstar Disguises:
WWE Hall of Famer and 5-time world champion Booker T is scheduled to be roasted on November 10th at the Houston Improv comedy club.
The RAW and SmackDown reshow host will be joined by “Brother Love” Bruce Prichard, the Dudley Boyz, MVP, Queen Sharmell, Stevie Ray and many more. There will also be special video appearances by The Undertaker, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam and Diamond Dallas Page.
The event is presented by SportsRadio 610 with a portion of the proceeds going to the Booker T Fight For Kids Foundation.
Tickets are now available. If you’re in the Houston area, this looks like a really cool event to check out. For more information, visit Houston.CBSLocal.com.
Here’s this week’s episode of Reality of Wrestling, Booker T’s independent promotion based out of the Houston, Texas metropolitan area. Focusing on a mix of his students and outside talent, Booker’s promotion has been running a weekly TV show for the last several years.
As reported earlier, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T was hospitalized this weekend. This was revealed by wife Sharmell on Instagram, seen below. No word yet on when Booker will be back but he did miss tonight’s RAW pre-show.
PWInsider reports that Booker had surgery on his elbow this weekend. He tore his triceps back in 2013 while performing the Spinaroonie during his WWE Hall of Fame induction. The surgery is related to that injury.
Booker T will not be on tonight’s Raw Pre-Show after being hospitalized over the weekend.
His wife, former WWE Diva Sharmell, revealed on her Instagram account that he was hospitalized over the weekend and is currently recovering at home. She did not, however, offer an explanation for his hospital stay.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIiIEiWj07H/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIkrsYojSJ7/
It would appear that his hospitalization led him to announce on Saturday that he would no longer perform the Spinaroonie.
#BREAKING July 30th, 2016: The Spinnaroonie is officially…. RETIRED!
