One WWE Hall Of Famer has teased that they have one last match left in them.
Stevie Ray, one-half of the WWE Hall Of Fame tag team Harlem Heat, took to Twitter recently to share a video of himself working out at the gym. He captioned the video by suggesting he may have one last match left in him.
Ray is a longtime veteran of the professional wrestling industry. After getting his start in the business back in 1989, Ray and his brother, Booker T, joined WCW as Harlem heat in 1993.
Together, he and his brother racked up 10 WCW World Tag Team Championship runs. As a singles competitor, Ray captured the WCW World TV Championship. Ray then became a color commentator for WCW Thunder before the promotion went under in 2001.
WCW was bought by WWE, but Ray was not one of the talents who joined WWE. He worked sporadically over the next several years, with his last match taking place in 2017 for Booker T’s Reality Of Wrestling.
WWE Hall of Famer Stevie Ray has responded to critics who don’t believe he should have been inducted. Ray was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during last year’s ceremony. He was included as a part of the WCW tag team Harlem Heat alongside his brother, Booker T.
“Yeah, man! It is cool. But, you know, people were always bothering me about the Hall of Fame and I never really had thought about it,” Stevie Ray told Wrestling Epicenter. “I always thought that the Hall of Fame meant that you left a mark in wrestling and people would always remember it and I never thought… You know, it was in the back of my mind. But it is cool that it happened and hey, Harlem Heat is in the Hall of Fame!”
Stevie Ray stressed how “I could give two sh*ts what people say” regarding his inclusion. He stressed how they were put into the Hall of Fame as a record-breaking tag team. Not only that but for being a tag team that brought tag team wrestling back into popularity and actually got ratings at a time when teams didn’t really draw.
Stevie Ray Denied Harlem Heat Rumors
There had been rumors that a match could take place between The Revival and Harlem Heat. Despite the speculation, however, there has been no firm indication that the match will take place.
On a recent episode of WWE Backstage, Booker T highlighted how Harlem Heat wasn’t finished with the Revival. Stevie Ray, however, denied this. He stated, “I’m done with the Revival. I never had anything to do with the f***ing Revival. So, whatever sh*t he said, I don’t got nothing to do with it.”
WWE has filed to trademark the name “Harlem Heat” for wrestling purposes recently. According to documents publicly available through the US Patents and Trademark Office, WWE filed to trademark the term on January 13th, 2020.
The popular WCW tag team was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame last year. They are former 10x WCW tag team champions. Harlem Heat was named the Tag Team Of The Year in 1995 and 1996 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. They were also honored with the Tag Team Award by the Cauliflower Ear Club in 2018.
“My brother and I, we paved the way for so many other young African-American wrestlers that watched us and said ‘man if Booker T and Stevie Ray can do it, we can do it too’,” Booker said on ESPN radio after Harlem Heat’s WWE Hall of Fame induction was announced.
“We talk about how there’s not that many black wrestlers in this business, it’s because they didn’t get a chance to see a whole lot of them in there actually doing it. That’s why my brother and I — us getting that nod — of course, yeah, we deserve it because we paved the way, not just for so many black wrestlers like Street Profits, but so many young white kids as well. We represented for everyone!”
Harlem Heat, comprised of brothers Booker T and Stevie Ray, was inducted into WWE’s Hall Of Fame over WrestleMania weekend. The two made a name for themselves in WCW, storming the tag team division. The pair would end up winning the WCW World Tag Team Championships ten times throughout their time in the company.
Once WCW was purchased by WWE, however, only Booker T would end up jumping to the rival, victorious promotion.
Ryback recently spoke with Stevie Ray on his podcast, Conversations With The Big Guy. The two would end up discussing Stevie Ray’s reasons behind never signing with WWE.
“I didn’t want to go to WWF; as a matter of fact, the last WCW Nitro I didn’t even attend and they sent me a ticket, but I was always in the mindset of this is competition to me. This is NFL vs AFL or National League vs American League in baseball. WCW vs WWF, to be honest with you bro, I didn’t want to go out like a b****.”
“I Told Him That He Should Do It, But I’m Done”
Stevie Ray explains that part of his reasoning was due to the long-term feud between WCW and WWE. When the day came that WWE had bought WWE, he confessed he was “done” and had no interest in auditioning for Vince McMahon and his promotion.
“We had been fighting for the team, but when I heard Vince McMahon had come in and stuff like that—which I knew was coming—it’s like, you saw the writing on the wall, and you put it in the back of your mind, but at the end of the day I knew it was going to happen. But I didn’t attend the last show because my brother [Booker T] said that they are going to be auditioning people. I told him that he should do it, but I’m done.”
He was also concerned over WWE changing Harlem Heat, ruining the essence of what made the team so special:
“I wanted people to remember Harlem Heat as an ass-kicking tag team of color, you see what I’m saying? I didn’t want us to be something else. I didn’t want us to turn into a Doink the Clown, so I’m not saying that they would have done this with Harlem Heat, but I didn’t want to lose the edge that we once had as Harlem Heat.”
There has been a lot of criticism surrounding some of this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame inductees. Some disagree with the likes of Torrie Wilson and Stevie Ray going into the Hall Of Fame. Despite being one of the most recognizable female competitors in WWE history, Wilson never recorded a title victory during her seven-year tenure.
As for Stevie Ray, he piled up quite a bit of accolades in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Ray is a 10-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, alongside his brother and now-two-time WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T, but also won a WCW World TV Title. Unfortunately, Ray never got the opportunity to compete in WWE.
Recently, Booker T addressed these criticisms on a recent episode of his podcast, “Heated Conversations.” The five-time WCW Champion called out those who oppose Ray and Wilson’s inductions, and explained why they deserve the honor:
“What dictates whether you should get into the Hall Of Fame or not? I’ve had dirt sheet writers talking about, my brother shouldn’t be in the Hall Of Fame. People who haven’t done anything for this business, talking about who should or who shouldn’t get into the Hall Of Fame.
“My thing is this, if you done nothing and contributed zero as far as taking one bump on the road, you don’t know who should get in and who shouldn’t get into the Hall Of Fame. Torrie Wilson is definitely Hall Of Fame worthy. She has paved the way for so many other lovelies, just like herself, that perhaps didn’t think that they could actually do it because they didn’t fit that mold.
“Torrie Wilson gave them that belief in themselves, to say, ‘Hey, if Torrie Wilson can do it, I can do it too.’ So Torrie is definitely a Hall Of Famer as far as I’m concerned. All the critics out there, all the pundits – who have never done anything, who have never taken one bump, who would never be awarded for anything that they’ve done in their lives, they need to step off. Torrie Wilson, you got my stamp of approval sweetheart. You stepped up.”
What do you think about Booker T’s comments regarding Ray and Wilson in the HOF?
Booker T and his brother, Stevie Ray, are some of the latest Superstars to be announced for this year’s Hall Of Fame. The duo competed together extensively during the ‘90s in the tag-team, Harlem Heat. They found success and fame during their time in WCW prior to Booker T branching out and hitting main event status.
Stevie Ray has since taken to Twitter in order to thank his fans, humbled by the induction.
“I appreciate all the support from the fans. Very humbling day. #WWEHallOfFame”
I appreciate all the support from the fans. Very humbling day. #WWEHallOfFame
He would, however, follow this up with another tweet. This one reflected on how he was “voted in by my peers” as Stevie Ray took umbrage with Dave Meltzer.
“In Dave Meltzer’s opinion, I’m not worthy of the #WWEHallOfFame. That’s fine because that’s his opinion, but I was voted in by my peers. I got respect in this business which is more than I can say for him. When the HOF is over, fans will get to hear what I really think of Dave.”
In Dave Meltzer's opinion, I'm not worthy of the #WWEHallOfFame. That's fine because that's his opinion, but I was voted in by my peers. I got respect in this business which is more than I can say for him. When the HOF is over, fans will get to hear what I really think of Dave.
Many were naturally happy for the recognition of the team’s hard work, with Triple H and others tweeting out their praise and congratulations:
“Definitively one of the most dominating teams in history, #HarlemHeat broke down barriers and served as the standard-bearers of tag team wrestling in #WCW. Congratulations to @BookerT5x and @RealStevieRay. #WWEHOF”
One of the greatest tag-team in WCW history will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame next month. Brothers Booker T & Stevie Ray of Harlem Heat are the next tag-team WWE has chosen to honor in their Hall of Fame.
A press release sent in by WWE touts, “Booker T & Stevie Ray were one of the most dominant tag teams of the 1990s, steamrolling over the competition in WCW to become tag team champions on 10 occasions. Now, the brothers will be immortalized in sports-entertainment history.”
This will make Booker T a 2-time, 2-time, 2-time WWE Hall of Famer. As of this writing, only one man holds that distinction: Ric Flair. The night Booker T gets inducted, Shawn Michaels will also become a 2-time Hall of Famer (as part of DeGeneration X).
Harlem Heat – WWE Hall of Fame
Booker T and Stevie Ray held the WCW tag-team championships on 10 occasions. The team was also honored last year by the Cauliflower Alley Club, winning their Tag Team of the Year award. Only Demolition and the High Flyers (Greg Gane & Jim Brunzell) have ever received the award before from the club. They were named the Tag Team of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 1995 & 1996 as well.
WWE Hall of Fame Tag Teams
The brothers join the following inductees as the 11th tag-team (and 13th or 14th group including D-Generation X, also to be inducted this year) to enter the WWE Hall of Fame:
The Valiant Brothers (Jimmy & Johnny Valiant) (1996)
The Blackjacks (Blackjack Mulligan & Blackjack Lanza) (2006)
The Wild Samoans (Afa & Sika) (2007)
The Brisco Brothers (Jack & Gerald Briscoe) (2008)
The Funks (Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr.) (2009)
The Von Erichs (faction) (Fritz, Kevin, Kerry, David, Mike, & Chris) (2009)
The Road Warriors (Animal, Hawk, & Paul Ellering)
The 4 Horsemen (faction) (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, & JJ Dillon) (2012)
The Bushwhackers (Luke & Butch) (2015)
The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts, and Jimmy Garvin) (2016)
The Rock N Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) (2017)
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.”
At a couple different points tonight, the official WWE Games Twitter account tweeted these animated GIFs to hype Tuesday’s release of the Hall of Fame downloadable content pack for WWE 2K16, which is out this Tuesday:
It was already known that 1991 versions of Ric Flair and Tatsumi Fujinami plus a relevant match replay mode were in the Hall of Fame pack, but they had two matches that year. It seemed like it made more sense for 2K to base it off their match from Superbrawl in St. Petersburg, Florida, but from the above footage, it looks like they didn’t. Instead, 2K picked the OTHER Flair-Fujinami match, from the NJPW Tokyo Dome show that year, which is known as both WCW Japan Supershow and NJPW Starrcade ’91 In The Tokyo Dome. So that means that the arena that comes in the pack is an ersatz Tokyo Dome, faithfully recreated by 2K Sports. They can’t call it that (and I don’t believe WWE games ever name real venues), but 2K does a great job with the presentation of the arenas and this should be no exception.
Here’s the full lineup for the DLC pack, which, if this is any indication, should also include at least two more WCW arenas and some early ’90s WWF arenas along with period appropriate versions of the wrestlers:
“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts
Rikishi vs. The Rock
Alundra Blayze vs. Paige
Larry Zbyszko and Arn Anderson vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Ric Flair
The Bushwhackers (Butch Miller and Luke Williams) vs. The Natural Disasters (Typhoon and Earthquake)
The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) vs. Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray)
– The legendary nine-time World Tag-Team Champion Dudley Boyz are the guests on the latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, which just dropped today. You can download and listen to Jericho’s interview with Bubba Ray and Devon Dudley at PodcastOne.com.
– Tuesday would have marked the 89th birthday of WWE Hall Of Famer Walter “Killer” Kowalski. Triple H wrote the following on Twitter about Kowalski, who was his mentor when he first got into the business:
Today would have been Walter "Killer" Kowalski's 89th birthday. Had he never laced up his boots…I wouldn't have. pic.twitter.com/z7R94c5EOC
– Below is the latest edition of Booker T’s “Reality Of Wrestling” television show, which features Devon Dudley, Stevie Ray and Booker T’s wife, Sharmell, among the other ROW talent.
– You can add WWE Hall Of Famer Scott Hall and decorated tag-team The Young Bucks to the list of guests who were backstage at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Sunday night for WWE’s “Night Of Champions” pay-per-view event. As previously reported, Chris Jericho, Kane, MVP and Stevie Ray were also backstage at the event.
– In the opening match of WWE Night Of Champions on Sunday night, former NXT Champion Kevin Owens won his first main roster title, as he defeated Ryback to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion.
Well, it looks like Kane and Chris Jericho aren’t the only guests backstage at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, the site of tonight’s WWE Night Of Champions pay-per-view event.
According to PWInsider.com, former TNA star MVP is backstage at the venue in Houston, where he lives. Additionally, Stevie Ray, former Harlem Heat tag-team partner of Booker T, who also lives in the Houston area, is backstage as well.
As noted earlier this evening, Jericho is rumored to be the mystery partner for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in their six-man tag-team match against The Wyatt Family, however that is strictly a rumor at this point.
– As noted recently, Daniel Bryan is advertised to appear at next Monday’s edition of WWE RAW. Bryan has since been added to the August 24th edition of WWE RAW at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York as well.
– SIRIUS/XM radio personality Sam Roberts is the guest on the latest edition of the “Steve Austin Show” podcast. You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.
– Stevie Ray announced on social media this week that he has signed a Legends Deal with WWE. Below is the announcement Ray tweeted:
Suckas gots to know! I've signed a legends deal with @WWE! As my brother @BookerT5x would say, I know ya can dig that! #HarlemHeat#slapjack
WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T announced that he and his former WCW tag-team partner Stevie Ray, who together were known as “Harlem Heat” during their time in the now defunct WCW promotion, will be reuniting for one night only.
The Harlem Heat tag-team will be working a match together for Booker’s “Reality of Wrestling” promotion, as the duo will challenge the new version of another popular tag-team from the past, “The Heavenly Bodies.”
The show that this match will take place will be on Saturday, February 21st at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California.
Tickets for the event officially go on sale to the general public on Sunday (January 11th) at noon.
You can check out a video promo for the Harlem Heat reunion at the Reality of Wrestling promotion above.
