Booker T

Booker T. Huffman Jr. (born March 1, 1965), better known by his ring name Booker T, is an American retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer. He is currently signed to WWE, where he serves as a commentator on the NXT brand. He is also the owner and founder of the independent promotion Reality of Wrestling (ROW).

Booker is known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), holding 35 championships between those organizations. He is the most decorated wrestler in WCW history, having held 21 titles, including a record six WCW World Television Championships (along with being the first African American titleholder), and a record 11 WCW World Tag Team Championships: 10 as one half of Harlem Heat with his brother, Lash "Stevie Ray" Huffman in WCW (most reigns within that company), and one in the WWF with Test. Booker was the final WCW World Heavyweight Champion and WCW United States Heavyweight Champion under the WCW banner.

Booker is an overall six-time world champion in professional wrestling, having won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship five times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship once. With his fifth WCW Championship win (which occurred in the WWF), Booker T became the first African-American to win a world championship in WWF/E and also the first to be of non-mixed race. He is also the winner of the 2006 King of the Ring tournament, the 16th Triple Crown Champion, and the eighth Grand Slam Champion in WWE history. As the ninth WCW Triple Crown Champion, Booker is one of four men to achieve both the WWE and WCW Triple Crowns. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the WWF/E, WCW and TNA throughout his career.

Booker was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6, 2013, by his brother, Lash. Both he and Lash were inducted together into the 2019 class on April 6, 2019, as Harlem Heat, making Booker a two-time Hall of Famer.

Early life Booker T. Huffman Jr. was born on March 1, 1965, in Plain Dealing, Louisiana, though his birthplace is often misidentified as Houston, Texas. In high school, he was a drum major His brother Lash suggested that the two check out a new professional wrestling school being opened by Ivan Putski in conjunction with his Western Wrestling Alliance (WWA). Subsequently, Booker T and Stevie Ray left the GWF to work for World Championship Wrestling (WCW). During that time, they also worked for Network Of Wrestling in Japan.

World Championship Wrestling (1993–2001) Harlem Heat (1993–1997) Booker T and his brother Stevie Ray signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) after Sid Vicious recommended they sign with the company. They lost the match but were over as heels because of the caliber of faces they wrestled.

In 1994, they acquired the services of Sister Sherri as their manager and changed their names back to Booker T and Stevie Ray, at their request. By the end of 1994, they held the WCW World Tag Team Championship after defeating Stars and Stripes (The Patriot and Marcus Alexander Bagwell) in December. Their third title reign only lasted one day, but the duo regained the tag team title nine days later from the American Males (Buff Bagwell and Scotty Riggs). On the June 24, 1996, Nitro, Harlem Heat defeated Lex Luger and Sting to capture their fifth WCW World Tag Team Championship.

Three days after losing the tag team titles to the Steiner Brothers, Harlem Heat regained the titles back from the Steiners on July 27. On September 23, Booker T and Stevie Ray were defeated by Public Enemy (Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge) but took the titles back for the seventh time on October 1.

They lost the Tag Team Championship to the Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) on October 27. Subsequently, they fired Col. Parker and beat him up and became full-fledged faces. They then entered into a brief feud against Col. Parker's newest team, the Amazing French Canadians, a feud they won.

During spring 1998, Booker T began feuding with Chris Benoit.

Booker T scored a clean pinfall victory over Bret Hart on the edition of February 22 of Nitro. The following month, he regained the World Television Championship from Scott Steiner, who, in turn, defeated Booker T in the finals of the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship tournament. When The Filthy Animals were stripped of the WCW World Tag Team belts due to an injury suffered by Rey Mysterio Jr., the title was put up in a three-way dance at Halloween Havoc. Harlem Heat claimed their tenth WCW World Tag Team title defeating Hugh Morrus and Brian Knobs and Konnan and Kidman. Kidman and Booker T defeated Harlem Heat 2000 (Ray and Big T) at Uncensored 2000.

When Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff formed The New Blood, Huffman eventually completely changed his in-ring persona, helping lead Captain Rection's military-themed Misfits In Action stable as G.I. Bro, reprising his gimmicks from his days in the WWA. On the final episode of Nitro on March 26, Booker T defeated Scott Steiner to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship for the fourth time.

According to sports journalist Michael Landsberg, Huffman was salaried at "close to a million dollars a year" in WCW. In his debut match in the WWF, Booker T defended his WCW Championship against Buff Bagwell on the July 2 episode of Raw is War; sports journalist Michael Landsberg reported that many have called this bout "the worst match ever". On the July 26 episode of SmackDown!, Booker T gave up his WCW United States Championship and handed it over to Chris Kanyon. Booker T won the WCW Tag Team Championship for an eleventh time, this time with Test, Then the week after Booker T vandalized Austin's truck causing Austin to chase Booker T around a bingo hall and a church.

Booker T's first WrestleMania appearance was at WrestleMania X8 on March 17, 2002, against Edge, a match he lost. At No Mercy on October 20, Booker T and Goldust battled Chris Jericho and Christian for the World Tag Team Championship, but they lost the match with Jericho using the title belt on Goldust. For several weeks, he teamed with Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash in a feud against Triple H, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho. About a month later, because of a nagging back injury, Booker T lost the Intercontinental Championship back to Christian at a non-televised house show on August 10. Booker T, meanwhile, was out of action until October. Team Bischoff won the match. Booker T then feuded with Mark Henry, who eliminated him in the Survivor Series match. Booker T defeated Henry at Armageddon on December 14.

On the March 25 episode of SmackDown!, Booker T was "traded" (along with the Dudley Boyz) to the SmackDown! brand in exchange for Triple H, but as part of a new storyline, he appeared unhappy with the move calling SmackDown! "the minor leagues" and even disrespected Eddie Guerrero, the brand's WWE Champion, turning heel in the process. however, it did nothing to prevent him from losing to the Undertaker at Judgment Day on May 16. After Cena was stripped of his title by Angle for "laying a hand" on the general manager on the July 8 episode of SmackDown!, Booker T took advantage of the situation and won an eight-man elimination match to win the vacant United States Championship, thus becoming the one-hundredth United States Champion in history, in a match that also featured Cena, Dupree, Billy Gunn, Charlie Haas, Luther Reigns, Kenzo Suzuki and Van Dam. Booker T won by last eliminating both Cena and Van Dam in the course of less than 10 seconds. and a live event the next night, to take a 2–1 lead. The next match in the series wouldn't come until the September 16 SmackDown!, where Cena won and tied the series at two apiece. The series culminated at No Mercy on October 3, where Cena won the series 3–2, and thusly, the United States Championship.

On the October 21 episode of SmackDown!, SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long placed Booker T in a six-man tag team match with Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio against John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), René Duprée, and Kenzo Suzuki. JBL expected Booker T to betray his partners, but instead Booker T pinned JBL, thus turning face again. Booker T faced JBL for the WWE Championship at the Survivor Series on November 14, but lost after he was hit in the head with the championship belt. He then briefly teamed with Eddie Guerrero, at one point challenging Mysterio and Van Dam for the WWE Tag Team Championship, and feuded with Heidenreich. Booker T protested, and the match was made into a Handicap match. Angle won by pinning Sharmell in a sexual position. The next week, Booker T gained revenge on Angle, defeating him with a Scissors Kick.

On the June 30 episode of SmackDown!, JBL defeated Christian, The Undertaker, Chris Benoit, Muhammad Hassan, and Booker T in a six-man elimination match for the SmackDown! Championship. During the match, Booker T got specifically involved with Christian. Booker T later defeated Christian at The Great American Bash on July 24.

United States Champion (2005–2006) Booker T began teaming with Chris Benoit, eying his United States Championship again. Benoit was allowed to pick his next challenger to see who would face him at No Mercy on October 9, so Booker T, Christian, and Orlando Jordan tried to impress Benoit by winning matches. He instead decided not choose one opponent, so he made it a fatal four-way for No Mercy, where Benoit successfully defended his title. On the October 21 episode of SmackDown!, Booker T defeated Benoit for the United States Championship, due to unseen help from Sharmell. Booker T took an early 3–0 lead; winning the first three matches at Survivor Series on November 27, the November 29 SmackDown! special, and the December 9 episode of SmackDown!. Benoit was able to tie the series 3–3 after beating Orton in two consecutive matches on the December 30 and January 6, 2006, episodes of SmackDown!. Orton, however, was able to defeat Benoit in the final match on the January 13 episode of SmackDown! to win the series and the title for Booker T, who held the title until No Way Out on February 19 where Benoit won it back.

On the February 24 episode of SmackDown!, Booker T and Sharmell provided guest commentary for a match involving The Boogeyman. After defeating his opponents, The Boogeyman dumped a bucket of worms onto the announce table where they were sitting, frightening the two. Over the next few weeks, The Boogeyman would stalk Booker T and Sharmell. Booker T and The Boogeyman were set to face off on the March 18 Saturday Night's Main Event XXXII, but the match was canceled due to Booker T faking a knee injury to escape competition. The feud eventually culminated at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, with Booker T and Sharmell losing to The Boogeyman. The couple received a restraining order against The Boogeyman on the April 7 episode of SmackDown!, ending the feud.

King Booker; World Heavyweight Champion (2006–2007)

Booker T next entered the 2006 King of the Ring tournament on SmackDown!, advancing through to the finals due to a bye as his semi-final opponent, Kurt Angle, was unable to wrestle. The finals were held at Judgment Day on May 21 where Booker T defeated Bobby Lashley. Upon winning the King of the Ring tournament, Booker T began wrestling as "King Booker" However, whenever King Booker would get angry he would launch into a tirade in the style of Booker T (an example of this was an episode of SmackDown! where Theodore Long would inform him he would be facing The Undertaker), which lent some comedic aspect to the character; he even went as far as having Lashley kiss his "royal" feet.

After gaining his title of King, King Booker continued to feud with Lashley. After Lashley defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) for the United States Championship at the end of May, King Booker began chasing after the title and even resorted to making Lashley kiss his "royal feet" on the June 2 episode of SmackDown!. The feud ended after a steel cage match on the June 30 episode of SmackDown! where Lashley defeated King Booker by escaping the cage to retain the United States Championship.

The next week, King Booker entered a battle royal on SmackDown! with the winner to challenge Rey Mysterio for his World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash on July 23. King Booker won the battle royal and then defeated Mysterio at The Great American Bash to win the World Heavyweight Championship after Chavo Guerrero betrayed Mysterio by hitting him with a steel chair. This was King Booker's first world championship since joining WWE and the win caused him to proclaim himself as the "King of the World". This win would also make King Booker the sixteenth Triple Crown Champion and eighth Grand Slam Champion (under the original format) in the history of the WWE.

After King Booker won the World Heavyweight Championship, he began a rivalry with the returning former champion Batista, who vowed to regain the title he was forced to forfeit due to injury. This rivalry spilled over to real life when the two got into a legitimate fistfight at a SummerSlam pay-per-view commercial shoot, reportedly due to Batista considering himself superior to the rest of the roster due to his quick climb to main event status. According to sources, both men were left bloodied and bruised, however Booker was reportedly praised by many wrestlers in the back for speaking his mind to Batista about his attitude. At SummerSlam on August 20, King Booker lost to Batista by disqualification after Queen Sharmell interfered on his behalf (thus retaining the title), but at No Mercy on October 8, King Booker defeated Batista, Lashley and his own stablemate, Finlay, in a Fatal 4-Way match. Before the match, King Booker assaulted Sir William Regal, resulting in the breakup of the King's Court.

Despite the break-up of his Court, King Booker lost to Batista by disqualification on the October 20 episode on SmackDown!, due to interference from WWE Champion John Cena from Raw and ECW World Champion Big Show, the two of whom King Booker was to face at Cyber Sunday on November 5 in a "champion of champions" match. At Cyber Sunday, the fans voted for the World Heavyweight Championship to be on the line. King Booker retained after defeating Big Show and Cena with help from Kevin Federline.

After Cyber Sunday, the feud between King Booker and Batista continued with Batista unable to wrestle the title from King Booker. Eventually this led to a match at Survivor Series on November 26, where King Booker declared that if Batista failed to defeat him this time, it would be the last World Heavyweight Championship match he would receive as long as King Booker was champion. At Survivor Series, SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long decided that if King Booker got counted out or disqualified, he would lose the title. Late in the match, Queen Sharmell handed Booker his title belt while referee Nick Patrick was not looking. While she had Patrick distracted, King Booker attempted to hit Batista with the belt. Batista moved out of the way, knocked the belt out of King Booker's hands and hit him in the head with it, and King Booker lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Batista. On the August 27 episode of Raw, King Booker wrestled against John Cena in a non-title match, which he lost by disqualification when Randy Orton interfered. He was suspended by WWE for violating its Wellness Policy. reverting to his Booker T character. His wife Sharmell also debuted, interfering in the match on Booker T and Sting's behalf when Karen Angle interfered on behalf of Kurt Angle and Nash.

On the November 29 episode of Impact!, Booker T said he came to TNA to test his skills against the young talent, take TNA to a higher level, and win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Robert Roode came to the ring and challenged Booker T to a match, claiming he has been pushed down by washed-up wrestlers and has-beens. Booker T won his Impact! debut match, but afterwards, Christian Cage and Robert Roode beat down Booker T until Kaz made the save. At Turning Point on December 2, Booker T and Kaz defeated Roode and Cage when Booker T pinned Cage. Booker T and Sharmell won a mixed tag team match against Robert Roode and Ms. Brooks at Final Resolution on January 6, 2008. After the match, Roode punched Sharmell in the face, leading to a match at Against All Odds on February 10. While the punch was intended to be a work, Roode had in fact made contact with Sharmell during the punch, dislocating her jaw and causing her to be off television for a few weeks, therefore making it into a shoot. The rivalry, however, went ahead as planned where Booker T and Roode wrestled to a double-countout at Against All Odds, which saw them brawl to the parking lot. Roode defeated Booker T in a strap match at Destination X on March 9 after hitting Booker T with a pair of handcuffs. On a special live episode of Impact!, Booker T and Roode had another outing, this time with the fans being able to vote on the stipulation of the match. At Booker T's request during a pre-match promo, the match became a First Blood Match, beating the Last Man Standing and I Quit stipulations. Booker T would go on to win the match-up. At Lockdown on April 13, Booker T and Sharmell defeated Robert Roode and Payton Banks after Sharmell pinned Banks with a roll-up.

Main Event Mafia (2008–2010)

Booker T (left) as part of the Main Event Mafia in TNA. At this time Booker was the TNA Legends (later Television) Champion Booker T turned heel for the first time in TNA at Sacrifice on May 11 by attacking Christian Cage and Rhino from behind with a steel chair. This came about as a result of losing a tag team match up against Christian Cage and Rhino, with them furthering themselves in the Deuces Wild Tag Team Tournament. Booker T then competed in the King of the Mountain match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Slammiversary on June 8. He was seconds away from winning the match, when Kevin Nash stopped him and performed a Jackknife Powerbomb; Samoa Joe would later go on to win the match. On the next Impact!, Booker T challenged Joe to a title match at Victory Road on July 13, which Joe would later accept. Also around this time he reverted to a gimmick similar to his King Booker gimmick albeit while proclaiming himself a supposed king of Africa. The match at Victory Road ended in a draw after Sharmell replaced the referee and counted after the match was already over. At Hard Justice on August 10, Samoa Joe defeated Booker T after a guitar shot, thus reclaiming physical possession of the title belt, which Booker T had kept after Victory Road. At Bound for Glory IV on October 12, Booker T defeated A.J. Styles and Christian Cage in a Three Way War. Later he introduced the TNA Legends Championship and became the first official champion. Booker T successfully defended the title at Turning Point on November 9 against Cage. At Final Resolution on December 7, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, and Sting defeated The TNA Front Line (A.J. Styles, Brother Devon, Brother Ray, and Samoa Joe) in an eight-man tag team match to allow Sting to retain his TNA World Heavyweight Championship. At Genesis on January 11, 2009, Booker T, Scott Steiner, and Cute Kip lost a six-man tag team match to Mick Foley, A.J. Styles, and Brother Devon. The next month at Against All Odds on February 8, Booker T defeated Shane Sewell to retain the Legends Championship. Booker T lost the title to A.J. Styles at Destination X on March 15. At Lockdown on April 19, Team Angle (Booker T, Kevin Nash, Kurt Angle, and Scott Steiner) lost to Team Jarrett (A.J. Styles, Christopher Daniels, Jeff Jarrett, and Samoa Joe) in a Lethal Lockdown match. At Sacrifice on May 24, Booker T received a rematch for the Legends Championship, but lost to A.J. Styles in a "I Quit" match.

Booker T went go on to form the Main Event Mafia's resident tag team with Scott Steiner, and at Victory Road on July 19, Steiner and Booker T defeated Beer Money, Inc. to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship, marking Booker T's 15th World Tag Team title reign overall. Then at Hard Justice on August 16, Booker T and Steiner retained the World Tag Team Championship against Team 3D. Prior to No Surrender, Booker T, Steiner, and British Invasion won a match to gain the man advantage at No Surrender's Lethal Lockdown match against Team 3D and Beer Money, Inc. Even with the advantage, Booker T's team lost at No Surrender on September 20 when James Storm of Beer Money pinned Doug Williams of The British Invasion. At Bound for Glory on October 18, Booker T and Steiner lost the TNA World Tag Team Titles to the British Invasion in a four way Full Metal Mayhem Tag Team match, which also included Team 3D and Beer Money; during the match Booker T was taken out on a stretcher. Afterwards it was reported that Bound for Glory had been Booker T's final appearance with TNA, and his and Sharmell's profiles were removed from the official TNA roster. On May 21, 2010, Booker T made a one night return to TNA at a live event in Lake Charles, Louisiana, replacing A.J. Styles, who was unable to attend the event due to travel issues, and wrestled Rob Van Dam for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort.

Puerto Rico and Mexico (2009–2010) Booker T debuted in the International Wrestling Association (IWA) on Histeria Boricua, a special event held on January 6, 2009. There he was booked against Chicano, the incumbent IWA Undisputed Heavyweight Champion.

Return to WWE (2011–present)

Color commentator and part-time wrestler (2011–2012) On January 30, 2011, Booker T returned to WWE to take part in the Royal Rumble. Booker T entered the match at number 21 and was eliminated by Mason Ryan. On the February 1 taping of SmackDown, Booker T debuted as the show's new color commentator, working beside Josh Mathews and Michael Cole, replacing Matt Striker. He coached on the returning Tough Enough competition, and at Elimination Chamber he introduced Trish Stratus as a fellow coach. At WrestleMania XXVII Booker T was on commentary during the Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole match. He would become involved in the match during the event. After the disqualification win for Cole, Booker T appeared in-ring post match alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin and Lawler and after a Spinaroonie, received a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin. On the June 6 episode of Raw, Booker T wrestled his first match on the brand in four years, gaining a victory against Jack Swagger by count out. On the November 21 episode of Raw, Cody Rhodes threw water in Booker T's face after Rhodes allegedly heard Booker T criticize him, thus starting a conflict between the two. On the November 29 episode of SmackDown Booker T was scheduled to face Rhodes in a match but it did not happen after Rhodes attacked him from behind him during a backstage interview. On the December 9 episode of SmackDown, Rhodes attacked Booker T again while heading to the announcer's table leaving him with paramedics. Later that night, Booker T attacked Rhodes during his match with Daniel Bryan, leading to an Intercontinental Championship match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, which Rhodes won. On the December 26 episode of Raw, Booker T defeated Rhodes in a non-title match. On the January 6, 2012, episode of SmackDown, Booker T challenged Rhodes a second time for the Intercontinental Championship, but once again failed to win the title.

Booker T along with fellow commentators Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole all participated in the 2012 Royal Rumble. On the March 26, 2012, episode of Raw, Booker T saved Teddy Long from an attempted attack by Mark Henry, thus becoming the sixth and final member of Team Teddy at WrestleMania XXVIII, where Team Johnny emerged victorious. This was his last official match for the WWE until his Royal Rumble appearance in 2023. On the July 9 episode of Raw, Jerry Lawler won by pinfall against Michael Cole in a WrestleMania XXVII rematch. However, Booker T, who was substituting for Lawler on commentary, threw Cole back into the ring after he tried to escape. This caused the anonymous Raw General Manager to reverse the decision and give Cole the win as a result of a disqualification.

SmackDown General Manager and Hall of Fame (2012–2013) On August 3, 2012, Vince McMahon appointed Booker T as the new general manager of SmackDown during Friday Night Smackdown's show. Booker T would quickly add Eve Torres and Theodore Long to his staff, as his assistant and senior adviser respectively.

Booker T was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his brother, Stevie Ray, the night before WrestleMania 29. On the April 19 SmackDown, Booker T became angry with Long for making matches without his consent. Big Show arrived and thanked Long for doing a better job than Booker T, further infuriating him. On the April 22 Raw, upset with Long for making a World Heavyweight Championship match at Extreme Rules, made it a Triple Threat match. Booker T took time off for a torn distal triceps, and had surgery for it on June 12. On the July 19 SmackDown, he returned to continue as SmackDown General Manager, but soon lost the job to Vickie Guerrero, on Vince McMahon's orders.

Return to commentary and pre-show panelist (2014–present)

Since 2014, Booker T has commonly done work on the WWE Network, including the Raw pre-show and also being a part of the "expert panel" on Kickoff shows before each pay-per-view event.

On the 2015 premiere of Raw, Booker T replaced Jerry Lawler, who was suffering from diverticulitis, for commentating. However, it was later announced that Booker would be returning on a full-time basis to take Lawler's place on Raw, with Lawler moving to SmackDown. On the March 30 episode of Raw, Booker, along with JBL and Michael Cole, were injured by Brock Lesnar after Seth Rollins refused Lesnar his WWE World Heavyweight Championship rematch. Booker was replaced by Byron Saxton for commentating as he became a coach for the sixth season of WWE Tough Enough.

On August 6, 2016, Booker T replaced Tommy Dreamer in an intergender tag team match for Dreamer's House of Hardcore promotion. Booker T returned to his old "King Booker" gimmick in a segment with the SmackDown Live Survivor Series tag teams where he gave a motivational speech and convinced Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango) to join the team.

In December 2016, after Jerry Lawler and Lita left the pre-show team, WWE ended their Raw and SmackDown pre-shows leaving Booker T to the WWE pay-per-view pre-shows and other WWE Network specials. Following the 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Booker T replaced David Otunga as color commentator on Raw. On the January 29, 2018, episode of Raw, Booker was replaced on commentary by the returning Jonathan Coachman. On the August 28 episode of SmackDown Live Booker T made a surprise appearance as "King Booker" in the opening segment when he interrupted and joined in on The New Day's "five timers" celebration, following the latter's fifth tag team championship win. To help commemorate the achievement, King Booker acknowledged The New Day's entry into the "five timers' club" and he and The New Day all performed Spinaroonies.

In 2020, Booker made his return by wrestling at his Reality of Wrestling promotion.

On October 6, 2022, WWE announced that they had shuffled their commentary and interview teams, with Booker joining the NXT commentary team alongside Vic Joseph.

Booker returned to the ring in WWE as a surprise entrant in the 2023 Royal Rumble on January 28 but was eliminated by Gunther in 42 seconds, which would mark his final in-ring appearance as he later announced on his podcast that he was retired due to his age and had listed the wrestling attire he wore at the Royal Rumble on eBay.

In January 2025, Booker came out of retirement for Reality of Wrestling against Zilla Fatu in a winning effort.

Legacy

Longtime wrestler Kurt Angle said of Booker T: "He's done it all... he legitimately is one of the top five best of all time." In 2001, sports journalist Michael Landsberg stated that Booker T was considered "one of the best wrestlers alive" and was capable of "any match, any style". Industry veteran John Layfield later described him as "the best acquisition that WWE got when they bought WCW" in 2001.

He was the first African-American WCW World Television Champion. Considering both Booker T's WCW and WWF/E accolades, WWE recognizes him as one of the most decorated performers of all time.

With his fifth WCW Championship win (which occurred in the WWF), Booker T became the second African-American to win a world championship in WWF/E (after The Rock) and the first who was not mixed race. Booker T was voted WWE's greatest World Heavyweight Champion in a 2013 viewer poll.

Other media In 2000, Booker appeared in the film Ready to Rumble as himself. He has appeared in an episode of Charmed called "Wrestling with Demons" alongside Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner. In 2001, along with several other WWE wrestlers, Booker competed on an episode of The Weakest Link, being eliminated second from the show. He has also appeared on Comedy Central and MTV.

In 2001, Booker appeared in an episode of The Jersey called The Sadie Incident alongside Scott Steiner

On January 13, 2004, the album WWE Originals was released, featuring Booker T performing "Can You Dig It?". On April 21, 2007, Booker began hosting a radio show titled Tea Time with King Booker on KBME 790 AM in Houston. During the week of November 5, 2007, he appeared on Family Feud with several other WWE wrestlers.

On September 1, 2012, Booker released his first autobiography, Booker T: From Prison to Promise, with Medallion Press. Booker T made appearances to promote the book with The Score Television Network with Arda Ocal which aired on August 29, 2012. He conducted a sixteen-page interview with Pro Wrestling Illustrated in the 2012 volume #50 issue.

On March 10, 2015, Booker released his second autobiography, Booker T: Wrestling Royalty with Medallion Press.

In 2015, Booker T started a show on KILT (AM) that is also a podcast on Radio.com called "Heated Conversations – with Booker T". The show is aired on Saturday nights locally in Houston, Texas, and covers subjects from wrestling, MMA, and boxing to many other sports. It has featured the biggest names from the WWE, as well as NBA stars like Dwight Howard.

In February 2019, Booker T sued video game company Activision over the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 character David "Prophet" Wilkes. The lawsuit claimed that the Black Ops character contained similarities to Booker's GI Bro comic book character.

In 2019, Booker T and his co-host Brad Gilmore joined the Houston ESPN affiliate, ESPN 97.5 KFNC for their weekly show "The Hall of Fame with Booker T and Brad Gilmore".

Booker T has been featured as part of a song named after him by Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny.

On May 9, 2022, Booker was the subject of an episode of Biography: WWE Legends.

Booker appeared in a 2023 episode of Pawn Stars in which he was asked to authenticate a pair of boots that he once wore and confirmed that he did; he stated that he donated them to a charity auction to support the victims of Hurricane Harvey.

In June 2024, Booker and Brad Gilmore announced that their radio show The Hall of Fame had signed a deal with Disney and ESPN to broadcast the show on ESPN Radio nationally.

Video games WCW video games Year Title Notes 1998 WCW Nitro Video game debut WCW/nWo Revenge 1999 WCW/nWo Thunder WCW Mayhem 2000 WCW Backstage Assault

TNA video games Year Title Notes 2008 TNA Impact! Video game debut Cover athlete TNA Wrestling Mobile game

Personal life

Relationships and family

Huffman married his first wife Levestia on May 23, 1996. Booker presented her to the Nitro crowd the night after his WCW World Heavyweight Championship win at Bash at the Beach. Levestia was also used to further the feud between him and Jeff Jarrett when Jarrett hit her in the head with a guitar on Nitro on July 31, 2000. However, they divorced on May 8, 2001.

Huffman has a son, from a previous relationship with a high school girlfriend, named Brandon (born in 1982), Booker married his girlfriend of five years, Sharmell Sullivan, in February 2005. The couple welcomed their twins, a boy named Kendrick and a girl named Kennedy, in 2010. Huffman and his brother Lash opened a wrestling school in Houston in 2005.

On February 21, 2015, Booker T and Stevie Ray reunited as Harlem Heat for one last match in Reality of Wrestling for the promotion's "The Final Heat" event. They defeated the Heavenly Bodies to win the ROW Tag Team Championship. On March 14, the titles were vacated.

In February 2020, Booker T returned to wrestle for the promotion in an eight-man tag team match.

Politics On December 10, 2016, Huffman announced that he would be running in the 2019 Houston mayoral election. He was quoted saying that, "2020 is going to be a new era in the city of Houston. We're going to be looked at now from a different perspective. The cool city, 2020 is coming." Huffman was quoted in 2016, stating his focus for the three years leading up to the 2019 election would be concentrated on the city's "homeless, underprivileged, and low income areas."

Legal issues At age 22, Huffman spent nineteen months in prison after pleading guilty to armed robberies at Wendy's restaurants in Houston. He and his partners wore Wendy's uniforms during the holdups since they had been working there for 2½ years. Because of the gunmen's uniforms and familiarity with the fast food chain's operations, police suspected the robberies were inside jobs—and it did not take long before Huffman and three other men were found. He pled guilty in December 1987 to two aggravated robbery counts and was sentenced to five years in prison. Huffman was released after serving 19 months, and was placed on parole until April 1992. George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2018 Global Wrestling Federation GWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Stevie Ray Las Vegas Pro Wrestling LVPW UWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Prairie Wrestling Alliance PWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Pro Wrestling Illustrated Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2000) Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1998) Southern Championship Wrestling Florida SCW Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Texas All-Pro Wrestling TAP Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Reality of Wrestling ROW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Stevie Ray Total Nonstop Action Wrestling TNA Legends Championship (1 time, inaugural) TNA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Steiner Who To Watch in 2008 (2007) WCW World Television Championship (6 times) WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) WCW World Tag Team Championship (11 times) – with Stevie Ray (10) with Test (1) Ninth WCW Triple Crown Champion World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE (List of WCW Champions) World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time) WWE United States Championship (3 times) World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Test (1), Goldust (1) and Rob Van Dam (1) King of the Ring (2006) Sixteenth Triple Crown Champion Eighth Grand Slam Champion (under original format) WWE Hall of Fame (2 times) Class of 2013 – individually Wrestling Observer Newsletter Most Underrated (2002) Worst Television Announcer (2017, 2023, 2024, 2025)