Booker T Recalls The Racist Remarks He Endured When First Starting Wrestling In Dallas

WWE Hall of Famer Booker T, who is soon to take his place as a two-time Hall of Famer alongside "Harlem Heat" teammate, Stevie Ray, recently spoke with Busted Open Radio about the announcement of their upcoming induction to the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame.

As seen in the video above, Booker took some time during the interview to recount some of the memorable moments Harlem Heat experienced throughout their career. One story referenced their time in Dallas, Texas, when they were just starting out in the business. It was there that Harlem Heat would endure hostility and derogatory remarks about their race as they tried to get their careers off the ground.

"Our first experience in Dallas was an experience one could never imagine in the wrestling business," Booker began. "It was only about fifty people or so in that arena, they were all 100% Caucasian, and they hated Harlem Heat. We didn't have any experience there, we were just two guys. I remember vividly, my brother-in-law was taping it on the recorder and they were calling us everything in the building that night, man, all of it, the 'N' word and everything. My brother-in-law was taping and at one point in the match, I did the spinaroonie, and then a guy came up to my brother-in-law and told him, 'You got to cut that off.' But right before that, I saw the reaction of all the fans. One guy goes, 'Oh my God! What was that?!'"

With a spinaroonie and their undeniable charisma on display, Harlem Heat began changing people's perceptions of what they could bring to the table inside the squared circle. By the time Booker and Stevie Ray were ready to move on to the next territory, the crowd was desperate to keep them around in Dallas.

"From that moment on, we literally changed the people in that sportatorium. It went from fifty people to that place being sold-out on a weekly basis, and those people were seeing it to have the experience," Booker continued. "We were like the Von Erichs in Dallas, and when we left, I remember vividly, we were in my Z28 and we were leaving and heading to Atlanta, GA and all those people that called us those words, they were there crying. They hated to see us go, and I don't think it has been the same since we left Dallas, Texas."

Booker and Stevie Ray will be inducted in to the WWE Hall of Fame Saturday, April 6 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn during WrestleMania 35 weekend.

You can listen to the full interview in the video above. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Busted Open Radio with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.