Booker T Recalls His Mindset Going From WCW To WWE
WWE and WCW legend Booker T was interviewed by Yahoo Sports to promote A&E's upcoming Biography: Booker T episode. When asked if he had a chip on his shoulder coming from WCW to WWE and not being treated as a star on the level of a Goldberg, nWo or Diamond Dallas Page, Booker revealed he never had those feelings.
"I never looked at it like that," Booker said. "I left all of my accolades that I had accomplished in WCW behind when I came over to WWE. I knew that I had to make it in the locker room if I ever would have had a chance to make it in the ring.
"I went in humble and just like in WCW, I was going to put my hard hat on, go to work and prove how good I was in the ring, on promos, no matter what was thrown at me. I was willing to bet on myself as well. I walked away from a lot of money, still having a contract with WCW. Thank God it all worked out for me."
One of Booker's most famous moments in WWE was a brawl in a supermarket with Stone Cold Steve Austin in late 2001. According to the WWE Hall of Famer, the whole thing was the brainchild of himself and Austin, with no script telling them what to do.
"There was definitely improvisation with that," Booker recalled. "Stone Cold had no script, I had no script and we were just there to entertain fans. We didn't know that it would eventually go down as one of our greatest moments outside of anything that we did in the ring.
"'Stone Cold' Steve Austin is a pretty tough guy, I'm a pretty tough guy and we find ourselves fighting in the middle of a grocery store. To this day, Bakersfield, California and the Green Frog Market live in infamy because of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Booker T coming through and wrecking it. It was a great night."
Later, Booker was asked about what he wanted fans to take away from his upcoming A&E documentary. For the former five time WCW Champion, it's about the struggle.
"The struggle more than anything," Booker said. "It's about the cards that you are dealt. Sometimes your hand isn't going to be as good as the hand the next guy has, but you have to play it. Sometimes you have to bluff, you have to do what you have to do to make it through this life. At the end of the day, my story, you're going to see a kid who went through a lot but didn't blame anybody for bad breaks.
"My brother told me that he was going to get me a job and said no matter what that job was, sweeping floors, washing windows, you do it to the best of your ability until something else better came along. I think I used that throughout my life and in my wrestling career. Young kids will be able to see it and tell themselves that if Booker T did it, they can too. That if they go down the road Booker T went down, they'll have to gain trust all over again."
A&E's Biography: Booker T premieres Sunday, March 9 at 8 pm ET.