On a recent edition of his “Hall of Fame” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T discussed his experience winning the WWE King of the Ring tournament and its impact on his career.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On it being hard for King of the Ring winners to stand out against past winners: “Previous winners, it was one thing, but the gimmick is hard to run with as well. I mean, I remember listening to Xavier [Woods] talk about winning the King of the Ring tournament, something that he wanted to do for a very, very long time. It just so happened, when I wanted to King in the Ring tournament. It was perfect timing. The timing was — I mean, it like the perfect storm. All the stars lined up for me being the ruler of the Smackdown world. You know, being able to rule with an iron fist. Everybody is not going to be able to pull that off. For me, it was a challenge. Being the greatest king of them all, the most majestic king of them all. It was challenging on a weekly basis. And that’s why I say, you know, being in the tournament is cool. Winning the King of the Ring is cool. Being the king, something totally different.”
On being the only King of the Ring winner in the King gimmick: “There’s only one. And trust me, guys: that’s not by accident. That didn’t happen by osmosis or anything like that. That happened because I was just that damn good, man. I’m serious. That’s the only reason it happened. It happened because they had no choice but to go with King Booker. It really put the rocket in the machine behind him, because he was majestic. He was the greatest king of them all, in my estimation. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.”
On whether he killed the tournament: “Yes, as far as the tournament. I feel like I broke the mold. But the thing is, I honestly said when I was doing the King of the Ring, when I first got the character. I said, ‘After I’m finished doing this character as King Booker, no one else was going to be able to do this ever again. No one else is going to ever be able to follow King Booker as king ever again.’ Nobody’s going to ever buy it, ever again. And I said that just, because of — there again, winning the King of the Ring is one thing. Being the king is something totally different. And I just felt like I had a blueprint on what being the king truly was, just because of my upbringing. Just because of all the movies that I watched in the past. And I knew exactly what I had to go out and do as king. But I also knew what I had to do in the ring as a performer as king. Because there again, the king rules with an iron fist. The king didn’t get the throne just because people liked him. He was ruthless. He was a tyrant. It was a beautiful time. Beautiful time, the best time of my career, the best time of my career, I can honestly say that. With Sharmell, Finlay, [William] Regal — Oh, man, that’s the faction right there that should have gone down in history if we had been done a little bit longer.”
