Booker Huffman

Robert Booker Tio Huffman (born March 1, 1965 in Houston, Texas), better known by his ring name Booker T, is an American professional wrestler, currently performing for World Wrestling Entertainment on its SmackDown! brand. Huffman's Booker T persona changed his name to "King Booker" upon winning WWE's King of the Ring tournament in-mid 2006.

Career

Huffman was trained by the bulldog Scott Casey and debuted on March 1, 1989, his 24th birthday, as Booker. He and his brother Lane wrestled in the Texas-based Global Wrestling Federation as "The Ebony Experience", with Lane known as "Stevie Ray". The Ebony Experience held the GWF Tag Team Championships on two occasions.

World Championship Wrestling

Booker and Lane signed with WCW in the mid-1990s. They were originally slated to debut as two wrestling slaves called The Ghetto Blasters. This gimmick was aborted, however, due to the racial insensitivity of the planned characters. They debuted as the tag team Harlem Heat, with Booker renamed "Kole" and Lane renamed "Kane". At their request Kole and Kane were once again named "Booker T" and "Stevie Ray". and would hold the WCW World Tag Team Championships a record ten times.

In the late 1990s, Huffman began competing as a singles wrestler, while his brother was injured and then became a member of the nWo, then became a color commentator. Huffman won the WCW World Television Championship five times, and defeated Chris Benoit in a "best of seven" series on Nitro, Thunder and pay-per-views, for a match against the TV Champion, Fit Finlay. He was the first ever African American to hold the title.

During 2000, Stevie Ray reformed Harlem Heat with Big T, and had lawyer J. Biggs strip Huffman of his right to use the letter "T" as part of his name. Throughout this period, Huffman was referred to simply as "Booker". Huffman would eventually completely change his in-ring name, joining General Rection's military-themed Misfits In Action faction as G.I. Bro. He regained his more popular alias shortly before his World Title win.

Huffman was elevated to the main event in 1999; Lane Huffman has speculated that this could in part have been due to a number of racial discrimination lawsuits filed against WCW. After WCW booker Vince Russo grew disgruntled with WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan's alleged politicking, he fired Hogan during the live broadcast of Bash at the Beach 2000 and announced an impromptu match between Jeff Jarrett and Huffman for the now-vacant World Title. Huffman won the match, in the process becoming the second ever African American Champion. He was then defeated by Kevin Nash. He regained the title a few weeks later in a steel cage match with Nash, but would again lose the title, this time to Vince Russo himself in a cage match (Russo was speared out of the cage by Goldberg, and won the title), Russo vacated the title and Booker won it for the third time in a San Francisco 49er Box Match against Jeff Jarrett.

Booker's next feud was with Scott Steiner, to whom he would eventually lose the title. Steiner would go on to be WCW's longest reigning champion in years, whilst Booker was briefly out with an injury. In 2001, Booker returned to the roster and defeated Rick Steiner for the WCW United States Championship, and on the final episode of Monday Nitro, defeated Steiner to win the World title for the fourth time. He went on to win the title once more, feuding with and defeating Kurt Angle on WWE Raw whilst performing for the World Wrestling Federation (he lost the belt to The Rock. Coincidentally, the similarity in gimmicks between the two wrestlers has called into question who was the originator of said gimmick).

Huffman won a total of twenty three titles in WCW, making him the most decorated athlete in the history of the organization.

World Wrestling Entertainment

After WCW was bought by the WWF in March 2001, Booker T originally appeared as a face. However, he turned heel during The Invasion storyline as a senior member of The Alliance. After the Alliance disbanded following the 2001 Survivor Series, he remained a heel. In December 2001, Booker T joined forces with Vince McMahon and The Boss Man and feuded with Stone Cold Steve Austin. After Booker T cost Austin a match against Chris Jericho for the WWE Undisputed Championship at King Of The Ring 2001, Austin gained revenge by attacking Booker T in a grocery store, humiliating him by covering him in food. ^*

2002

Booker T won the WCW Tag Team Championships for an eleventh time, this time with Test. In addition, he held the WWE Hardcore Championship twice in May 2002. When the WWE roster was split into two groups, Booker T was drafted to RAW. Booker T's first WrestleMania appearance was at WrestleMania X8 against Edge. Because it was talking place in Edge's hometown of Toronto, Ontario; the match was thrown on the card only a few weeks before the event. Due to this, the reason they were feuding was quickly contrived- over who would appear in a fictional Japanese shampoo commercial.

Booker T joined the WWE version of the nWo in 2002, but was thrown out of the group by Shawn Michaels because Michaels believed Booker T was taking away from his own spotlight, thus turning face. He would spend the rest of 2002 teaming with Goldust, his unlikely yet very successful tag team partner, as they won the Tag Team Championships in September of that year. The gimmick for Booker and Goldust was Goldust being a strange, yet dependable ally who Booker eventually warmed up to after initial skeptism.

2003

In 2002, He formed a successful tag team with Goldust, another enemy of the nWo and won the World Tag Team Championships. The duo engaged in comedic skits based on Siskel and Ebert, where they would "review" films such as "The Scorpion King" (starring The Rock), or would have Booker T dressed in some ridiculous outfit. By 2003, Booker T's popularity had soared and he amicably separated from Goldust in order to pursue the World Heavyweight Championship. In February 2003 he eliminated The Rock to win a battle royal for the number one contendership, granting him a title shot at WrestleMania XIX.

Several weeks before WrestleMania, the incumbent champion, Triple H, cut a controversial promo on Booker T in order to gain heat. Triple H downplayed Booker T's WCW success, pointing out that the WCW Championship had been held by non-wrestlers like Vince Russo and actor David Arquette. He implied that Booker T, as a black wrestler, would never win a world championship in WWE. Booker T went on to lose to Triple H at WrestleMania, falling victim to a botched Pedigree.

Booker T remained on RAW for another year, trading the WWE Intercontinental Championship with Christian and winning the World Tag Team Championships a third time, this time with Rob Van Dam.

2004

On March 22, 2004 he was traded to SmackDown! along with The Dudley Boyz in exchange for Triple H. On SmackDown!, Booker T quickly established himself as a heel again by disparagingly referring to SmackDown! as the "minor leagues". He first ruffled the feathers of then WWE champion Eddie Guerrero. He then feuded with former partner Rob Van Dam, then with The Undertaker in a feud which saw him utilize voodoo magic in order to try and overcome his "supernatural" foe. Later Booker immersed himself in a feud with John Cena, winning the vacant WWE United States Championship. Eventually, a Best-of-Five series of matches was booked to determine the undisputed United States champion, which Cena won back in the fifth match at No Mercy 2004.

On October 21, 2004, 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, René Duprée and Kenzo Suzuki. Bradshaw expected Booker T to betray his partners, but instead Booker T pinned Bradshaw, thus turning face once again. Booker T faced Bradshaw for the WWE Championship at the 2004 Survivor Series on November 14, but lost after he was hit in the head with the championship belt.

2005

Booker T's wife Sharmell was soon re-introduced to SmackDown! and became his valet, leading to a feud with Kurt Angle, who began stalking Sharmell. Angle referred to Sharmell as a "gutter slut", claiming that he "liked it". He also remarked that he wanted to have "bestiality sex" with her. The feud ended when Booker T defeated Angle at Judgement Day 2005. In July 2005 Booker T began a feud with Christian, who he defeated at The Great American Bash.

On the October 20th edition of SmackDown!, Booker T was placed in a match against Chris Benoit for the WWE United States Championship. He won the match due to an unseen assist from Sharmell. Although Booker T is believed to have become a heel, he had yet to turn due to him being unaware of his wife's doings. On the following edition of SmackDown!, General Manager Theodore Long showed footage of Sharmell interfering in Booker T's matches. Later Booker T and Sharmell went to apologize to Benoit and give him a rematch, but instead they both attacked Benoit, officially turning heel. Booker then boast that he had been fully aware of what Sharmell had been doing and had been playing dumb to fool everyone.

On November 25, 2005 Booker T fought against Benoit for the United States Championship. Booker T was stripped from the belt by Theodore Long, because of the confusion of who won since they pinned each other at the same time. Long decided to put Benoit and Booker against each other in a best of seven series, just like the one the two had in their WCW days. The two met at Survivor Series for the first match for the vacant United States Championship, which Booker T won.

Over the next few weeks Booker T was able to increased his lead to 3-0 before Benoit, in a must win match during Armageddon 2005 was able to defeat Booker T to bring the series to 3-1.

At a house show in White Plains, NY on December 26, 2005, Booker T strained his groin muscle. Booker T did not wrestle again until after the "Best of Seven" series with Benoit was completed. Booker T was scheduled to face Chris Benoit in Match 5 of the Best of Seven Series at the SmackDown! tapings the following night. At the beginning of the show, general manager Theodore Long said that Booker would have to forfeit. Both Booker and Benoit protested (Benoit not wanting a cheap victory). Booker managed to persuade Long to allow him to choose a stand-in for the match.

Booker selected Randy Orton, over an un-happy Orlando Jordan, as his stand-in. Orton was unable to beat Benoit in two matches, due to interference from both Sharmell and Jordan, tying the series 3 matches apiece. However Randy Orton was able to defeat Benoit in the final match up to win the series and the title for Booker T, who would hold the title until No Way Out 2006 where Benoit won it back.

2006

After losing the title, Booker T would be involved in a feud with The Boogeyman, who would sneak up and scare Booker T and his wife Sharmell over a few months. The fued culminated in a match during WrestleMania 22 on April 2, 2006 where both Booker T and Sharmell would face the Boogeyman in a handicap match and lose. The feud came to an end on the April 7, 2006 Smackdown! where it was announced that Booker T and his wife had taken out a restraining order on the Boogeyman. However, the Boogeyman's music would occasionally play during a few of Booker T's matches costing a worried Booker T a few matches to newcomer, Gunner Scott. After he lost he was relegated to jobber status.

Booker T would next be entered into the King of the Ring tournament on SmackDown!, Booker would defeat his first round opponent Matt Hardy before 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 the WWE Judgment Day PPV where Booker T defeated by Bobby Lashley with help from Finlay. Lashley would go on to win the United States Championship before returning to the feud with Booker T who, upon winning the King of the Ring, changed his ring name to King Booker.

King Booker would fit into his role as King, aligning himself with loyal subjects in Finlay, William Regal, and the Little Bastard, crowning his wife "Queen Sharmell" and announcing he would rule Smackdown with an iron fist. King Booker and his court would continue to feud with Bobby Lashley.

Booker won a battle royal on the July 7th edition of SmackDown to earn a World Title match against Rey Mysterio at The Great American Bash 2006. On the July 14th edition of Smackdown King Booker revealed that he had assaulted Rey Mysterio backstage around the same time Batista was assaulting Mark Henry in the arena. Mysterio then gained a small measure of payback, getting an upper hand on Booker and Regal twice that night, proving he was ready for the event.

Personal information

Booker is a former amateur boxing competitor. He was able to show some of his boxing skills in a commercial for 1-800-COLLECT. Booker has also appeared in actual commercials for Swanson Hungry Man TV dinners.

Prior to Booker's wrestling career, he was convicted of several armed robberies in 1987, including robbing the fast food restaurant Wendys where he was employed while still wearing his uniform and name tag, and spent 19 months in jail.^*

In 2000, Huffman appeared in the film Ready to Rumble as himself. Booker has appeared in an episode of Charmed, called "Wrestling With Demons" alongside Scott Steiner.

In April 2002, Huffman opened a retail outlet in Houston, Texas at 12313 Bellaire Boulevard. The shop sells music, video games and hip-hop gear. He and brother Lane "Stevie Ray" Huffman have also opened up a wrestling school in Houston.

Booker presented his then wife Levestia to the WCW Monday Nitro crowd the night after his WCW Championship title win at WCW Bash at the Beach 2000. She was also used to further the feud between himself and Jeff Jarrett when Jarrett hit her in the head with a guitar. They divorced in October, 2001.

Booker married former Nitro Girl, Miss Black America and WWE interviewer Sharmell Sullivan in March 2005. Booker has a son, Brandon, from his first marriage. Father and son have a strained relationship now due to Booker's travel schedule.

Booker has a tattoo of a flame on his right shoulder and a sun on his left shoulder.

On May 8 2006, it was reported on WWE.com that Booker T and Batista got into a fight during the shooting of the SummerSlam commercial. Pictures were later revealed on WWE.com allowing fans to view the injuries. At first fans believed this fight was worked. Contrary to the fans' beliefs, the fight was born out of a real-life disagreement between the two, with Booker T claiming that Batista was being disrespectful to the more experienced members of the WWE Roster. Batista has denied showing disrespect in any way, shape or form.

Wrestling facts

Finishing and signature moves

Scissors kick
Book End (Side slam)
Houston Hangover / Harlem Hangover (Somersault legdrop)
Houston Sidekick / Harlem Sidekick (Hopping superkick)
110th Street Slam (Flapjack spinebuster)
Missile dropkick
Sidewalk slam
Knife-edged chop
Spin-A-Roonie / Whirly Bird (Breakdancing windmill)

Managers

Nicknames

The 5-Time WCW Champion
The Man from 110th Street
King Booker
The Master of the Spin-A-Roonie

Championships and accomplishments

Global Wrestling Federation

3-time GWF Tag Team Champion (with Stevie Ray)

Las Vegas Pro Wrestling

1-time LVPW UWF Heavyweight Champion

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI Top 500 (2005): Ranked 20th
PWI ranked him # 133 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
PWI ranked him # 62 of the best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Stevie Ray.
PWI Tag Team of the Year Award with Stevie Ray (1995, 1996)
PWI Most Improved Award (1998)
PWI Most Inspirational Award (2000)