Back in March of 2001, World Championship Wrestling, came to an end and this year will be the 20 year anniversary that the company has dissolved.
Booker T was recently interviewed on WWE’s The Bump and spoke about the feeling when WCW ceased operation and what he learned while with WCW as well.
Booker T had the following to say about WCW shutting it’s doors for good:
“You know, I knew it was inevitable; nothing lasts forever. That’s what I thought with WCW, the writing was on the all. As far as that night goes, me walking away with both of the titles, you can’t write that; it’s something you couldn’t foresee. I just wanted to be the best guy in the locker room and the best wrestler on the card. Was I? That’s always going to be up for debate. For me, that’s a night that will be seared into my brain. I was the kid who started at the bottom and ending up at the top, who walked away as double champ. It will live in history forever.”
Booker T also spoke about the first time he met The Rock and how he was approached:
“It’s kind of crazy. I was a little intimidating because I was coming into his backyard. I remember doing a press conference with him sometime, and out of sarcasm, The Rock comes to me and said, ‘Hey kid, if you need any help at this stage, just let me know.’ The thing is that this was my first press conference because, in WCW, we didn’t do that kind of stuff, you know so. I was like, ‘This son of a gun,’ you know what I mean. There was always a respect between myself when we got in the ring to perform at the next level. Him and I, I wouldn’t say we were the best of friends, but when it came to going out and doing the work we went out and did it. Also, I believe that I gave him a little bit more respect than I should have when I came in and worked with him. Just because, there again, he was the golden boy. I was coming in from the other side. The matches we had, they were really good matches, but I have to go back and watch them because I didn’t feel them. Matches I remember I felt because certain things were happening. In those matches with The Rock I was working so I had to keep my eye on everything going on. So, when he remembers them, he’ll say that the matches were awesome, but it was because I was there for the work.”
Booker T also commented on if he believes the wrestling industry will ever be the way it was from back when he was an active star:
“I don’t think the wrestling business will ever be like that again. We’d be off the air and we were still trying to get The Undertaker to do The Spinaroonie. I don’t think we’ll have days like that ever again. You know, Booker T and ‘Stone Cold’ in a grocery store, it’s still an iconic moment 20 years later. I don’t think we’ll ever have moments like that again just because back then, just say, for instance, the champion, was Hulk Hogan or whoever it was, the boys rallied around the champion better because it was all about the organization. It wasn’t about me, me, me, or anything like that. When we got our turn to shine, hopefully, everybody rallied around us. So, it was a lot different back then than it is now. Hopefully, we can get it back there somehow, and in some shape.”
Lastly, Booker T discussed his memories with Shane McMahon, including the first time they met:
“You know, Shane liked me from the beginning. When he first walked into the locker room in WCW, him and I clicked in WWE. I don’t know if I was his right-hand man, or he was mine, but we had much love for each other. He saw something in me. I don’t know. I didn’t come in with a chip on my shoulder. He just wanted to be part of this organization and to make it work someway. It’s never been about me, and I think Shane gravitated towards that. When we did it in the ring, our chemistry just boomed, it just clicked.”
Credit WWE’s The Bump and H/T to WrestlingInc for the transcription.
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