Just 48 hours before a massive title defense against Batista at Summerslam, King Booker was here in England and sat down with us to talk about his life, his career and his Kingdom!
Were you a fan of wrestling as a child?
Yes, but I wasn't one of those kids who was a diehard wrestling fan and went to all the shows. I probably went to 2 or 3 shows when I was a kid. I had my favourite wrestlers: Junkyard Dog, Ted DiBiase and Hacksaw Jim Duggan - he was really big in the Texas area. I never imagined or dreamed of being a wrestler in a million years.
At what point did wrestling become something you wanted to do?
I was 25 years old, just struggling and searching, wondering what I wanted to do with my life. My brother wanted to do wrestling and he asked me if I wanted to go down to a wrestling school with him and try it out. The guy who I was working for at the time sponsored me to go to the school. I don't know what he saw in me, maybe that I was a hard worker and what to do something else with my life. Anyway, he put down $1,000 for me to go to this school. It felt like a place I had been my whole life, but never been - Déjà vu.
I believe you did some amateur boxing at one point?
I trained in boxing and I thought that was what I was going to do. I never got round to having a fight - wrestling came along and I jumped into that.
What was Scott Casey like as a trainer?
He was the best. He was my mentor, the person who put me on the right path from the beginning of my wrestling career. A lot of guys in the same environment I was in got set off on the wrong foot - they were told they'd be making $1,000 a week after a couple of months training, and that they'd be big stars and famous all over the world. I never took that kind of stuff seriously. Scott took me under his wing from the beginning, he told me about the down parts of pro wrestling and I know none of this stuff happens over night. It's gonna take a lot of hard work, you gonna have a lot of obstacles, you're gonna run across racism, you gotta be twice as good as everyone else. By having Scott in my corner telling me these things from the beginning, it prepared me.
Is it true that you debuted on your 25th birthday?
Yeah, I was wrestling a guy by the name of Dusty Wolfe - he used to be in the WWE, he wrestled there for about 7 years. He was a veteran so I went out and listened to what ever he had to tell me. I'd never seen the guy win on TV but I knew enough to know he knew more than I did, so I listened and hoped he'd take me somewhere. He took me to the best match I probably could ever have had in my first match.
Were you pleased with your first match?
I was very very pleased. The owner of the school, Ivan Putski, he wasn't pleased. He chewed me out pretty good because I didn't go out and do the wrestling how he did it, which everyone else in that promotion did - but then everyone on the card looked like he did. A guy by the name of Joe Blanchard (Tully Blanchard's father) pulled me to the side and told me he thought it was the best match he'd ever seen a green kid have and not to listen to what Putski had told me, and just to keep doing what I was doing.
Your first taste of title glory was with your brother as the Ebony Experience where you won the Global Wrestling Federation Tag titles - what was it like to win your first ever wrestling titles?
It was great, probably one of the greatest moments in my wrestling career because my whole family were there. We started out in a building with maybe 100 people and there we were in front of 3,000 people.
When you were in Global did you ever think 'this is it, I've got a good thing going here' or did you always think you'd get to WCW or WWE?
I always knew I'd make it to the WWE or WCW. There was no doubt in my mind. I watched a show one time and it had a guy by the name of Joe Gomez, and he was in WCW. I looked at this guy and I thought if he can get on there I know I can, because I can do it much better than him! It was just a matter of doing the work and letting people see what I was capable of. Global gave us that platform because we were on ESPN Monday through Friday and a lot of people got a chance to see Booker T and Stevie Ray on a weekly basis. After 2 years we got a call from WCW. Sid Vicious called us on the phone one night and said he would like to get us in the company, and he was going to do everything he could to get us in. We'd never met him before but he saw us, saw something in us and gave us our break.
While in the Global Wrestling Federation you had short singles run as GI Bro - where did that name come from?
My trainer actually gave me that name - that was my first character. I came to school one day and I had an Army hat on, he saw me and said GI Bro. We had a chuckle and he said 'from now on that's who you are - GI Bro'. I was wrestling on shows at the Sam Houston Coliseum with veterans who I'd seen growing up and the fans were chanting for this rookie, GI Bro - it was instant success.
Staying on names I can see where Booker T comes from, Booker is your first name and with the T representing your middle name Tio. How did your brother's wrestling name, Stevie Ray, come about?
Stevie Ray, that name got given by a guy called 'Hotstuff' Eddie Gilbert. He was the one that formulated myself and my brother as a tag team. He was looking for a black tag team and my brother's name is Lash and he (Gilbert) said he wanted two black guys with two black names. Booker T, that fits and he started thinking of a few names and Stevie Ray was one of the names he came up with. Booker T and Stevie Ray - it seemed like two names that went together.
How different was WCW to the Global Wrestling Federation?
It was light years different. Global was a small circuit and we got paid $100 to come do shows. We would tape 4-5 shows in one night after driving 250 miles to get there - we did that for two years straight to get ourselves seen on television. In WCW we had to work a lot harder, we went on the road. In Global we were just having some fun and trying to create something, when we got to WCW it was a business and we had to adapt.
In December 1994 you won the tag titles from Star and Stripes, Marcus Bagwell and The Patriot, did it feel different to your tag title victories in Global Wrestling Federation?
It was great and having Sensational Sherri with us, that put a rocket under us. It added fuel to the fire as far as our careers went. Being with Sherri made us bona fide Superstars. Winning the Tag Team Titles, it was something we had worked hard for. When we started we got beat up a lot and jobbed to a lot of people, but in the process we went out there and showed what we were made of.
You mentioned Sensational Sherri, and we've all seen her speech at this year's Hall of Fame - was that just normal Sherri?
Yep, that's just Sherri right there. She's wild, we had a lot of fun times on the road. Sherri is one of a kind, there'll never be another one like her.
You had some titanic feuds in WCW and held the tag titles 10 times beating every team thrown at you - are there any that stuck out for you?
The Steiner Brothers - they were like our arch nemesis, as well as The Nasty Boys. We had a six month feud with them and every match was a fight - a lot of bumps and bruises. We got a lot out of that, Brian Knobbs and I still speak on pretty much a monthly basis. Steiner Brothers, Hog Wild - that was one of our best PPVs. It was a crazy night, to walk out with the Tag Team Titles over the Steiner Brothers at a venue like that. After the rivalries are over we remained friends and Rick and Scott Steiner are two of my best friends in the business. The feud between Scotty and I carried on and we closed WCW down with title versus title - I ended up walking out with the US Title and Heavyweight Title that night.
In 1997 Stevie Ray took time out due to injury, was it strange becoming a singles wrestler again after so many years as a tag team wrestler?
It's a spot I had been waiting for for quite some time, I always wanted to do singles wrestling and see how good I really was. To do that I'd have to wrestle the best singles wrestlers, so that's what I embarked upon.
During that time you had the much talked about Best of Seven series with Chris Benoit - what are your memories of those matches?
Just the best of seven matches - it was a highlight reel. It's got a lot of nostalgia, just two guys 'mono e mono'. They were the matches that put me in the limelight as far as being a viable singles competitor. With these matches nobody could doubt me any more.
This period in wrestling was at the height of the Monday Night Wars - were the ratings talked about much between the wrestlers and did you think the WWE would end up back on top like they did?
To be honest it's not something I ever thought about, behind the scenes stuff. Even now I don't get involved with the company, who's beating who. It was always my job to go out and perform, that's what I get paid to do. I let the boss and everyone else handle the politics side of pro wrestling., I never thought about even up to the selling of WCW.
Misfits in Action and the return of GI Bro - what did you think when this idea was suggested?
At the time I wasn't doing anything else so I said I'd do it. At the time GI Bro seemed to be my perfect little outlet as I wasn't in the title picture and I didn't want to be part of the nWo. I wanted to give the kids something else to look at and maybe get myself a cartoon out of it in the end. That's what I was working for, my own cartoon and my own comic book, like GI Joe.
At Bash at the Beach 2000 you won your first World Title, beating Jeff Jarrett - how did it feel to be the #1 man in WCW?
It felt pretty good to win, but it felt even better that people had faith. It put me on the map of being the guy at that moment in time. It made me feel so much better that the guys in the office had so much faith in me. I also answered a lot of questions that night winning the belt - would the fans want and accept me in the role? It answered all the questions and all doubters, it shut them up too. I achieved everything I could have imagined that night, winning the belt.
Did your success as a singles wrestler ever come between you and your brother?
Yes, I think so. Even now it's a strain on our relationship, that I'm still out here and I'm still working, that's just life though. Animosity doesn't just come from family members, it comes from outsiders too.
You recently opened a wrestling school together?
Actually it's just the Booker T Pro Wrestling Camp. I'm the only trainer, I'm three days a week from Wednesday through Friday. I train my students in my philosophy, that way everyone is on the same page. We've been open a year and I haven't had one injury in my school. It's about trying to teach them right way just like Scott Casey taught me. He got me off on the right foot and I'm just trying to get my kids off on the right foot. A lot of guys get into wrestling these days and they think it's all about jumping off the top rope - that's really not going to make you a success. I teach the system, and once they learn the system they can take it which every way they want to take it.
Your introduction to WWE came in the form of an attack on Steve Austin at the 2001 King of the Ring, were you pleased with WWE debut?
In a way, I came in against the top guy on the card and dropped him, but I broke his hand! There was a little bit of animosity and heat from that right there. In wrestling things happen and it wasn't on purpose, we got through it.
You fought Buff Bagwell on the first sanctioned WCW match on WWE TV - what are your recollections of that match?
It was a real stinker, probably one of my worst matches ever. I always felt that I could work with a broomstick, but it proved that night I didn't. That night Buff wasn't prepared for the WWE. A lot of guys in WCW made a lot of money and got real lazy and Buff was a good guy but he was just one of those guys. I sucked it up and people in the company must have known what I'm capable of as I'm still here!
How were the WCW guys received by the WWE guys?
Myself, I was received pretty good - not necessarily with open arms but they were willing to give me a chance. I didn't want to live off what I'd done in WCW, I wanted to go out there and get respect in the ring. I wanted to prove I wasn't one of those guys who was just there to be there, I was there to make an impact. I want to go down as being the best in the business, I want to be in the Hall of Fame when it's all over. Being the best on the card every night is what keeps me going.
How do you think the whole Invasion programme was handled?
It didn't work out too well - WCW didn't really have the players. There was myself and DDP but we were the only ones who could be players, the rest kind of fell off. It was doomed from the start but it was something of great intrigue.
You wrestled Edge at Wrestlemania X-8, how did your experience of Wrestlemania compare to the big PPVs in WCW?
It was something totally different, it was huge. It's something every wrestler wants to do, be at Wrestlemania, so when I walked out in front of that crowd in Toronto I thought that I'd finally made it.
What was Goldust like as a tag team partner?
He was like the most offbeat partner I ever had, but he was also the best too because we had so much fun. Being with him gave the fans a chance to see a different side of me, a little comic relief. Being with Goldust was one of the highlights of my career in WWE.
At Wrestlemania 19 many people were expecting you to defeat Triple H for the World Title - were you disappointed not to come away from Wrestlemania with the title?
I wouldn't necessarily say I was disappointed, it's always about stealing the show and Triple H went out there and had a great match. I didn't win but I ask myself if I had won would I still be here now, would I still have had the motivation to drive on for another four years?
Whilst on Smackdown you wrestled in a best of 5 series against John Cena and a best of 7 series against Benoit, though you were replaced by Randy Orton when you got injured. How do you think those series' compared to your earlier series against Chris Benoit in WCW or were they completely different?
It's completely different, the series with John Cena was like a re-enactment but with 2 completely different people in the ring. My job was to make Cena look bigger than he really was at the time. That's been my job now for over a year and a half, to go out make guys look better, such as Ken Kennedy, Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton. I thought I was the prefect person to get out there and bring these guys up to the next level and make them viable contenders for PPV matches, and now all of these guys that I worked with are in a really good spot.
Although you won a battle royal not shown on PPV, were you disappointed not to be a part of the main Wrestlemania programme at Wrestlemania 21?
Not necessarily, my thing is I'm a role player. They came to me and told me I wasn't going to be on the Wrestlemania PPV and they thought I was going to be really upset but it didn't really bother me at all. I knew I was going to be in the battle royal and I won, so they just let me know they were thinking about me whether I was on the PPV or not.
What's it like working and being on the road with a colleague who happens to be your wife, Sharmell?
For me it's good. A year and a half ago I was contemplating retirement and I really think I would have been retired if they hadn't asked me if Sharmell would want to come on the road with me and be part of it all. I didn't have to think about leaving her at home at the weekend and being miserable.
You've never been at a loss for words on the mic but in the last 18 months your character seems to have reached new heights, is it having Sharmell with you that has prompted this change?
Yeah, she's added new fore to me. I was comfortable and just cruising for the year that she wasn't with me. Then she came on board and rejuvenated me, got my focus back and got me back on track. She's a big part of the reason I'm World Champion right now.
What's it like wrestling The Boogeyman?
It's a little offbeat - he's not the best wrestler and he's still got a lot of schooling to go through. It was a great experience for him getting the opportunity to wrestling me, he was really thankful to be on his first PPV wrestling a guy like me so I could guide him and make him look good. He's a good guy who's just paying his dues and doing anything he needs to do, including eating worms! He's a great prospect for the future.
How did it feel to become the first King of the Ring for 4 years?
It's great - it's another accolade, much like the World Title, that I wasn't expecting and just fell into my hands. It's been the character of all characters. I never expected to become the first King of Smackdown. Every King that came before me, they won the King of the Ring, but none of them ever became royal, none of them ever lived the role. They got the robe, crown and sceptre but they just remained themselves. None of them had the royal music, none of them had an English accent. I plan on being King for a long time, we may never see Booker T again!
What does King Booker have in store for Batista on Sunday at Summerslam?
A royal beat down, probably beat him to a bloody pulp, unrecognisable when it's all over. I'll show Batista who the real King of the jungle is. He's gonna realise he's in a real war within the first five or ten minutes of the match. I really don't see Batista lasting the test of time. His last PPV match against Ken Kennedy, he got himself purposefully disqualified because I think he felt his gas tank running out. Within about ten minutes of working with me he's going gonna try the same thing but that's not going to work. He's in for a long, rough night. The Kingdom will be perfectly in tact when I walk out of Boston on Sunday.
Were you a fan of wrestling as a child?
Yes, but I wasn't one of those kids who was a diehard wrestling fan and went to all the shows. I probably went to 2 or 3 shows when I was a kid. I had my favourite wrestlers: Junkyard Dog, Ted DiBiase and Hacksaw Jim Duggan - he was really big in the Texas area. I never imagined or dreamed of being a wrestler in a million years.
At what point did wrestling become something you wanted to do?
I was 25 years old, just struggling and searching, wondering what I wanted to do with my life. My brother wanted to do wrestling and he asked me if I wanted to go down to a wrestling school with him and try it out. The guy who I was working for at the time sponsored me to go to the school. I don't know what he saw in me, maybe that I was a hard worker and what to do something else with my life. Anyway, he put down $1,000 for me to go to this school. It felt like a place I had been my whole life, but never been - Déjà vu.
I believe you did some amateur boxing at one point?
I trained in boxing and I thought that was what I was going to do. I never got round to having a fight - wrestling came along and I jumped into that.
What was Scott Casey like as a trainer?
He was the best. He was my mentor, the person who put me on the right path from the beginning of my wrestling career. A lot of guys in the same environment I was in got set off on the wrong foot - they were told they'd be making $1,000 a week after a couple of months training, and that they'd be big stars and famous all over the world. I never took that kind of stuff seriously. Scott took me under his wing from the beginning, he told me about the down parts of pro wrestling and I know none of this stuff happens over night. It's gonna take a lot of hard work, you gonna have a lot of obstacles, you're gonna run across racism, you gotta be twice as good as everyone else. By having Scott in my corner telling me these things from the beginning, it prepared me.
Is it true that you debuted on your 25th birthday?
Yeah, I was wrestling a guy by the name of Dusty Wolfe - he used to be in the WWE, he wrestled there for about 7 years. He was a veteran so I went out and listened to what ever he had to tell me. I'd never seen the guy win on TV but I knew enough to know he knew more than I did, so I listened and hoped he'd take me somewhere. He took me to the best match I probably could ever have had in my first match.
Were you pleased with your first match?
I was very very pleased. The owner of the school, Ivan Putski, he wasn't pleased. He chewed me out pretty good because I didn't go out and do the wrestling how he did it, which everyone else in that promotion did - but then everyone on the card looked like he did. A guy by the name of Joe Blanchard (Tully Blanchard's father) pulled me to the side and told me he thought it was the best match he'd ever seen a green kid have and not to listen to what Putski had told me, and just to keep doing what I was doing.
Your first taste of title glory was with your brother as the Ebony Experience where you won the Global Wrestling Federation Tag titles - what was it like to win your first ever wrestling titles?
It was great, probably one of the greatest moments in my wrestling career because my whole family were there. We started out in a building with maybe 100 people and there we were in front of 3,000 people.
When you were in Global did you ever think 'this is it, I've got a good thing going here' or did you always think you'd get to WCW or WWE?
I always knew I'd make it to the WWE or WCW. There was no doubt in my mind. I watched a show one time and it had a guy by the name of Joe Gomez, and he was in WCW. I looked at this guy and I thought if he can get on there I know I can, because I can do it much better than him! It was just a matter of doing the work and letting people see what I was capable of. Global gave us that platform because we were on ESPN Monday through Friday and a lot of people got a chance to see Booker T and Stevie Ray on a weekly basis. After 2 years we got a call from WCW. Sid Vicious called us on the phone one night and said he would like to get us in the company, and he was going to do everything he could to get us in. We'd never met him before but he saw us, saw something in us and gave us our break.
While in the Global Wrestling Federation you had short singles run as GI Bro - where did that name come from?
My trainer actually gave me that name - that was my first character. I came to school one day and I had an Army hat on, he saw me and said GI Bro. We had a chuckle and he said 'from now on that's who you are - GI Bro'. I was wrestling on shows at the Sam Houston Coliseum with veterans who I'd seen growing up and the fans were chanting for this rookie, GI Bro - it was instant success.
Staying on names I can see where Booker T comes from, Booker is your first name and with the T representing your middle name Tio. How did your brother's wrestling name, Stevie Ray, come about?
Stevie Ray, that name got given by a guy called 'Hotstuff' Eddie Gilbert. He was the one that formulated myself and my brother as a tag team. He was looking for a black tag team and my brother's name is Lash and he (Gilbert) said he wanted two black guys with two black names. Booker T, that fits and he started thinking of a few names and Stevie Ray was one of the names he came up with. Booker T and Stevie Ray - it seemed like two names that went together.
How different was WCW to the Global Wrestling Federation?
It was light years different. Global was a small circuit and we got paid $100 to come do shows. We would tape 4-5 shows in one night after driving 250 miles to get there - we did that for two years straight to get ourselves seen on television. In WCW we had to work a lot harder, we went on the road. In Global we were just having some fun and trying to create something, when we got to WCW it was a business and we had to adapt.
In December 1994 you won the tag titles from Star and Stripes, Marcus Bagwell and The Patriot, did it feel different to your tag title victories in Global Wrestling Federation?
It was great and having Sensational Sherri with us, that put a rocket under us. It added fuel to the fire as far as our careers went. Being with Sherri made us bona fide Superstars. Winning the Tag Team Titles, it was something we had worked hard for. When we started we got beat up a lot and jobbed to a lot of people, but in the process we went out there and showed what we were made of.
You mentioned Sensational Sherri, and we've all seen her speech at this year's Hall of Fame - was that just normal Sherri?
Yep, that's just Sherri right there. She's wild, we had a lot of fun times on the road. Sherri is one of a kind, there'll never be another one like her.
You had some titanic feuds in WCW and held the tag titles 10 times beating every team thrown at you - are there any that stuck out for you?
The Steiner Brothers - they were like our arch nemesis, as well as The Nasty Boys. We had a six month feud with them and every match was a fight - a lot of bumps and bruises. We got a lot out of that, Brian Knobbs and I still speak on pretty much a monthly basis. Steiner Brothers, Hog Wild - that was one of our best PPVs. It was a crazy night, to walk out with the Tag Team Titles over the Steiner Brothers at a venue like that. After the rivalries are over we remained friends and Rick and Scott Steiner are two of my best friends in the business. The feud between Scotty and I carried on and we closed WCW down with title versus title - I ended up walking out with the US Title and Heavyweight Title that night.
In 1997 Stevie Ray took time out due to injury, was it strange becoming a singles wrestler again after so many years as a tag team wrestler?
It's a spot I had been waiting for for quite some time, I always wanted to do singles wrestling and see how good I really was. To do that I'd have to wrestle the best singles wrestlers, so that's what I embarked upon.
During that time you had the much talked about Best of Seven series with Chris Benoit - what are your memories of those matches?
Just the best of seven matches - it was a highlight reel. It's got a lot of nostalgia, just two guys 'mono e mono'. They were the matches that put me in the limelight as far as being a viable singles competitor. With these matches nobody could doubt me any more.
This period in wrestling was at the height of the Monday Night Wars - were the ratings talked about much between the wrestlers and did you think the WWE would end up back on top like they did?
To be honest it's not something I ever thought about, behind the scenes stuff. Even now I don't get involved with the company, who's beating who. It was always my job to go out and perform, that's what I get paid to do. I let the boss and everyone else handle the politics side of pro wrestling., I never thought about even up to the selling of WCW.
Misfits in Action and the return of GI Bro - what did you think when this idea was suggested?
At the time I wasn't doing anything else so I said I'd do it. At the time GI Bro seemed to be my perfect little outlet as I wasn't in the title picture and I didn't want to be part of the nWo. I wanted to give the kids something else to look at and maybe get myself a cartoon out of it in the end. That's what I was working for, my own cartoon and my own comic book, like GI Joe.
At Bash at the Beach 2000 you won your first World Title, beating Jeff Jarrett - how did it feel to be the #1 man in WCW?
It felt pretty good to win, but it felt even better that people had faith. It put me on the map of being the guy at that moment in time. It made me feel so much better that the guys in the office had so much faith in me. I also answered a lot of questions that night winning the belt - would the fans want and accept me in the role? It answered all the questions and all doubters, it shut them up too. I achieved everything I could have imagined that night, winning the belt.
Did your success as a singles wrestler ever come between you and your brother?
Yes, I think so. Even now it's a strain on our relationship, that I'm still out here and I'm still working, that's just life though. Animosity doesn't just come from family members, it comes from outsiders too.
You recently opened a wrestling school together?
Actually it's just the Booker T Pro Wrestling Camp. I'm the only trainer, I'm three days a week from Wednesday through Friday. I train my students in my philosophy, that way everyone is on the same page. We've been open a year and I haven't had one injury in my school. It's about trying to teach them right way just like Scott Casey taught me. He got me off on the right foot and I'm just trying to get my kids off on the right foot. A lot of guys get into wrestling these days and they think it's all about jumping off the top rope - that's really not going to make you a success. I teach the system, and once they learn the system they can take it which every way they want to take it.
Your introduction to WWE came in the form of an attack on Steve Austin at the 2001 King of the Ring, were you pleased with WWE debut?
In a way, I came in against the top guy on the card and dropped him, but I broke his hand! There was a little bit of animosity and heat from that right there. In wrestling things happen and it wasn't on purpose, we got through it.
You fought Buff Bagwell on the first sanctioned WCW match on WWE TV - what are your recollections of that match?
It was a real stinker, probably one of my worst matches ever. I always felt that I could work with a broomstick, but it proved that night I didn't. That night Buff wasn't prepared for the WWE. A lot of guys in WCW made a lot of money and got real lazy and Buff was a good guy but he was just one of those guys. I sucked it up and people in the company must have known what I'm capable of as I'm still here!
How were the WCW guys received by the WWE guys?
Myself, I was received pretty good - not necessarily with open arms but they were willing to give me a chance. I didn't want to live off what I'd done in WCW, I wanted to go out there and get respect in the ring. I wanted to prove I wasn't one of those guys who was just there to be there, I was there to make an impact. I want to go down as being the best in the business, I want to be in the Hall of Fame when it's all over. Being the best on the card every night is what keeps me going.
How do you think the whole Invasion programme was handled?
It didn't work out too well - WCW didn't really have the players. There was myself and DDP but we were the only ones who could be players, the rest kind of fell off. It was doomed from the start but it was something of great intrigue.
You wrestled Edge at Wrestlemania X-8, how did your experience of Wrestlemania compare to the big PPVs in WCW?
It was something totally different, it was huge. It's something every wrestler wants to do, be at Wrestlemania, so when I walked out in front of that crowd in Toronto I thought that I'd finally made it.
What was Goldust like as a tag team partner?
He was like the most offbeat partner I ever had, but he was also the best too because we had so much fun. Being with him gave the fans a chance to see a different side of me, a little comic relief. Being with Goldust was one of the highlights of my career in WWE.
At Wrestlemania 19 many people were expecting you to defeat Triple H for the World Title - were you disappointed not to come away from Wrestlemania with the title?
I wouldn't necessarily say I was disappointed, it's always about stealing the show and Triple H went out there and had a great match. I didn't win but I ask myself if I had won would I still be here now, would I still have had the motivation to drive on for another four years?
Whilst on Smackdown you wrestled in a best of 5 series against John Cena and a best of 7 series against Benoit, though you were replaced by Randy Orton when you got injured. How do you think those series' compared to your earlier series against Chris Benoit in WCW or were they completely different?
It's completely different, the series with John Cena was like a re-enactment but with 2 completely different people in the ring. My job was to make Cena look bigger than he really was at the time. That's been my job now for over a year and a half, to go out make guys look better, such as Ken Kennedy, Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton. I thought I was the prefect person to get out there and bring these guys up to the next level and make them viable contenders for PPV matches, and now all of these guys that I worked with are in a really good spot.
Although you won a battle royal not shown on PPV, were you disappointed not to be a part of the main Wrestlemania programme at Wrestlemania 21?
Not necessarily, my thing is I'm a role player. They came to me and told me I wasn't going to be on the Wrestlemania PPV and they thought I was going to be really upset but it didn't really bother me at all. I knew I was going to be in the battle royal and I won, so they just let me know they were thinking about me whether I was on the PPV or not.
What's it like working and being on the road with a colleague who happens to be your wife, Sharmell?
For me it's good. A year and a half ago I was contemplating retirement and I really think I would have been retired if they hadn't asked me if Sharmell would want to come on the road with me and be part of it all. I didn't have to think about leaving her at home at the weekend and being miserable.
You've never been at a loss for words on the mic but in the last 18 months your character seems to have reached new heights, is it having Sharmell with you that has prompted this change?
Yeah, she's added new fore to me. I was comfortable and just cruising for the year that she wasn't with me. Then she came on board and rejuvenated me, got my focus back and got me back on track. She's a big part of the reason I'm World Champion right now.
What's it like wrestling The Boogeyman?
It's a little offbeat - he's not the best wrestler and he's still got a lot of schooling to go through. It was a great experience for him getting the opportunity to wrestling me, he was really thankful to be on his first PPV wrestling a guy like me so I could guide him and make him look good. He's a good guy who's just paying his dues and doing anything he needs to do, including eating worms! He's a great prospect for the future.
How did it feel to become the first King of the Ring for 4 years?
It's great - it's another accolade, much like the World Title, that I wasn't expecting and just fell into my hands. It's been the character of all characters. I never expected to become the first King of Smackdown. Every King that came before me, they won the King of the Ring, but none of them ever became royal, none of them ever lived the role. They got the robe, crown and sceptre but they just remained themselves. None of them had the royal music, none of them had an English accent. I plan on being King for a long time, we may never see Booker T again!
What does King Booker have in store for Batista on Sunday at Summerslam?
A royal beat down, probably beat him to a bloody pulp, unrecognisable when it's all over. I'll show Batista who the real King of the jungle is. He's gonna realise he's in a real war within the first five or ten minutes of the match. I really don't see Batista lasting the test of time. His last PPV match against Ken Kennedy, he got himself purposefully disqualified because I think he felt his gas tank running out. Within about ten minutes of working with me he's going gonna try the same thing but that's not going to work. He's in for a long, rough night. The Kingdom will be perfectly in tact when I walk out of Boston on Sunday.
