Booker T (wrestler)

"Booker T" redirects here. For the politician, see Booker T. Washington.

Booker T. Huffman Jr.^{[lower-alpha 1]} (born March 1, 1965 in Houston, Texas), better known by his ring name Booker T, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on their NXT brand as a commentator and also founded and owns his wrestling promotion, Reality Of Wrestling. Aside from WWE, he is also known for wrestling for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1993-2001 and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2007-2009.

Booker T
Booker T in 2018
Birth name	Booker T. Huffman Jr.
Born	(1965-03-01) March 1, 1965 (age 59) Plain Dealing, Bossier, Louisiana, U.S.[1]
Spouse(s)	Levestia Huffman ​ ​ (m. 1996; div. 2001)​ Sharmell Sullivan ​ (m. 2005)​
Children	3
Relatives	Stevie Ray (brother)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Black Snow[2] Booker Booker T[3] GI Bro[4] King Booker[5] Kole[6]
Billed height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[7]
Billed weight	256 lb (116 kg)[7]
Billed from	110th Street in Harlem, New York Houston, Texas[7]
Trained by	Ivan Putski Scott Casey
Debut	1986
Retired	January 28, 2023[8]

Booker T has held many championships in his career. He most famously is a six-time world champion (five-time WCW Champion and one time WWE World Heavyweight Champion), an 18-time tag team champion (13 times teaming with his brother Stevie Ray as Harlem Heat), a six-time WCW Television Champion, a four-time United States champion, and the winner of the 2006 King of the Ring. In January 2011 he returned to WWE as a surprise entrant during the Royal Rumble. He is one of seven men to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame two times.

Championships and accomplishments

King Booker as World Heavyweight Champion, with his wife Queen Sharmell

Booker T as TNA Legends Champion

• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Tag Team Award (2018) – with Stevie Ray^[9]
• George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2018
• Global Wrestling Federation
  • GWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Stevie Ray^[10]
• Las Vegas Pro Wrestling
  • LVPW UWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[11]
• Prairie Wrestling Alliance
  • PWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[12]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2000)^[13]
  • Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1998)^[13]
  • Tag Team of the Year (1995, 1996) with Stevie Ray^[13]
  • Ranked No. 5 of the top 500 wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2001^[14]
• Southern Championship Wrestling Florida
  • SCW Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Texas All-Pro Wrestling
  • TAP Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[15]
• Reality of Wrestling
  • ROW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Stevie Ray^[16]
• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
  • TNA Legends Championship (1 time, first)^[17]
  • TNA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Steiner^[17]
  • TNA Year End Awards (2 times)
    • Memorable Moment of the Year (2007)^[18]
    • Who To Watch in 2008 (2007)^[18]
• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW World Heavyweight Championship (4 times)^[19]
  • WCW World Television Championship (6 times)^[20]
  • WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[21]
  • WCW World Tag Team Championship (10 times) – with Stevie Ray^[22]
  • Ninth WCW Triple Crown Champion
• World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
  • WCW Championship (1 time)^{[lower-alpha 2]}
  • World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[23]
  • World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Test (1), Goldust (1) and Rob Van Dam (1)^[24]
  • WCW Tag Team Championship (1 time)^{[lower-alpha 3]} – with Test
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)^[25][26]
  • WWE United States Championship (3 times)^[21]
  • WWF Hardcore Championship (2 times)^[27]
  • King of the Ring (2006)^[28]
  • Sixteenth Triple Crown Champion
  • Eighth Grand Slam Champion (under original format)
  • WWE Hall of Fame (2 times)
    • Class of 2013 – individually^[7]
    • Class of 2019 – as a member of Harlem Heat^[29]
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Most Underrated (2002)^[30]
  • Worst Television Announcer (2017, 2023)^[31][32]

Footnotes

1. See:

   • "Booker T Plays WikiFact or WikiFiction". Reality of Wrestling. July 10, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved July 15, 2021. My name is Booker T. Huffman Jr., and the 'T' stands for nothing; it's just 'T', period ... that's been my name since birth.
   • Oliver, Greg (September 26, 2012). "The book on Booker T ends too early". Slam Wrestling. Retrieved July 15, 2021. His father died shortly after he was born, so Booker T. Huffman Jr. — 'Junior' to his family — is raised by his mother ... .
   • "WWE Hall of Famer Booker T Announces Mayoral Run". TheWrap. December 13, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2021. Booker T's full name is Booker T. Huffman Jr.
   • "WWE CEO Vince McMahon once used N-word in awkward comedy routine with wrestler Booker T". New York Daily News. July 24, 2015. Archived from the original on July 27, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2021. ... wrestler Booker T. Huffman Jr. ... . {{cite web}}: More than one of |archivedate= and |archive-date= specified (help); More than one of |archiveurl= and |archive-url= specified (help)
2. Booker T's fifth WCW World Heavyweight Championship reign happened in the WWF, where it was known as the WCW Championship.
3. Booker T's eleventh WCW World Tag Team Championship reign happened in the WWF, where it was known as the WCW Tag Team Championship.

References

1. Huffman, Booker T with Andrew William Wright (2012). Booker T: From Prison to Promise: Life Before the Squared Circle. Aurora, Ill: Medallion Press. ISBN 978-1605424682.
2. Caldwell, James (January 30, 2009). "Caldwell's AEW report 1/29: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV broadcast...on Friday afternoon". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
3. "Booker T WWE bio". WWE. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
4. "GI Bro vs. Mike Awesome - Ambulance Match: Nitro, May 29, 2000". WWE. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
5. "King Booker's bio". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 17, 2007. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
6. "Booker T.: Profile & Match Listing – Internet Wrestling Database (IWD)". Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
7. "Booker T bio". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
8. "411Mania".
9. "Harlem Heat Will Be Honored in Las Vegas – Cauliflower Alley Club". www.caulifloweralleyclub.org. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2017. {{cite web}}: More than one of |archivedate= and |archive-date= specified (help); More than one of |archiveurl= and |archive-url= specified (help)
10. "GWF Tag Team Championship history". Retrieved November 19, 2017.
11. "TNA Wrestler profiles – Booker T". Bodyslamming.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
12. "PWA Hysteria Results". PWAWrestling.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
13. "PWI Awards". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Kappa Publishing Group. Archived from the original on October 2, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2017. {{cite web}}: More than one of |archivedate= and |archive-date= specified (help); More than one of |archiveurl= and |archive-url= specified (help)
14. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2001". Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
15. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
16. "RoW Tag Team Title (Houston)". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
17. "TNA championship histories". Archived from the original on March 7, 2010. Retrieved March 14, 2024. {{cite web}}: More than one of |archivedate= and |archive-date= specified (help); More than one of |archiveurl= and |archive-url= specified (help)
18. Droste, Ryan (January 15, 2006). "Impact! Results – 1/14/06 (Christian & Rhino vs. AMW, Sting is heard)". WrestleView. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
19. "WCW World Heavyweight Championship history". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 17, 2008. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
20. "WCW World Television Championship history". Retrieved November 19, 2017.
21. "WWE United States Championship history". Retrieved November 19, 2017.
22. "WCW World Tag Team Championship history". Retrieved November 19, 2017.
23. "King Booker's first World Heavyweight Championship reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 2, 2012. Retrieved April 18, 2009. {{cite web}}: More than one of |archivedate= and |archive-date= specified (help); More than one of |archiveurl= and |archive-url= specified (help)
24. "World Tag Team Championship history". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
25. "Booker T's first Intercontinental Championship reign". Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2017. {{cite web}}: More than one of |archivedate= and |archive-date= specified (help); More than one of |archiveurl= and |archive-url= specified (help)
26. "WWE Intercontinental Championship". Retrieved August 5, 2020.
27. "WWE Hardcore Championship history". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
28. "King of the Ring Tournaments – PPV & TV Tournaments". prowrestlinghistory.com.
29. Melok, Bobby (March 11, 2019). "Harlem Heat to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2019". WWE. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
30. Meltzer, Dave (January 26, 2011). "Biggest issue of the year: The 2011 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, CA: 1–40. ISSN 1083-9593.
31. Alvarez, Bryan (March 15, 2018). "WOR: 2017 WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER AWARDS DISCUSSION AND MORE!". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
32. Meltzer, Dave. "February 26, 2024 Observer Newsletter: 2023 Observer Awards issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 23, 2024.

Other websites

• Booker T's Official website Archived 2006-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
• Booker T on WWE.com