Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Booker T is the most positive and inspiring wrestler you will ever meet!

Episode Date: December 29, 2020

Booker T sits down with Chris Van Vliet from his home in Houston, Texas. In this episode, Booker T talks about what he was like as a kid, the lessons he learned from going to prison, how getting into wrestling changed his life, getting hired by WCW, how he was able to get himself over in WWE when Vince McMahon bought WCW, how he came up with the Book End before The Rock came up with The Rock Bottom, the infamous supermarket brawl with Stone Cold Steve Austin, his podcast with Brad Gilmore called “The Hall of Fame”, being a two-time WWE Hall of Famer, the Bad Bunny song about him, why he doesn’t think Sting should wrestle in AEW and much more! Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join Support the show by supporting our sponsors: INDEED - Try it today with a $75 credit to boost your job post by going to http://indeed.com/BlueWire BETONLINE - Get a FREE welcome bonus by using the promo code BLUEWIRE at http://betonline.ag If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. For more information about Chris and the podcast go to https://chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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To apply, just go to BWHustle.com slash join, and you can check out the description box of this episode to find out that link. But one more time, it's BWHustle.com slash join. That's a great question. Look at you, man. powerful questions. This is the Chris Van Bleach Show.

Chris Van Bleach Show. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris. All right, welcome to the Chris Van Bleach Show. So happy to have you along with us on this one. It's our last interview of 2020. And man, what a year it's been. Because if you recall, we started the year with a Hall of Famer. Yeah, we kicked it off with that interview with Kurt Engel.

And now we're wrapping it up with another Hall of Famer this chat with Booker T. So I'd say the bar is set awfully high for 2021. Take a screenshot, share this on social media so we know that you're on this ride with us. Tag me. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. Tag Booker. He is at Booker T5X. You're going to be so inspired by this conversation.

And if it's your first time here, make sure to subscribe to the show so you don't miss out on what we're cooking up for 2021. Oh, man. It's going to be big. It's going to be big. And speaking of big, at this rate, we are going to crush that specific goal of 2,000 reviews before my birthday, before May 19th. Because as I sit here right now recording this, well, I'm not really sitting. So as I like crouch kneel next to my bed, because that's where I record this in my bedroom. So as I'm here recording this right now, we have 1559. So 1559's, how many reviews we have. Oh, so we're We're going to, I mean, we got five months. Oh, I'm going to absolutely crush that.

And it's because we get reviews like this one from EC3. Yeah, the actual EC3. Remember when he was a guest on the show a few weeks ago? Well, after that, he went on Apple Podcasts and left this review. So if EC3 can leave a review, I'm guessing you can leave a review too. He says, I was a guest on this show. Now I'm a fan. Chris Van, whatever, that's my nickname for him. He doesn't know that. is an excellent and engaging interviewer, a positive mindset, thorough research, and full passion slash intent to provide a forum for a discussion that goes beyond the usual banter of the podcast world. Chris is a workhorse and cares deeply for what he does.

It reflects in his work and resonates through his words. Highest marks EC3. Man, that is very, very kind. Thank you, sir. And that wasn't just like, hey, a good show, like five stars. Like, you actually put some thought into this review, which is amazing. So thank you so much. And look, Will Osprey also left a review.

So if those guys can do it, I'm thinking you can find a minute at some point today to do it as well. And I think after hearing this conversation with Booker T, you'll feel compelled to. It was just such a pleasure to talk to him. He's a fellow podcaster. He hosts a podcast called The Hall of Fame with my friend Brad Gilmore. And we know that Booker, you know, we've known them for years as a wrestler and a commentator, but as you'll see here, Booker the Man is such an incredible person, and you're going to be so inspired listening to this.

So I'm not going to waste any time. Let's get right to it. Ladies and gentlemen, the one, the only. Booker T. You know, I don't know if everybody knows that Booker T is your actual name. That's not just a great wrestling gimmick name. that's a great just name in general. I mean, as an adult, you might say that,

but as a kid, you wouldn't, you know, because in elementary school, kids are cruel, man. My name was Booger for my first, you know, one through sixth grade. I got so many fights from kids calling me Booger. And I wanted to change my name when I turned 18 years old. And I turned 18 and I had to do it. And then I became a wrestler.

And it seemed like it was fitting. It seemed like the perfect name for professional wrestling. I always tell my students, you have to have a championship name. You know, when you get into the wrestling business, you got to have championship music. You know, so when I got the name Bookerty. Actually, Hot Stuff Anna Gilbert is the one who suggested I use my real name. And he's the one who gave my brother the name Stevie Ray also. So it just worked out.

Yeah, Stevie Ray and Booker T. championship names right there. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, exactly what I'm talking about. Well, Booker T's also the name of Bad Bunny's latest single. And I'm blown away that this isn't just a name drop

in a song. This is an entire song about you. How did this come together? Nah, man, that's just a young kid, man. You know, watching me growing up and just paying homage. And I, you know, I'm humbled. I'm humble more than

anything, you know, because I always always say, you know, just you're never going to be the guy that's the center of attention all the time, but to stay relevant is very, very important. And sometimes to stay relevant, you need other people to do it. And so for bad buddy that, you know, one of the top artists out there right now, giving me props, it just lets me know that I touched a lot of people in the right way. And that, that, they all, you know, I know it's cliche, but they say that roads you travel on the way up is the same road you travel on the way down. You know, so for me, it's always been about just getting the work done and hopefully I can, you know, let someone have a moment, you know, in time that they're going to remember for the rest of their lives. And it seems like bad money remember a lot of those moments.

So it's pretty cool. I feel like I need to translate the song so I can completely understand what he's saying about you. Yeah, right. Exactly. Some of it is hardcore, man. It gets right down to the cut of things. and that's what I'm about, man. I mean, I'm from the street.

I'm from the ghetto. I came from nothing, and I created, you know, something. But along the ride, I want to bring a whole lot of people along with me. You know, they say the great quarterbacks, you know, when they go to the Hall of Fame, they always take a few people with them. And that's the way I want to be at the end of the day. Well, you touched on it a little bit there,

but, you know, six-time World Champion, two-time Hall of Famer, you're a broadcaster, you're a business owner, husband, father. who were you before you found wrestling? How was the kid, man? Actually, I tell you, I mean, just a backstory. The way I grew up was, you know, people might think, you know, well, you know, book had a, you know, a rough childhood growing up.

I did, but I tell people you don't miss what you never had or anything like that. I talk to young people about pure pressure, following and being leaders. And I found myself at one point in my life, you know, falling to peer pressure, being a follower, you know, and, you know, and I ended up in prison for a couple of years for aggravated robbery. But I knew that wasn't the last stop for Booker T. I knew that wasn't the place that was going to define me at the end of the day. I knew something out there was, you know, I was meant to do something. I just, I just never knew what it was. I was never that kid who grew up saying, you know, I want to be a fireman. I want to be a police officer, a doctor or a dentist.

You know, I was never that kid because I didn't grow up like that. It just wasn't my life style. My father passed when I was 10 months old. My mother passed when I was 13. So living life and getting through from one day to the next was more important to me than being on a football team or being on a little league baseball team. Is it unfortunate, perhaps? Did I miss out on, you know, perhaps that part of my childhood? Perhaps.

But what I learned along the way, I really feel like put me in the position to be the person that I am, the day, the thing that I saw and that was exposed to back then allowed me to be able to, you know, make a choice, you know what I mean? You're going to go right or left. You know, my mother always said, right or wrong, you know, there's no gray area in between. So, you know, I learned those lessons. And I easily could have been, you know, someone that was drugged out on, you know, on heroin. You know, I easily could have been, you know, a pimp, you know, and ended up in jail, you know, a pusher, you know, ended up in jail.

You know, and for many, many years, I could easily have done that. But those lessons, man, there were valuable, valuable lessons for a kid like myself growing up, you know, in that. nature, you know, in that jungle that I was in back then. So when your mother passed away at 13, who becomes your guardian at that point? Well, you know, for a while, no one, for a while it was just my sister and I and my sister, she's a couple of years old than I am, and it was just her and I at a house for a while for some months. And then, you know, one of my other sisters took us in. But you got to realize, you know, that was a sister taking a brother and a sister in, not a mother or a father taking a son or a daughter in.

So, and you got to look at it also. We lost our mother. We lost our father. Our sister went through that same experience. You know, so she was no, she was, you know, she wasn't in the position as far as being a teacher. Even though she took us in and we had a roof over our head, we still, you know, didn't have the guidance. perhaps that we need it. And we had to, like I tell my students,

you know, like when I see a lot of the time, you know, WWE guys are complaining because they aren't getting anything written for them. I say, sometimes you just got to make it work. You got to figure it out, you know? And that's what we did. You know what I mean? We had to just, we had to figure out life.

And we had to figure it out on our own. And we had to do it really, really quick. You talk all the time about stay relevant. You say it all the time. And it seems like a simple concept, but what exactly does stay relevant mean to you, both in the ring and outside of the ring? Well, first, you got to know exactly what you are in life. You know, you can't live in the past or anything like that.

You can't rest on your loyal. You can't, you know, I can't, you know, go throw my Hall of Fame rings up to, you know, these young guys and say, you know, look at that. You know what I mean? They say, get the ring and show me something, you know what I mean? Right now, you know, so, you know, I don't live on the. past or anything like that. I'm always trying to evolve. I always say if you don't stay with the times, the times will pass you by. And there again, you know, not being the center of attention

all the time, not wanting to be the center of attention all the time, but push the person who needs to be at the center of attention is something that I talk about all the time. Talk about with my students, I say, you know, if I got somebody or art, you know, like with these young guys, you know, I say, you know, I'm going to put you in the driver's seat and let you drive and let me navigate and I'll get you exactly what we need to get to at the end of the day. So I'm always thinking like that and what I can do to help, opposed to just thinking about me and what I've done and who I was, that person. I just don't think you can go through life like that

and be able to advance and become something even bigger. I just don't think so. Has that always been part of who you are? Or is this something that you've just figured out like kind of later on in your life? No, that's always Who I've been I've never been the bully Or anything like that

I love fighting I love confrontation You know But I always want the guy To pick the fight with me first You know So I'll But everybody else around me

I'm a really nice guy You know I'm being laughing You know most of the time Or if I'm ticked off About something You would know it You know

I'd never you know Try to hide Or anything like that I try to be one of those you know, passive types or anything like that. I've just always been as real as I possibly can be. But in the business, I've always rested on my talent. You know, I always, you know, relied on, you know, how good I was in the rain.

And that and that only. So I never really, it was never thought, you know, a day that I worried about anything as far as, you know, wrestling goes because I knew how good I was at that part. You know, you talk about staying relevant. And look, you have a great mic set up here. You've got like a little studio. It's not just because you have a great mic.

It's because you're a radio host. You host the Hall of Fame with Brad Gilmore. And this is locally in Houston, right? Yeah, five years running, man. Five years running. That's amazing. We've been doing our thing. And it's amazing.

You know, the podcast is growing, you know, the YouTube channel, reality wrestling YouTube channel. It's growing like crazy. And, I mean, just at the beginning of the last year, with that 100,000 now we have 400, almost 20,000 subscribers. And we're going to be at a million by the middle of next year as far as the channel goes. And the thing is, we're educational. But the thing is with people, man, they want to be able to have some fun, man.

They want to be able to have some fun, man. They want to be able to make people feel a certain way in order for them, you know, tune in. And that's what I'm really, really good at more than anything is, you know, making people feel a certain way. And that's what I talk about wrestling. You know, today compared to yesterday, man, I want to see somebody cry. I need a tear to come out of somebody's eye if I was a baby face. And if I was whooping somebody's ass, somebody definitely was going to be crying. You know, so that part for me, the Shakespeare, you know, that part right there is the part that you miss more.

The thing that you do on the Hall of Fame is you talk a lot about the current product. And I, it's so, there's so much wrestling that's going on right now. Are you watching just a ton of wrestling every single week? You know, I don't watch it like that. You know, I'll go back and watch YouTube and I'll watch the highlights. And they'll pretty much tell me exactly what's going on. And then I'll go back and check that person out because a lot of it is stuff that I don't want to see, really, honestly. But when it's something that intrigues me and make me go, wow, you know, that was, that was actually really, really cool.

You know, just like the the Moxley match that they just had with Kenny Omega. Now, that match, people look at it and go, wow, man, that was so awesome. And it was nothing, no more than throwback to something that we did back in the 90s. It was such a simple concept,

but simple works, you know, so much better than going out there and trying to over, you know, think this thing and come up with something that, you know, like we're vinting a wheel or something. It's not going to, it's not going to That's what's different about wrestling yesterday and wrestling today.

That one little angle right there with the finish, it made you feel like, oh, man, I got a two-day-out-to-day-out-and-seeing back and see what's good. So that's what I always look at when I teach wrestling. You know, we do a class, you know, every Thursday night. I'm on Zoom, Booker T's Wrestling 101. And I talk to people and show them the difference between what wrestling was and what wrestling is today. Last week was Dusty Rose's hard time promo.

And that promo, you know, we talk about the promo. And the promo, I said, well, you know, I asked I have about 14 people. I said, what does promo mean? And it's only, and one girl goes to promote. And I go, right. I say, I say to promote what? She'd say to promote, you know, the match. And I go, yeah, to promote

the match. To promote the show. To promote the organization. To promote to, you know, the company to promote, you know, my opponent. You know, so she got a whole lot of different things. Everybody got a whole lot of different things there. And we, Dusty Road showed exactly what it meant to promote everything and make a person that did not have nothing but $20 in their pocket, but they would use half of it to go and buy a ticket to go and see that person who was just talking about them,

not having anything. And that's what's missing from wrestling today, I think. I feel like we're getting a promo here right now. It's amazing. No, it's just real talk, man. It's just real talk. Do you think that, like, for example, the Moxley and Omega Match, do you think it had to be simple because of this strange time that we're living in right now?

Like, you could have had a more complex match if you had fans to play off of. I don't think it would have needed more complexity. I think it was perfect at this thing. Wrestling needs to take a step back to take a step forward. You know, the art of going out and simulating combat is what I think we did best. I think, you know, we're producing a lot of, you know, guys who, you know, right now, you know, they're learning entertainment. We learned how to entertain as well as wrestle.

You know what I mean? And that's what, you know, I think is missing. It's just like, just say, for instance, you know, you give an actor, script and he's a guy that's just been acting for, you know, a year, he's going to take that script and he's going to wonder about it. But you take an actor that's been working 20 years, he's going to take that script and go, oh, my God, I'm going to make this something special. You know, that's the difference between actors who are seasoned and actors who are trying to figure it out. And I think we've got a lot of actors right now that's trying to figure it out,

opposed to taking that script. And like for me, such as King Booker, I say, oh, my God, that I'm going to make this something. Nobody's going to be able to follow this effort. It's the history of wrestling. That's what I'm thinking when I see a script like that, opposed to, you know, how do I, you know, I better make sure I read this line by line. And, you know, and, you know, my eyebrows are moving.

You know what I mean? I'm pausing in the wrong places. I'm not making it as theatrical as big as it possibly can be. Because, you know, wrestling is not MMA. It's not boxing. It's professional wrestling. and the best professional wrestlers are the best actors. The best actors get the best scripts.

They're the leading man. Don't think the guy that, you know, just start is going to get the leading man role. And that's what we got a lot of times is a lot of guys in the business right now that just coming in and think they should be leading men. Think they should get that script, you know, and really don't understand what that script entails, you know?

When we look back at your WCW career, did you have a specific moment or match or promo that you think really elevated you to that leading man level that you're talking about. I think it was gradual for me. I think I was learning along the way. I was watching. I was thinking about being the, you know, this is not, I mean, my career is not by accident or anything like that. Me getting into business is by accident, you know, because it wasn't a thought process in my mind or anything like that.

but as far as, you know, the learning part, I was thinking about that from day one before I ever got in the business from a serious standpoint. I thought about the guys that worked in the main event. I thought about the guys that work at the top level and being able to be diverse and be able to, you know, do anything on a dime

no matter what it was. I'm giving me the script and let me go out there and make it work. But I wanted to be, amongst the greatest wrestlers that ever put on a pair of boots at the end of the day. And I said that all the time,

you know, I never thought about titles or anything like that. I just wanted to be the best wrestler in the locker room. And now I fall in the company of, you know, Brett Hart, Sean Michaels, and Rick Flair and myself is two-time Hall of Famers. And it really wasn't by accident. It was by design.

I was thinking about how to be the best wrestler that possibly can be. And, you know, a lot of times sometimes, you know, people don't really think about Booker T. When you think about, you know, stats. But, you know, I say, go look at my stats. You know, I got some pretty good stats, you know, and they match up with anyone that ever put on a pair of boots. And I did that just by, I always say staying focus, not losing focus. Because in this business, man, you know, it's so much temptation along the way.

30 years from me, I've been a part of this business, and then I'm still trying to stay focused. man, you can lose track on a dime. And for a lot of people losing track that one time, that's all it takes. So was this, you know, were these goals that you set match to match? Was it month to month? Or was it year to year as you were coming up? You know, wrestling was something I did good. And it was so much fun to compete with guys.

And it's stories out there, you know, Chris Jericho. and all of the guys know the stories about me coming up as far as being a kid who was really, really braggadocious. I would tell guys to go follow that. But I was studying the good guys too. I was studying the guys like Steamboat and, you know, I was studying guys like Rick Flair and, you know, even, you know, Triple H and all of those guys.

I was studying guys to figure out how to be the best performer. And to do that, you know, the one thing I talk to my students about, I say, you know, when you go and watch a movie, and it's a really, really good movie, you get so caught up in it. At the end of it, the credits start going up, and everyone in the theater get up and start clapping. And the thing is, they can't see you and the guy, they can't hear you. I mean, come on, it's a movie. But it did you feel such a certain way. So I tried to master the art of making people feel when they see something, opposed to just seeing it. It's like the wind.

You can't feel it, but you know it's there. And that's what I try to work on more than anything. So it's always been a test within myself. And then they're testing myself. I've got to make the person that I'm working with much better than anyone ever made. made him look before. I got to do that. I got to lose, you know, I got to lose, you know, better than I win. You know, I had those thought processes in my head. I want to take it back to what you mentioned earlier about you and you spent some time in jail. And I'm curious, when you were in jail and you

were, you knew when you were getting out, did you go, all right, when I get out of here, no more of this. I'm on a different path now. Did you actually have that sort of plan? You know, I didn't. I didn't have a, I knew I shouldn't have been there from the beginning. you know, but I never saw myself in jail before. I had never been in jail before I went to prison. I had never been in trouble before with the law. I had never been in the backseat of a police car before that happened. Okay.

So this wasn't like an everyday occurrence for me. I was in a place unknown. But for me, it was the experience. it was experience for me I wouldn't necessarily say I needed it but I utilized it and I took advantage of that experience that I was going through just to see how easy

it could be to find yourself in that situation. I wouldn't doing nothing at the time anyway. But no man it was just like you see in the movies man, you know, when I first went in, I had to go to this place called Huntsville. And it's like a diagnostic place that you stopped through.

And, you know, I was in this one little cell by myself, you know, and it was all kind of rioting on the wall, you know, like a, you know, such and such being here. You know, and I was like crazy, you know what I mean? It was like, you were like stupid. And I'm thinking to myself, how the hell did I end up here? That's nuts. You know what I mean? But I composed myself.

I was able to adapt. to the situation. I didn't let it, you know, I didn't let anyone see that it bothered me at all. I, I act like it was, you know, something that it was just something that I was going through in that moment. And I was going to deal with it.

Whatever, no matter, no matter whatever I had to do, it was that simple. It was serious. Walking to, you know, the, you know, the little corridor, you know, sales. on both sides. It's just like a movie. It's scary as heck. You know, people coming up to the bars to see a new guy come in. You know, but

I must say, I didn't have one problem in the whole two years I was there. You know, I didn't have one problem. You know, I was very, very well respected by the guards. You know, all of my peers that were there, they respected me. Because I've always been a fighter. I've always been somebody that was willing to fight.

Everybody there, you know, kind of like realized what I was about, you know, really, really quickly. Even though I was a kid, I was, I experienced manly things and I had seen things that kids just, you know, wasn't privy to. And in the situation that I was in, I knew exactly what I had to do to get through it.

And I didn't have to fall in any clicks or anything like that. I was my own man. In some sort of way, that time of your life puts you, you know, made you who you are now. That made you the person that you are. Oh, yeah, and a lot of ways it did. It scoped me because I learned a lot when I was down there, you know, talking to it. You know, it's a lot of smart guys, you know, that's locked up right now, you know,

and I'm not saying everybody's Anderson or anything like that, but it's a lot of guys that's very, very intelligent. And they taught me some stuff in there, you know, like, you know, one of the rules, one guy taught me say, man, you know, if you find yourself in a situation, you know, act like you know how to do it, man, nine times out of ten. And if you act like it good enough, you know, and, you know, they're going to go along with it. And I was like, all right, cool, you know. And when I came out, and I was working at this warehouse and the manager knew a guy who was an actor out in California,

and he would come over and hit kick it sometime. And he knew about this movie, Paramount Pictures. It was a Chuck Norris movie. And he told me, he said, man, you should go read these lines. And I was like, man, I never done that before. And I was like, man, just go and do it. And then I thought about what the guy told me in prison. So boom, I got in my car, went and drove.

over to this hotel, rental lines. And literally within about, you know, two or three weeks, I got a phone call for the movie. Wow. But it's the whole idea of thick it until you make it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's crazy. You know, I never, you know, you know, I talked to my students about wrestling too.

I said, you don't have to actually know how to wrestle. You just have to act like you know, very, very well. You know, I say, you know, just say, first as you're a guy coming to a hospital, you know, lobby and you got a, you know, white coat in the stethoscope around your neck. and you clean cut, and somebody may ask you for some help, but you're just going to a costume party next door. You know, I say if you look the role and play the role,

somebody may will look at you as the role, you know. So for me, I never took karate, but I looked at a lot of karate movies, you know, so, you know, that's what my wrestling style came from. You know, Muhammad Ali was my favorite. So I knew how to act like I could box, you know, even though, you know, I wasn't a boxer, you know. So you just have to put yourself in the moment and believe in yourself.

and a lot of times in order to make it through this life, it's tough. It's the idea of perception as reality, which ties in it. Your promotion is called the reality of wrestling, which is so funny that if people perceive you to be a good wrestler, all of a sudden you are a good wrestler. Yeah, yeah, but you got to go out and act like it as well.

You got to go out and look like it as well. And that comes from, you know, preparation is the only luck you're ever going to have. you know, you just can't, you know, think it's going to happen by osmosis. You know, you're just going to slip on a banana peel all of a sudden you're going to be good. You got to be thinking five steps ahead. And a lot of times you're not thinking for yourself, thinking for somebody else. And I think that's what, that's why I get it back from, I think, more than anything, is I'm never thinking about myself. You know, I try to never think about me, especially not.

now at 55 because I've done so much in life. I've gotten so much. I've done it all. And for me to be able to, you know, shine some light. It's just like, you know, when Renee and I was doing the show, you know, backstage, you know, I would say, Renee, this is your show, you know. I would make sure she had that in her ear just so she can feel that way. I'm pumping her up. You know what I mean?

I'm your sidekick. You know what I mean? Whatever you need. I'm right here. You know what I'm right here. me, but I, you know, I've been here and I've done it. For me to be a part of, you know, that with her, that's the least I can do is put her on a palis store and make her feel even better and let her know that she could do even anything

that she ever wanted to do in this lifetime. And that's what I'm about. That's what I'm really about. But, you know, I'm about being stern too. You know, it's just like I got a student who may not know, you know, what he's talking about. I'm going to sit and tell him, hey, this is what it's got to be. And this is the way it got to be. otherwise, you know, get your stuff, get the help.

You got to be a certain way at certain times and other times you've got to be another way. And I'm a teacher, I'm a dad, I'm a trainer, I'm a mentor. I got so much going on in my life, man. But it's all for the good, man. It's all for the good. It's tough to put other people first in this business of wrestling where everyone's trying to get themselves over.

And I feel like sometimes if you're putting other people first, maybe you get left behind. Yeah, I mean, that's true. True, too. I've always been selfish, you know, as far as the wrestling part goes. I've never been, you know, unselfish enough to where I wasn't thinking about myself. You know, I'm always thinking about me. But you got to, you know, you got to be able to look at the bigger picture. You got to be looking at what things are, you know, just say for instance, you know, the champ, you know, and I'm not the champ. You know, just say for the rock is the champ. You know, it's not the champ. You know, it's

my job to make the champ look, you know, as good as I possibly can. And hopefully when I'm the champ, he's going to make me look as good as he possibly can. You know, so that's what I mean about, you know, being able to think about somebody else opposed to yourself at certain times. You know, don't think in the match, I'm not going to get my stuff in. You know what I mean? So you better throw a head up. You know what I mean? So it's like that. But a lot of times, you know, there again, you know, people are thinking about, you know, themselves and themselves only. And they missed a bigger picture of, you know, how do you actually make it to the next level? Me coming into WCW to WWE to WWE, I say, man, you got to know how to make it in the locker room before you can make it in the ring.

You know. That's interesting. Well, and that's such a good point because so many guys came from WCW and they were so incredibly successful in WCW. came to WWE and, you know, just like lost all their momentum. Were you worried that this would happen to you? There again, you got to know how to make it in the locker room before you get it to read. You know, I was talent, you know what I mean? I knew that part, you know, I wasn't worried about, you know,

the match with Bagwell or anything like that. I knew I was talent. I knew I came in and they had, you know, plans for me and whatnot and I was going to be there. But there again, I left all my WCW. Ackleys WCW and I came there and I dressed in the locker room with all of the boys, you know, and it might have been 30 of them, you know, more, you know, and after a while, I remember Taker asked me, hey, man, come dress over here and it was called the TV locker room, you know, so I got invited into the TV locker room. I didn't just put in dress in the TV locker room.

I remember a guy, you know, not too long ago a couple of years back and I'm not going to say his name. he lasted in the WW about a year or so. You'll be able to figure it out. And he came and he's dressed. He was in the TV locker room. And I wonder in my mind, what the hell is he doing in the TV locker room?

And he's hanging out in there with us, you know what I mean? He's kicking it and whatnot. And I told him, yeah, he was talking to me about, you know, the guys in the other locker room. And I was like, man, forget those guys.

man, trust over here, man. I mean, man, I mean, all those guys to tell you were the dress. And all I was doing was just staring the pot. He didn't know I was getting him in more trouble. Oh, man. And then ended up fired his ass. And, you know, and he didn't know why he got fired.

He didn't even know. He didn't even know he was getting to eat, you know. Just by being in the TV locker room and nobody invited him into the TV locker room. 2020 has changed a lot of things. It's definitely changed how we work. And businesses across the globe are challenged to be their most efficient, which means every hire is critical.

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Some guys just don't want to leave it alone. And, you know, that's what they do. You know, Sting, Sting, I never thought I'd see Sting. I'm still, you know, doing this at 61 years old. I just didn't think that. But I was talking on my show just last week. It's hard, you know, sometimes, you know, to walk away from this business.

And then, again, Again, you know, after you've done it for so long, you want to walk away from it your way. You know, he didn't get a chance to do that in WW. You know, so now at AEW, you know, he may feel like he got a chance to go out there and do it, you know, and do it his way and walk away from it. But for me, I don't know, man. More power to those guys that want to go out there and do that. But I wasn't one of those guys that wanted to wrestle my whole life. You know, I wasn't the guy.

I wasn't one of those kids that dreamed a big. a professional wrestler as a kid or anything like that. I wasn't somebody that like Christian and Edge that was in, you know, WrestleMania Award in the past, ah, you know. I was freaking, I was on the, you know, watching some prostitutes going down to strip, you know what I mean? You know, like, you know, so when I got into wrestling,

you know, it was, you know, it's different, you know, it's different for me than, than, you know, most of these guys. So I just look at it, you know, so differently, you know, Do you think we're going to see Sting have a match? You know what, man, for Sting to want to have a match, I wouldn't advise it, okay, it's 61 years old. I wouldn't advise it. It's just not, I don't know, is it worth it? You know, I don't know.

I mean, to him, it might be worth it, you know, but I don't know. I say wrestling is a young man's sport. That's why I got out, you know, I said I was going to retire. tired when I was 40. All right. And when I, when I turned 40, I was like, man, I'm still pretty good, man. I'm like, man, I'm still better than the rest of these suckers on the roster. So I pushed it until I was 45. And then I walked away from it. And I tell you, I don't it's to ever, you know, put my boots on to go out there and do that ever again, you know, I mean, I had a great run. And I had a great time doing it. And I love, you know, watching the young guys come up.

I love saying my students get a break and get a chance, you know. But Sting, he's a guy, you know, he was doing it before I was doing it. Well, before I was doing it. It's something that he's done his whole life. It's something that's in his blood. There again, not getting the chance to finish it properly in WWE. I remember when I went to WWW in 2001 and I don't know, you can go back and, you know, research. But Sting did an interview.

He said the reason he never went to WWE was, because of the way they treated Booker T when he first got there. And he said, you know, he said, I was, I was disrespected by the Rock when I first got there. And he thought I should have been treated better. And what he was talking about was when Ben Rock, we did our angle. And Rock goes, who are you? And I go, my name is he goes, it doesn't matter what's your name. You know, and I go, I always looked at this as wrestling.

I've never looked at it like it was a serious thing. And I think if Steen came in, he did an angle with the rock. Rock would perhaps did the exact same thing with him. But it's wrestling. And for him to have missed out on 15 years maybe. Yeah. Of time because of that angle that I did with the rock. I thought that was very, you know, I don't even,

what words should I use? Because I don't want to disparage him or anything. that, but I just thought that was a very unwise thing to do. Let's just say that. I miss out on all of that time of living out that sting dream in the WWE. But I think it was a lot of guys were scared to come to the WWE. Sure. And a lot of guys did not want to have to, you know, put in the work and really, you know,

establish themselves all over again. But me, I was like, let me go up here and see how good I really am. You know, I wanted to challenge myself with the best workers in the world. But for Stena do it now, at 61, I just think it's very, very, it's an unwise move to go out there trying to work with these young guys. I remember that promo with The Rock. Who in the blue hell are you? Yeah, yeah. So for the record, you were not offended by this.

No, man. I've never been offended by anything that I've done in wrestling. because it's wrestling. It's not real. It's what we make it. We're entertaining fans. And, you know, that's part of his character. The thing is, I wish I would have been my stick.

You know what I mean? I'm serious. I wish I had stolen a lot of his lives, man. I'm serious. No, I'm serious. I mean, because I've never looked at, I've never been a hater, man. I've never been looked.

It's just like just say, for instance, when Goldberg came in. And Goldberg wasn't a wrestler. He was a guy that was green than anybody in the locker room. And then all of a sudden, he had the best interest, he had the best music. He was making the most money. You know, and you know what I said? Man, I wish I was him. I'm not going to say, I wish, man, I wish I would have slipped on a banana pill and got

in like that. I can't hate on the guy because he's freaking, you know, a huge start. He's making money. And, you know, that thing, that just happened for him. I cannot do that. You know what I mean? Goldberg, we're the best of friends. We're tight, you know what I mean?

Yeah. So that's the way I am when I look at stuff like that. And I always have, yeah. But you came up with some incredible catchphrase. I still say to this day, tell me you didn't just say that. I mean, say the drama for your mom. I got a bunch of them. Yeah, I never called anyone a sucker until I heard you say it.

Shaggy, ducky, quack, quack. You know. No, man, my thing is, man, it's, it's. The thing has been a journey for me like crazy, man. The times I've had on the road, you know, it's been the greatest times in the world, you know. So it's been great for me. But, but no, man, like I say, again, as far as ting,

I hope you have a great run and finish the thing out the way he really want to finish it. But there again, it could be a rocky road. I'm really curious to know who had the bookend slash rock bottom first. I know that became a part of your storyline with the rock. Yeah, I had it first. I had it first. I'm not going to sit here and, you know, just, you know, try to, you know, go back and forth, you know, if it's disputed or undisputed and I. I was the one who came with the book in. I didn't call it the book in.

And then there, I picked the name up, the rock stole it just like the rock stole a bunch of my catchphrases. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just up serious. He really did. What other catchphrases did he steal? You know what? I'm not going to go there, you know, because, that's like those untold stories, unwritten rules, stuff like that, you know,

that we don't, you know, put out there, locker room stuff. That's very interesting. Wait a minute, if you smell what I'm cooking. Oh,

no, no. No. That was it? That's the one? Hey, I'm just saying, I'm just saying,

I'm just saying, all right? I'm just saying, I don't want to start nothing. You didn't hear me say anything. You know, you know. You know, you mentioned the King Booker storyline, which was so fantastic, especially because, you know, you had Queen Charmel.

I always wondered, did Charmel want to be an on-screen character, or is that something that just kind of happened? No, I mean, I was going to quit WWV back in 2005, 2005, 2006. leaving a business. And it's because Charmell and I got married. And I didn't want to be on the road, you know, and Charmell be at home. And I talked to them about it. I told him, hey, man,

you know, and they said, why don't we hire Charmell? And I was like, that's solved a whole lot. You know, and they hired Charmel. And she came on the road. And it kind of manifested as far as to the King, Booker, Queen Charmell thing, just because I call Charmelle Queen all the time. Just, you know, just what I, that's the way I, you know, represent her out in the world around people.

And they kind of got wind of it, and she always wore the gowns, former Miss Black America. And it's like, you know, why don't we do the king, king of the ring thing and, you know, make you king? I became king. I think I won, like, two matches. I was anointed king, you know. But they made me the king. but it was all, I think, and, you know,

driven and motivated around Charmel and me being King, you know, kind of like made sense. But, you know, it's one of those angles that could have been an asterisk, you know, at the end of my career. You know, me Booker T. being like a clown, acting stupid.

So it was really up to me what I made, you know, of King Booker, to how my legacy. he was remembered, you know, especially with everything that else that I did. You know, because I knew people were going to remember me at the end with a crown and a cape on. And it could have been something that was not really looked at kindly,

you know, from a lot of my fans. So it was up to me to make King Booker something really, really special that when people remember it, they go, man, King Booker was badass. He was, nobody was better than King Booker. You know what I mean? He was the best king of all. times, you know, so I really put in, you know, work to make King Booker the most memorable king, you know, out of all the kings that ever, you know, wore the crown and set on the throne.

Where did you come up with the accent? I don't know. I just thought a king should have a British accent. I love James Bunn, you know, the pinky finger was, you know, kind of like paying homage to macho man savage, you know, put the finger up, you know, so I wanted to put the finger up, the pinky finger up. You know, I want to do the twirl like macho man and, you know, and, but I wanted to, I wanted the king to be, the king was such a real character because, you know, I did a lot of, like, stupid stuff, but the king was like the most dangerous person, you know, in the kingdom. You know, when you got in the ring, he had to humble you. He had to really beat you up.

And at that point in time, I don't think I was, you know, I was at my best as far as going out and really performing and accenting and executing everything to where you looked at it. And he called me as two's bad ass. You know, so and I got and I just had the right people to work with at that time to, you know, the Bobby Lashley's, the Batista's, big guys that I can go out there and really enhance, you know, them and the way they worked as well. You know, so it was just a great time in my career to be able to go out and perform. Every time I did it, I was thinking about Hollywood. Some director was looking at this. So somebody was going to be calling me. That was part of the gimmick.

You worked it into the gimmick. I'm serious. It was so great for me to be able to, you know, explore and see how good I really was in making people believe. And I tell you, that character, I don't think I paid for it. meal for a year straight. I don't think I went anywhere and paid for a drink if I went to a bar and sat down. And, you know, anywhere I went, you know, people actually really treated me like I was a real

king. It was the craziest thing, the craziest time I ever had in this business. It's crazy. Wow. You know, when you talk about your legacy, did you realize this supermarket match with Steve Austin would become such a part of your legacy when you guys were planning this? is out. No, that's the actors, though again, man. It's the actors who are the really, really good actors. They take the script and they try to make it. It was about Steve that night. I had been

messing with him. If people remember the story, I had been, you know, messing with him for the longest. He had been trying to catch me for the longest. You know, put him through the, you know, the table, whatnot. So he had been chasing me. And so it was about time to return the favor. And there again, you, my loss has got to be better than my win. all right so I got to really go out here and make Steve look great indeed but I still got to get my stuff in at the same time you know so I was very entertaining

getting my ass whooped you know and I think that's what the good performers do the good performers go out and they work for the end goal opposed to anything else that's going on I never thought about that would be an iconic match at the end of the day but iconic moment

at the end of the day. But what I tell my students is, you know, you got a guy like Steve Austin, who's a, you know, 100% badass. You got Bougar T, you know, he ain't no slouch. He's a pretty bad ass guy himself. But they can go out in a grocery store and make you laugh and entertain. And, you know, I go out on the belt. I'm crying like a little baby.

I'm going to get you, man. You know, it was, it was just, it was just wrestling. That's what wrestling is. And it was about the fans that I tell my students. And I hope these young guys out there, you have a chance to listen to this, you know. It ain't about, you know, you and I, you know, we wrestle each other, you know, tonight.

And then we go down the road talking about how great a spot. How many spots we did in the match. Man, that thing off the top. It ain't about that. It's about the fan, man. It's about the fan leaving that arena saying, man, I cannot wait to get back to see such and such, man. They can't wait to get home.

and, you know, order their tickets for the next show, and next show is three months away, you know, that's the way you try to think about entertaining your fans. You know, for me, it was always an out-of-body experience. I always could sit in the front row and watch myself and think about what I wanted to see opposed to what I wanted to do, you know. After that supermarket brawl, you know, cameras go off.

What happens then? Do they immediately start cleaning this up so they can open the store the next morning? I don't know, man. I don't know. I had, you know, milk in my head. I had eggs. I had flour. I couldn't see anything.

I was cold. You know, I was like, you know, I was like, get me out of here, man. You know, and I just had my dreads. I had just started my dreadlocks. You know, I was like, I hope this freaking, you know, potion, help it out a little bit, you know. But, oh, man, it was, it was action. There was no rehearsal. You know, we did a walk through.

And that was it. today they tried to do that. It's no way. There's no way two guys could go out there and pull that off today in 2020 and people 20 years from now saying that was something great.

And the reason why there again, it goes to Steve Austin being Steve Austin. Really, really great performing Texas guy as well. Myself being someone who's definitely knew exactly what my role was and what my job was that that,

day and to go out there and make it work. I don't think Steve and I ever, when I did this podcast, we talked about it. But for all these years, Steve and I, we never talked about that moment ever because that's what wrestlers do, man. We were thinking about the next moment. I'm thinking about what's next. I'm thinking about the next show. You know, the next, you know, Shakespeare, next, you know, Phantom of the Opera.

We're not thinking about that one time. And that's what makes it great Because it was all about just putting the work in What was the final bill that WWE had to pay that supermarket? I don't know, man, but I know Vince wrote him a check The Green Frog, Bakersfield, California is no longer there, man But a lot of people got a piece of the Green Frog When they knocked it down and whatnot, demolished it

But for me, it would be a moment etched in time. I love Bakersfield, man. I always good times going to Bakersfield. And then the Green Frog is something that's going to always, you know, be etched stone, man. 19 years, man, 19 years, almost 20 years that was. And people still talking about it. I was just looking at it yesterday, man. I was laughing so hard, man, because I was taking some bumps in that supermarket.

I was so scratched up after that thing was over with me. I thought I was going to get caught, you know, going off the bill. I thought something was going to get caught in the line. little corner or something, man. But it was awesome, man. It was a great night. So many people have attempted to spinnerooie with you.

Who is the best person to do it? And who is the worst person to do it? Oh, man. The best person was, let me see, it's probably going to be a little diva. He had a pretty good spinnerooey.

And I think the worst was big show. Big shows. I tell you, Ed, she had He had a pretty bad one as well with him and I had to wrestle at WrestleMania 18. He was, he wanted to do the Spinneroni so bad, man.

So he's like, man, just show me how to do it. Just show me how to do it. I showed him how to do it. So he's out there working on it all day. He's trying to get that Spinner Rooney. And by showtimes, he's got strawberries all of his body

where he literally ripped his skin off of his body. And then he still can do it in the match, You know, so he had a pretty vast venerudy as well. Wow, that was WrestleMania 18? Yeah, yeah. So he wanted to do this in front of his hometown crowd. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but he couldn't pull it off. Wow.

I was always so impressed when you tried to get the Undertaker to do it. Hey, man, that was the iconic night, man, there again. That's what wrestling was back then. We were family out on the road trying to, you know, get from one day to the next. So we had fun like that And they tried to get the Undertaker to do it We were 45 minutes to an hour After the show went off the air

You know, doing that And today there again I don't think something like that would work I don't I mean they may try it But I don't think it would have the same effect At that moment had Like today this many years later People still talking about

He's trying to get the undertaking It was best man actually trying to get him to do it You know He came up. me the referees, you're trying to, you know, get Undertaker to do it. I'm like, man, why don't put me in this, man? Go on, you can't. It's the Undertaker.

With your friends, but I'll be the Undertaker. And I remember you can see it on his last ride when they show that. He looks at me and it's on tape and he goes, look, I'm going to kill him. And I look at him like, oh, it's not me. But that night was awesome, man, to actually, you know, it's crazy. I've been so many, I've been a part of so many moments in this business, man. I've seen so many things, man, from the Shockmaster coming out to that moment with the Undertaker, man, to, you know, being in the ring with the road warriors, to, you know, to being in the ring with the rock, you know.

I mean, it's been, it's been such an amazing career of seeing so much, man. And I tell you, man, I don't even, I ask God all the time. I still wonder why. Wow. Why? This many years later. I still ask, why me? Why me?

Even now to this day, today, I was saying it today, you know, man, why me? Why do I get blessed so much? You know, why do God bless me so much? It's the craziest thing, man. But I just keep giving the blessings, giving them out, man. You know, we're going through some crazy times right now with this COVID things, people out of work, food banks,

you know, lines are so long. People just need the help in hand. You know, you see the guy on the corner, you know, with the side, you know, you just need a beer. You know, and every time I see somebody on the corner, man, I got to go in my pocket, man, and, you know, give them a little bit of something, you know what I mean? It's the least I could do.

It's the least I could do. You know, if I got a kid that need some help, you know, some advice, you know, call me and let's talk about it. You know, a mother always said it doesn't cost you anything to be nice to people. It doesn't cost you that one thing to be nice to people. And I think if we had a whole lot more of that, man, this place, we would be in such a better place in this world, man. We'd just have people just think that way only, you know, it doesn't cost you anything to be nice to people. we would be, this world would be such a peaceful place to be in, man. Really?

Yeah. I would have to think you're blessed with all of this because you work your ass off. That's exactly why. You know, I don't know, man. I don't, I work hard, you know, but what I do now is not hard work, man. It's the easiest, being in the wrestling business has been the easiest thing in the world, man. I swear. I tell people all the time, you know, like when I got in the rest of the business, I say, I used to work for a living.

I'm serious. Since I've been in wrestling, man, since I've been 25 years old, I don't really consider what I've done as work. I consider it as doing my job. You know what I mean? And I love what I do. But I've never really considered what I do work because it's not really that hard for me. It's really easy for me to do what I do right now.

I'm blessed. I really, I really am blessed. And I'm blessed to just, you know, I ask God, you know, just, you know, give me enough time to finish my work, you know, and, you know, we'll meet in the middle. You know, you do your part. I do my part. We'll meet in middle. I just want to, that's the only thing I pray for more than anything, man. Life is tricky, man. Life is tricky. You know, we all got a birthday. We all got a death date. And it's the work that you put in in between. You know what I mean? It's the only thing that really truly matters, man, at the end of the. of the day, you know, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, when you, it's, for me to ring, I wear a guy by the name of Paul Bosch, you know, aggressive amateur boxing association. He used to always, you know, gear kids towards that. He used to say a kid can't open a knife or fire a gun with boxing gloves on. Um, he used to, um, you know, he was to, um, you know, he was the found. of the Boys and Girls Club here. You know, I remember that. I praise them all the time. And people are going to remember you when you leave this earth. They're going to praise you or not. And that's what is, at the end of the day,

that's the only thing that you're going to have. I heard a great quote that reminds me this. It's life is the C between the B and D. Life is the choice between your birth and your death. It's true. It's true. And I live by those. those, those, those, those words, you know, those sentiments.

Just because, you know, I come from humble beginnings, you know, you know, people, you know, can hang around me, you know, like Peter Rosenberg, you know, Sam Roberts. They say, man, you know, only Hall of Fame where I know to just act like, you know, you just regular person, you know what I mean? And I'm like, I am a regular person. What are you talking about, you know? I can't, you know, I never, I want, you know, I say it all the time, you know, when people around me and they look up to me, they feel a certain way about me and they've never met me before, you know, and then they meet me and they, and I'm an asshole to them, you know, I say, they're going to remember that for the rest of their life, you know, I said, I said, but they're going to remember you if you was, if you were school to, I say, you know, what's to hurt, you know what I mean, of making that person feel a certain way when he leave, you know what I mean? That's like when I go,

to autographs, I try to make sure everybody that come through that line feels special when they leave and the thoughts that they had about Booker T before is amplified. 10 degrees, they said, man, I never would imagine, you know, he was like that, you know what I mean? So,

and it didn't cost me anything to do that other than a little energy, you know, that's about it. That's how exactly I feel right now. I had the pleasure of meeting you. I think it was about five years ago. It was at Marlins, stadium, Marlins Park. Yeah, yeah.

When they had the... I met you very briefly there. You were so kind and so nice. I always wanted to be able to share a conversation like this with you. And this well exceeded, any expectations that I might have had. So I want to thank you for that. You're welcome, man. You're welcome.

Like I say, goes by those rules. My mother taught me, man. You know, those rules got me through life, man. They really did. Those little bitty simple rules, please thank you. Yes, ma'am. No, sir. You know, those things got me through life, man.

And so my pleasure, my pleasure. You seem like someone who's very appreciative of all of the opportunities that you've had in your life. And I'm a big person when it comes to gratitude. So I end every interview by asking you, what are three things that you're grateful for in your life right now? Man, three things I'm grateful for. My wife, my kids, and my health. That's it. those three things right there is what keeps me grounded,

what keeps me focus, motivated, driven, you know, because I need all of them in order for, you know, everything to work properly. And if my health, if I, if I, that's why I say, I don't ask God for money or anything like that. I say, God, just give me my legs, you know, I'll make the money, you know, I'll be able to take care of my family.

If you just give me my legs, you know, and let me be able to go out and, you know, take care. And so, so I don't, I don't ask for much. I really don't. There again, life has been, you know, great for me. I've been given so much. And I'm humbled. I really am. Every time I walk out of my house, you know, and I see why I live, and I go, wow, man, you know, how did this happen to me? You know what I mean? So, because I come from nothing. I really do. I come from nothing, and I'm least likely to have succeeded in this life the way I have. But God had a bigger, God's got a bigger plan for me.

Wrestling has been great for me too. But I still look at wrestling like it's just been a tool. It's not, I don't want wrestling to be the one thing that defines me at the end of the day. On my tombstone, it's not going to be your lives, Booker T, the wrestler, ex-restler. That's not going to be it. It's something, I'm here for, I'm here for something much bigger than, you know, what I've gone through so far. Are you still looking at running for mayor of Houston? Is that still something you're interested in?

That's my ultimate goal, man. Just because I tell you, man, it's about the people, man. They want me to do it. They want me to represent them. And that's there again. I say, why? Why do you want Booker T to represent you?

Are you crazy? What are you talking about here? But I got a good heart. And I got a good feel as far as people go. I always know that I'm not the smartest person in the room. You know, I know I've got to have a good team, man, around me in order to be able to succeed. Even now, right now, to this day,

I wouldn't be where I'm at right now without a young crew of guys around me, you know, like Brad, you know, like Kevin, you know. And if I didn't have these kids around me, literally, I would not be where I'm at right now. I know it. some of the stuff that they have turned me on to and open my eyes too have been amazing. And my thing there again, I say,

let me sit in the passenger seat and you drive, I'll navigate, see if we could get there together and make something together and create something and build something. You know, I told Brad when he first came with me, I said, man, we don't have a lot of money, but it's a lot of opportunity. You know, now he's my right-in, man. He's going around the world with me. But I told Brad, you know, not too long ago,

I say, man, none of this would be possible if it wasn't for you. You know, I say, I couldn't have done this without you. You know, and for him to hear that is very important because it's a lot of people wouldn't really think that they've done it on their own. Yeah. I'm not one of it. Well, again, Brad's your co-host on The Hall Fame. Reality of Wrestling here on YouTube, people can subscribe because you're, that page,

you guys are just soaring. You're right. You're going to be at a million subscribers by this time next year. Think bad bunny. That too, yeah. Bad Bunny. It's crazy seeing after that song came out how much that channel has just exploded.

Yeah, man. Thank you. We roll it, man. Onward and upward. Where can people find you online? Oh, man. Of course, ESPN 975. Every Monday and Wednesday,

of course, you can catch a podcast. Monday and Wednesday also we do it live. You can check your local listing. You know, we put something out on Twitter. Booker. on Twitter, Instagram, as well, as well as Reality of Wrestling slash YouTube on YouTube. You can check us out on there as well. We're out there doing that thing, man, doing it like it's supposed to be done, making all

them suckers bought out, making them pay my son, making them say, Daddy, I don't want that. I had enough, shuggy, duck, quack, quack, and we're out of here. Thank you, sir. You're welcome, bro. Thank you. That was awesome. What a way to end the year. It was just such an honor, such a privilege to share that conversation with Booker T.

And I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did. Take a screenshot, share this on social media. Don't forget to subscribe wherever you're listening to this. And if that happens to be Apple Podcasts, I would be so grateful to you. If you could just take a few seconds out of your day to rate and review the podcast. Because it's really the biggest thing to, number one, help the show grow. But number two, it also helps to convince some, like, harder to book guests who were like,

what's this podcast all about? Oh my gosh, you got 2,000 reviews in the first year and a half of your show? That's amazing. So that's kind of like, that's kind of the hope here. And as we head into a new year, remember, like we talked about here,

like everything that you want out of life is yours for the taking. You just have to figure out what the steps are in order to get those things. But start today. Don't wait till January 1st or the Monday, after that or your birthday or whatever it happens to be.

Like, start today. And if today happens to be January 1st, great. Then start today. Make this thing happen. Because as Pablo Picasso famously said, only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone. Be great.

Be grateful, my friends. Oh, man. Happy New Year. We will see you on the next one. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s, Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley.

Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. Ever heard of then? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987.

I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.