The Kristian Harloff Show - A Conversation with WWE Legend Booker T

Episode Date: February 8, 2022

Follow on Twitter Kristian Harloff https://bit.ly/31PePMD Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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but what it was like to be there. This is combat story. I'm A.J. Peschuti, a retired force recon Marine and scout sniper, and this show is for anyone who wants to understand the human side of war, through the people that lived it. I sit down with veterans from across generations and specialties,

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This is a special one. I'm really excited for this episode of Big Thing, but before we even get into it, before I even tell you a little more about my special guest today, make sure you should just show a little bit of class while you subscribe to the channel. Notifications so you get more of what's going on. So you get great guests like I have today.

And don't forget about that Patreon. You got SCN Live now three episodes a month. You got the rewatches, you got the bonus episodes. It's so much, especially with Shmo. down coming back new season so many great things we have coming up all right guys listen i got the legend the man himself booker t the w w w vamer two-time hall of famer he is uh he's just become i can probably say he's become a friend um and i've always been in all of him as far as in general of his the way that he's the things he's done in the past and and i've told the story many

times over when I was one of the first people scared the shit out of me when I was working there at the WWE. But he's just become a great supporter. He's he is not only someone who you know what he's done in wrestling, but then he's gone on and done his own thing, whether he's broadcasting with the Hall of Fame show that he does. He also started reality of wrestling, which you guys Snowdown fans know very well, and I want to talk to book about that. So there's so much I want to talk to him about. And honestly, I don't even know if we're going to be able to cover everything that I want to talk to him about, but we're going to try. And he's also, he's a geek like us.

He's watching Daredevil right now. He's watching Iron Fist. And we'll geek out about Rocky because there's so many things I want to talk about Rocky. I want to see, I'm going to guess, I'm going to guess right now, which his favorite one is. I might be wrong, but I'm going to say it's Rocky 3. I might be wrong, but we're going to find out a little bit. All right, I'm going to stop talking. I got Booker T.

Let's do it. It's big thing. What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the big thing. And would you please? welcome to the show. The man, five time. Champ, he is. Bookerty.

What up, Bookerty. Boom, what's going on, kid? How are you, man? It's so great to see you. Thank you for taking your time. I know how busy you are. So it's for you to come on in the show means a lot. Thank you very much. Already, already.

That's what we say here in Houston, man. Already, all ready to go. You know, it's funny, as I was mentioned up top, it's amazing that we have been able to stay friends, considering you're such a big Astros fan, and I'm such a big Yankees fan. Hey, man. It's like politics.

We just don't talk about it. That's 100% right. But the first thing I want to get into, I'll be honest, I got to talk about reality of wrestling, man. I'm so impressed with what you guys did over there. And tell me about the inception of it, right?

Tell me about the inception of you, you leave WWE, you go on, you do your own thing. But then you go, you know, I want to work with young talent. I want to run my own shit. How does that come about? Oh, man. Back in 2003.

is when we started the wrestling school. And it all came from back when I started wrestling school back in 1990. It was $3,000 and it was an eight-week course. You can't learn a whole lot in eight weeks. But it got my foot in the door. I made it work. It worked out for me. Didn't work out for the majority of those guys that went to that.

wrestling school. So I say when I had a chance to do it, I said, I want to give young people a springboard a chance to actually get into the business properly. The wrestling business has always been kind of like an underground, you know, a deal, you know, how do you get in? And there's no colleges or anything like that. So I say, let me open a school, make it a two-year course, make it affordable, almost like a cell phone bill, so we can get as many people in as we possibly can. As well as, of course, you're going to have that talent that goes on to the next level. But the camaraderies, the journey that these young people has gone on now for almost 18 years has been unbelievable. I've had guys that started reality of wrestling and retired. You know, so it's pretty cool, actually, to actually be able to fulfill someone else's dream. Yeah, you know, it's funny because I'm going to. this whole thing and I you know, Brad Gilmore, obviously part of Schmodeown and you and you and we, you and I both have a great eye for talent when it comes to Brad Gilmore because

that dude is just so, he's so, he's so talented and he's so good at what he does, but he had said something that you said because he and I were on the conversation recently because I'm going Schmodeon book, I'm going more. What I started a couple years ago when you found it, it was, I think it was around 50% sports entertainment, 50% movie trivia. And then the last two years because of the pandemic and everything, it was about 80% sports and 20% sports entertainment. Dude, I'm going 80% sports entertainment this year and 20% sports. And some people, whatever, but what I tell people on the phone the other day, I said,

you got to understand something. This is a show. And we got to entertain. And Brad goes, dude, that's what Booker says before every show. It's a show. You got to. Yeah, yeah, you got to definitely look at it like that. Otherwise, you're going to it with the expectations of, you know,

they'll believe anything you give them. You got to make sure you're giving them Shakespeare in order for them to go, oh, my God, I got to give an encore here. They want more than just a little bit. They want the whole kit in Caboodle, and that's what I try to say. We've got some shows coming up around WrestleMania weekend

for reality of wrestling, and we're going to be doing it with a world-class pro in Dallas, and we say, man, we've got to make this a theme. What kind of theme can we have to actually create other than people just coming to watch wrestling. Okay, we've got the Sherry Mortel Classic going on. Let's get that done. Crown the first, you know, Sherry Mortel Classic winner, as well as, let's have a Texas

legend tonight. We've got a guy by the name of Black Bart here in Texas that taught me so much. Let's honor Black Bart. Hey, let's put Booker T perhaps back in the ring. We got to make this thing an event opposed to just guys coming out and watching wrestling matches. So I totally understand. Yeah, you want people talking, right?

you want to get people excited and because as you know if you you just mentioned if you half ass it they smell that shit man they know it right away and it's like if you put your passion in it and you go i have this stuff planned out book for the first couple of like episodes that we're doing and i'm already thinking okay i'm gonna i'm gonna twist them there i'm gonna move it maneuver them there they're not gonna see that come in and you try to and you want to and you get excited because then they'll get excited and like you said booker t shows up and wrestles you like oh did you go last night what happened i missed it poker came in and fought and he and he and he And it's like, oh, shit, I got us tune in.

Yeah, definitely. And the thing is, you want to get them talking before, before it actually goes down. I always say, you know, if Elvis came back and did a concert at the Toyota Center and no one knew it, no one will be there. But if they knew it, trust me, it would be so a lot every night to watch the King coming to do a thing. So I'm all about promoting and giving the fans the ultimate entertainment, giving them the ultimate entertainment, giving them the ultimate. ultimate show because I remember leaving those karate movies when I was a kid. And if I wasn't chopping somebody, it wasn't a good movie. You know, it's funny.

Because I watched, by the way, and I watched the A, the A, I was going to say, the A and E special that they did on you. And I, and I, I knew a lot about you going into it, but I didn't know everything that you went through, I mean, man, and I, and I know that, not to, I don't want to, I want to, I want to me, sorry, I say this. the right way, but like I, I always had respect for you. I just had so much more after coming after that because there's my father-in-law came from a very rough background. And he came from a place that, and we just had this conversation the other night. And he came from a place that some people

can go in that background and then there's almost like an excuse of like, well, that's the path I have to go. I have to be in that path. I have to be in trouble. I have to do that because that's all I know. And that's where they go. And there's that rare individual that can get themselves. in trouble, get themselves out and spin it for the good. That's what my father-in-law did. And it's certainly what you did. And I just like I said, I have not only respect, but I, but coming through all that and that moment, because you mentioned it inside, you know, you, you went away for a while.

You come back and it just changes your whole perspective. And do you ever, I mean, obviously, I'm sure you look back on it every day and say like, okay, that's just one more step to go that way because you, I mean, complete 180 from everything that when you were younger man. You know, I've asked myself, why me quite a few times of in my life, you know, finding myself in trouble, you know, for the first time. And then, you know, for the first time, you know, I mean, not just in jail, but I go to prison. It was one of those things like, wow, man, you know, why am I here? You know, what is going on here?

But I've always been able to laugh. You know, I've always been able to make light of the situation. And one thing about my situation, I did wrong. It's not something that I was innocent. I wasn't innocent or anything like that. And I say, man, I got a tone for it. I got to figure it out and do better. And that's why even now I still feel like I got that broom sweeping, you know,

and cleaning up all that little dirt that I created, you know, when I was a kid running around. Maybe that's the reason why, you know, I have a passion. about trying to help young people and trying to give them a second chance, trying to make sure they don't fall into those same footsteps that I have had to walk in, you know, as well as I always say, man, you, you play the hand you dealt. Yeah. And you try to, sometimes you got a bluff and figure your way out. And somehow, by the grace of God, someone helped me out and gave me a chance and I took advantage of it. And I didn't look back. No, man, you certainly did.

and watching how you got involved in wrestling and hearing you talk about reality of wrestling. And I know that there's probably, I think the answer is yes and no for this particular question, but obviously I'm going to let you answer it, whereas is it easier now to get into wrestling, not just not like the big shows, but is it easier to get into wrestling today

than it was when you were coming up? Oh, heck yeah. It's so much easier to get into wrestling today because, you know, not to speak, yield towards indie promoters or anything like that, but they're just set up tent and they'll let anybody, anybody come in there and do it no matter what it looks like. And that's where a lot of young people find their way in this business,

you know, not knowing, you know, which way to turn because they're doing a show here, they're doing a show here, they're doing a show there. And then at the end of the night, the promoter can't say if they did a good job or not, they just go, you know, here go your paycheck, thank you, you know what I mean? So for me, you come to reality of wrestling, going to get, you know, taught, you know, from a perspective towards going to be some constructive criticism. You might think you're good somewhere else. And then you come to reality of wrestling

and realize you're not that good at all. You know, so it is an abundance of training grounds out there that perhaps shouldn't be. And I'm sure because, obviously, you're still, you're still doing stuff. Hell, you're just doing stuff with the Rumble. I mean, you're, you're very involved with WWE. You're part of the family as they should be respecting you for everything that you've done. for them and and continue to do for them. But I'm, I would assume as a wrestler and I'm coming in and I pass through your parts and I go, look, man, not only is it Booker T, but he's very involved in WWE and I'm sure with the product, like I can get their eyes on me.

And that's happened. The W.B. has done that. So does it become because back in the day, it was like the territories before Vince took, took over and started taking over all the territories. It was just about those territories. But now with the internet and even watching that show heels, they kind of like go into, I don't know. Did you watch any heels?

Have you watched any of it at all? I watched a little bit of it, but it kind of lost me a little bit. Okay. I didn't stay with it. That's fair. But even, but the fact that like, it's weird how territories kind of work now, because there are kind of, there's like internet territories, you know, there's like the reality wrestling has there,

that has the Houston kind of internet territory. And there are these, but they work with the big promotions now to get, now, do you guys have an exclusive deal? Like if AW wanted to pick up people from you, could they? Or no, it's exclusive with WW. No, Sammy Gavar is one of my students. Oh, okay.

He came out of reality of wrestling. No, we don't have an exclusive deal with WWE or anything like that with our students. You know, Rox C, you know, one of my students, you know, first ROH women's champion. Right now, highly sought it by WWE as well. Mace, he's one of my students, I'm with WWE right now. You know, so, no, it's not exclusive. if what we do is, you know, like you say, we have television. We try to get young people that's got that talent to take the most direct route to

getting to that next level, and that's being seen on television. And I say that from experience. I never worked any indie shows or anything like that when I was coming up, you know, in my career. But I worked on the Global Wrestling Federation Television for 18 months straight. And I was on television Monday through Friday. So I say somebody's going to see me. And if I'm good enough, somebody going to make a phone call and say, how can I, you know, use your services?

So that's what happened. And I try to tell young people, if you're good enough, you're going to be seen on reality of wrestling television and someone is going to call you. Going out and just working territories, working shows, shows that right there, you can learn less. You can actually pick up so many bad habits from actually doing that. Get yourself in a group, be a part of a group. be a part of a group that's better than you,

that's teaching you the what not to do's. And trust me, you'll make it to the next level if you're good enough. Yeah. And so when you guys are teaching and there's certain things that you guys have, and I don't know if there's not to give away secrets or maybe you talk about this or maybe you don't. But so the one thing that I've always heard, the other day, I always have these clips because I watch so much old school wrestling that like there's, there's always clips that pop up on the suggestion stuff.

And there was this shoot interview that Jesse Ventura gave, which is probably all Jesse Ventura gives. But he gave an interview and he was talking about how what he, the way he looks at wrestling now is what he hates. He hates the shit where people come out and they cut the promos and they do the things on the stage with two people talking each other with the microphones in the middle of the ring and there's writers to have a full speech. And he goes, in my day, there was no speeches and there was no that. It was mean Gene had had an interview and you and you cut the, you told the person. and who you're going to go after next week and blah, blah, blah, blah. And that's the old school mentality. It's the stuff that I like to.

And when I was there with you guys, it was similar in the fact, I remember, you know, these are the points that we wanted to hit. And when I, I don't know if you remember, you don't remember this. I do remember. Yeah. When I came in, when I, when I, when I came in, dude, I, I said to, because my first event that I ever went to was you and the rock at SummerSlam. That was the first one I worked.

And I came in and it was, okay. Brian had given a rock this is what he needs to booker's going to be doing this and he's got so rocks comes comes in and the rock isn't following a script he's going through here are the points that he's going to hit with booker and this is what he's going to say and it was it seems to you it was like book this is what you got to say you got we just need to hit this angle these are the main story points do you think scripts have taken away from the opportunity for the wrestlers to get to that next level you know it's kind of like a double-ed-saw it uh really is because like I say not to dis any of the young talent out there today some of them can

pull it off some of them can't and that's I think because of I think that the training that we got when we were coming up were different than the training that these young guys are getting today our training was literally on the job training right being out there in the war zone bullets flying and we're having to duck. Make sure we duck low enough. Are we going to get hit? And today, you know, error is totally different. Everything is, you know, here it is and this is how you do it.

Yeah. That right there can totally, you know, make the moment not feel as real. But there again, my first trip that I ever experienced, leaving Texas, I got on a plane and I went to Japan and then I went to Korea and then I went to the Virgin Islands and I got in WCW and then we went all over the world.

I became a world traveler. I got a chance to see exactly certain, you know, monuments and landmarks. Okay, so therefore I had so much, you know, in my head that I could actually talk about. I always talk about the rock. You know, I'm cutting a promo

in New Orleans one night and we're in Houston the night before. And the rock cut that promo in New Orleans. And he hit every landmark almost coming from Houston all the way to Louisiana. And by the end of that promo, the people was going crazy. And he hadn't said anything, but he touched every one of those people by literally going, you know, exactly to the spot they came from.

So it was amazing being able to formulate that promo. But he learned that over a period of time. You learn that overnight. Right. And that's what I mean. That's where I think sometimes gets lost. That's why I ask when reality wrestling, because that's one of the things that I think,

my personal opinion, why AEW is popping right now because they had like that kind of like old school stuff and people wanted to see it. And there's, and look, the WWE is always like Saturday Night Live. It's always going to be there, man. It's always going to be there.

And there's always going to be talent that's coming in. And I watched a rumble with my daughter the other day. And we had a really, we had a blast watching it. It was a lot of fun. And I, but there were, there's something about, I think right now, A.W is kind of like making punk rock, right? And, and so when you guys are teaching stuff, are you going over, do you have writers or do you have, are you more so reality

wrestling? Are you guys kind of going a little more old school? Or I should say, kind of doing what AEW is doing as well. Well, I give bullet points as far as this is what we need to talk about. I try to give the talent that liberty to be able to create. And, And these young guys these days, man, sometimes you underestimate how talented they really are and how creative they could really be. Two of my students, Cam Cole Will, all day. We had a show downtown. It was around Christmas time, and they had to go out and cut a probe.

And I gave them bullet points. And they took the bullet points and went all the way to the freaking left and just took it all the way, you know, to a point where I'm like, what the hell is going on there? And then I go, wait a minute, this is good. You know, so for me, I try to give them enough rope to hang themselves. Let them make mistakes so we could actually talk about those mistakes. But then again, some of those mistakes may turn out to be exactly what we needed. And put that guy on a tractor where he realizes, man, I can actually do this.

I could actually, you know, take this to another level. But you got to actually be able to give them that opportunity to actually do that. they got to be able to go out and make mistakes. They got to go out and do things wrong in order for us to actually make them better. And if we think we could just give them the script and they go out there and follow it every time, trust me, they're going to mess that script up every time. Dude, I agree with you so much. It's just like talking over a match.

You know, you got all of these spots. Trust me, you're going to mess one of them up somewhere and it's just going to screw everything up. So it's no different, really. I couldn't agree with you more, man. I think that is the way to do it because I was even, I had to, Freddie Prince Jr. on recently and he was talking and he was he told a great story about how he had written something for for JBL and he had written something and JBL was like right let me see okay fine and Vince is like, no, no, no, change all that and and do this instead. And Jabil's like, what this? I don't know.

And JBL went up doing the one that Freddie did and Vince was hot and Vince was really hot about it. And Freddie bit the bullet and goes, no, I told him to do it. I told him to do it. And JBL had more respect for Freddie because he didn't throw him under the bus. But like it was that now I'm going to hit the bullet points and do that because like it doesn't it doesn't allow them to to move to be fresh. And what I will also say, and I said this about you recently like, you know, and and I shouldn't have been shocked because of the two time Hall of Famer here. But like when I when I went in and we did that show and you're so busy, you're running through, you're in your office and and you were kind enough to be involved in that storyline. And Brad's like, you just want you to go over the the moments with him. And I was like, okay, great.

And I did it once, and you go, do it again. Go over once, one more time. And I went it, and I was like, and I said to myself, I was walking out, book, I go, I don't, like, if he, if he didn't hear any of it, he just did his own shit, I don't care. It's Booker T. And, dude, you hit every spot. I mean, you gave your own flair, but you hit every spot that I said in that moment,

and you added your own shit. And I was like, this guy's a fucking legend, man. You know, that's, that's really what it's about. We had a show in Vegas, okay? our first show in Vegas a couple of months ago. And Disco Inferno was our special guest. Yes.

And he had a line that he hit on the show. And I just gave him bullet points. You know, this is what I need to hit, what not. It's pretty much all you got to do tonight. And at one point, he said, tonight, guys, every match is going to be a five-star match. And then he would say something else. And then he would say, it's going to be a five-star match.

star match. Then you'll move on a little bit further. Then you go, it's going to be a five-star match. And literally, by the second match, the fans were going, five-star match, five-star. So it's like, I was like, wow, what a pro. What a pro? I couldn't have told him to actually do that. And it came off that way. That was just something that he ad-libbed and made work. And sometimes you got to apologize later, you know, sometimes you say, man, I forgot. I totally forgot. And I went our script. You know what I mean? So sometimes you got to literally put yourself in position to fail and sometimes you may succeed and that may be that moment where they say, man, we got to get this guy the ball and let him run. I mean, I think that's what you got to do

a lot of times because it's like that's how you step up and that's how you make the move. I mean, shit, man, just talked to about the rock. Look what he did from going from Rocky Maya Via to to become the biggest movie star on the planet because of using his actual personality and the example that you just used that was always in there. He just needed to figure out a way to make work. All right, Booker, so I know that you're excited about it. I'm excited also. It is the moment that we've been waiting for since September, and it is finally here. In honor of the big game, Draft King's Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of Super Bowl 56 is giving new customers 56 to one odds on either team, but you got to bet just

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See draftkings.com slash sportsbook for a full list of requirements and state-specific responsible gaming resources void where prohibited. If you have a gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler in Tennessee. Call or text the Tennessee Red Line, 1-800-989-9-97-8-89 in Connecticut. call 888-78-9-7-7-77 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in New York. Call 8778-8-H-O-P-E-N-Y or text H-O-P-E-N-Y. 4-6-7-367. What I also realized inside of that special on A&E was how, obviously,

coming up with your brother and the stuff that you with your brother, but I didn't realize how crucial Hogan was to, your push inside of WCW because you hear a lot of just horror stories about Hogan about how he was just kind of pushing everybody away and any time that someone was going to get a bump he would kind of like, you know, swash him

and I wrote this whole thing with Jake the Snake that he was supposed to do this whole thing like a bunch of different things that he was, I mean, there's countless, but he was good to you. Well, I wouldn't say Hogan and I and my brother, I wouldn't say we were friends or anything like that. Okay.

But he did put a word in for my brother and I to get a push. Okay. There's rumor that Hulk Hogan got paid money as well for doing that. So I've always given him props for speaking up for my brother and I, but

there's rumor that he made money off for merchandising from Harlem Heat being successful. So that's here and or there, but I thank him for putting the word in for The person that was instrumental, and my brother and I, you know, in my career was Sid Vicious. Sid Vicious was the guy who put us on the map. Sid Vicious was the guy who let us, you know, live in his apartment for like three months. Sid Vicious was the guy that made sure my brother and I got raises on a regular basis.

Oh, I think so. Sid Vicious is the guy that I give all the credit for my brother and I getting in WCW and actually starting off on the right foot because my brother and I, Sid Vich is Big Van Vader, pay-per-view, our first, main event, our first pay-per-view in Houston, Texas. Sid, made that out. I didn't know that. I didn't know that, the sit, yeah, because, I mean, the same thing. I always remember the stuff I remember with Sid is this how he left because he talked about

the warrior. Were you, you were there when all that shit went down with the warrior when they brought him back in and they pulled. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. All that stuff. That was, I mean, you look at that. I mean, I remember, because I, at one,

Before the WW network got taken down, I watched all that, the being part of that war, man, the WCW and WWE and looking at it. Did you think at one point did you think that WCW would overtake WVE while you were there? You know, I never really thought about it. I never really looked at like that at all. I never really cared about what was going on in the office. I really didn't. I was never one of those guys who wanted to, you know, think about,

hey, let's try this, let's do this, you know. I just never was one of those guys. And I didn't care if the company went on. or after company no literally or if the company you know overtook

W.E. You just wanted to do your work. I was a kid from South Park and I was making a lot of money and money that I was making checks that I had never imagined a dreamt in my life. So none of that

stuff really ever mattered to me to me at all. I just wanted to, you know, have some fun at that point in time. championships and stuff like that was the furthest thing from my mindset. But being the best was always at the forefront. You know, so it's kind of crazy how things worked out for me. Yeah, I'm sure.

I mean, and I think that that's, I think that that mentality probably is the reason why you, you got to where you did. Because when you look at a lot of the stuff that went down, there was a lot of politics. And it seemed like you stayed out of it, you know, and you just, because I remember, like, the way I got my gig was from writing was I submitted, it was right as to, WCW was bought by WWE and I wrote a whole storyline about an invasion thing. My personal opinion, I mean, what the hell do I know? It's Vince McMahon. He's a billionaire.

But I always thought that they should have kept WCW open as a separate company and had WWE and that was my storyline and the whole thing. But like you were there. You're one of the first guys that came over that when they when they said, okay, we're buying this thing over and we want you on the roster. Are you like, all right, fuck it. Let's do it. Hey, man.

I had a, um, a, um, a, choice to make. Stay under contract with WCW because I still had, you know, I don't know, maybe close to a year on my contract. Yeah. And they offered me a 50% buyout.

And so I had to walk away from a lot of money. But I was willing to do that because I didn't want to lose my momentum. I felt like I would make that money back in no time. I believed in my talent. I believe that I fit in what those guys were doing in

as well as I wanted to test myself. So I was always one of those guys that were, you know, there again. I was having fun. I knew how good I was. And I knew I could work anywhere in the world at that time. And I knew I knew WWE wanted me. Even though even before WCW ever closed down years before, every time my contract would come up, I would get a letter, I would get a phone,

I'd sell up the bird would drop, you know, you know, something in my yard. Say, hey, you know, if you ever looking for a spot, So I was always secure, you know, with, you know, who I was. So when it happened, it happened. A lot of guys were really sad. And a lot of guys never worked again after that from a major league scale. But I was like, man, let's go. Because you had the strap, right?

I was a champ. I was a U.S. champ. I was the heavyweight champ. So I was in high demand at that time. As well as, like I say, it was always a lot of rumors about going to WWF at that time. you know, could guys like, you know, myself make it there? Of course, coming from WCW, I knew they was going to be looking to bury everybody. And I looked at it a little bit differently than you did as far as the invasion angle

and keeping the WCW open as another company. I just felt like it's so hard to compete against yourself. And at that time, there was so many wrestlers that were like primbin honors, man. It was like, it was just like they thought they were big stars. And it would have been like such a hassle from a business relationship perspective. And I was like, man, I wouldn't let it go just as well and raise the flag just like WWED. I mean, look, it was one of the biggest angles for sure. What was your, what was the first program that you were in?

Was it the Rock? First I came in, I dropped Stonecoast Steve Austin. Oh, that was the first one? Oh, wow. The first thing I did. jumped a real, drop stone goal Steve Austin, and then boom, I broke three bones in his back. Right, right, right. And then they, dude, that's the first thing.

But he was cool about it, right? He could have. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't my fault. Things didn't happen the way it's supposed to have happened. But that wasn't my fault either. And he would just, but I always say, man, he could have been one of those guys that went to the front office immediately and said, man, this guy, you know, he's, he's reckless. He said he doesn't know what he's doing.

We're not going to be. He easily could have put that label on me, but he didn't. And I was one of the guys who survived. Yeah, but I think it goes back to the fact of what you just said and the reason you're not getting into it. And clearly you're there to do the job. And I've never, from the time I was there to afterwards, any wrestler that's ever worked with you, you don't.

Like, there's a lot of shoot interviews, a lot of people. I don't see a lot about you. You know, I really, I really don't. Not about shit that like, you know, stuff like we just mentioned with Hogan or other stuff, too. You were a guy that you're a wrestler's wrestler, right? And that's why Stone Cold, because you guys are, you guys are still buddies. You know, we've always had a lot of respect for each other. You know, Taker, you know, rock, you know, we've always had a lot of respect for each other.

But it was, it was a competition, but it was a proving ground back then as well. I tell the story all the time about when I first got the WWE. and somebody totally took my words out of context, not too long ago, so let me reiterate here. I first got there. I left all my accolades back in WCW. I said, man, I'm going to come here and I'm approved to these guys. Like I tell my students, you've got to know how to make it in a locker room

before you can make it in the ring. Okay, so I say I'm going to leave all that behind. I'm going to prove to these guys that I want to be one of the boys. And after a few months, I addressed. in the locker room with all the rest of the wrestlers, which, you know, 60 guys, Undertaker, I was walking past him one day and he'd go, hey, man, what you come dress over here with us? And it's a locker room called the TV locker room.

It's what all of the cameramen keep their equipment. And it's very few of those guys that be in there because they're running around the arena all day. So the top guys normally would go in there. And I got invited to the TV locker room. And I was like, wow, you know, I guess I made it. I guess I'm one of the boys now. You know, that's what I'm saying over here in the corner. But that right there, it let me know, man, I approve myself to these guys and they respected me.

And 20 years later, still here. Still here, man. And it's still doing it. It's funny that you say that because I remember, and we've talked about it and I've talked about it on Clare Live, but just for those people who are tuning in. So for those people who don't know, when I, my first gigs was at when I was writing for WWE was at SummerSlam. And I don't remember where we were. but I went down. We were at the hotel or at the bar.

We sit down at the table. And so it's Arne Anderson, a few other people, and Booker sitting on the left. So I walk over. I'm like, I'm going to go, this is open, just an open chair. So I go to Booker and I go, hey, is this seat open? And Booker looks at me and goes, nah. And I go. And I'm like, and in my head, I think he's just fucking with me.

I don't know. And so I sit down. Remember, I'm like 23, 24 years old. And I sit down. And Booker looks at me like he's in the middle of the ring on Raw. And he goes, I said no. And I just froze. And Arne Anderson Grimm's Booker's hand and goes, Booker, that's the new boy.

That's the new boy. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Dude, you, I still got a shit running down my leg because of it. Oh, man. You know, man. You got to urge your stripes. You got to earn your stripes.

I get it. I thought it was the coolest shit ever. I thought, I mean, you can remember I was coming. I was a fan. So I'm like, I'm coming. I'm going, Book of T. Just like, just like Trump. You're cool as hell once we, once we sat down.

And you know, yeah. Yeah. Like you say, man, I don't have a whole lot of guys, you know, out there with shoot interviews about me or anything like that. I don't have too many people that say a whole lot of negative stuff about Booker T. The ones that do say Booker T was an asshole is the ones that I told, man, you're a fucking asshole. You know, those are the guys that say Booker T wasn't a nice guy. I meet people, you know, many, many years later,

and the first thing I always ask is, was it a nice to you? And they go, man, you was cool, man. You was like the coolest dude in the world. And I learned that from my idol, here to my right, as well as over my shoulder here. Now right there, Muhammad Ali. And, you know, it doesn't cost you anything to be nice to people. But we're human too.

And sometimes I find myself in that human mode to war, just like, say, for instance, I'm eating and someone, you know, tick me off. I'm going to let them know, you're ticking me off here. But I'm always normally a nice guy as well as, you know, young guys. I'm always going to jig them a little bit, you know, like yourself coming up and just taking a seat, you know. Oh, yeah, of course. It's a memory that you remember for the rest of your life.

It is. No, it absolutely was too. But I really, but that's the thing is that, obviously from everything you were accomplished, you're one of the guys, you're part of the team. For me, I was a freaking, a month and a half, two months rather than nobody remembers anyway. And I got, I realized recently, I got thrown under the bus, like for bullshit. And actually not even thrown on the bus, a lie.

It was bullshit. It was funny when I was there, we were at some house show, and I went with, with Xbox and Stephen Regal, I drove with them. That's a rough crew to be hanging out with. I didn't know. And I'm going and I'm like, hell yeah, why not? And so I'm in the middle of, we're driving and Xbox goes, hey man, you want to, you want to hit, you want to hit this join? I go, yeah, why not? I'm not working. And he goes, I thought you were cool.

I'm like, great. So I'm smoked. And I'm at the house. I don't know which referee I ran into in the back, but he knew I was fucking blazed. And he ratted me out to Stephanie. Oh, man. That was the first part of it. And then she was just like, are you, you know, but she didn't care that I was, because I wasn't working.

I wasn't on the clock. And then I didn't say anything about who I was with. I didn't say anything. I didn't say a fucking word. And so I interviewed Xbox. This is two years ago. When it happened, it was about 20 years ago. But when X, Xbox, I interviewed two years ago.

And he goes, yes, Stephanie told me you ratted me out. I said, what? I ratted you out. I didn't even mention I was there with you. And I was like, but I never, I never fit in over there. I just from the from it just you know how it is it's like first of all I happen to agree when I listen to Jericho because I've been come I've been closer to Jericho when you listen to like I don't blame wrestlers for not wanting people to write for them and have dialogue and shit for the fuck is this kid from Los Angeles I've been in this business for a while I never took an offense to any of that shit I knew that it was it was fun it was cool but yeah it's it's it's tight man it's tight over there it's like you got it you got to crack in you know um that's that's one of it's one of it you know like you just said, you know, you went hung out with, you know, Xbox and I'll really go that for it. Just for a second.

That's all it takes in this business to find yourself caught up. Talk to people about that all the time. And they say, you know, who are you, who is your buddies with? You know, who'd you ride down the road with hang out with? You can count them on one hand over the 30-year career of people that I hung out with, you know. And I always say, you know, those, those little bitty things is what get you caught up in this business you got to be ultra focused if you want to make it to the next level in this business you having friends is not something um is i wouldn't say having friends it's not something you

want or something that you need but in this business um you got to be thinking about yourself yeah at the end of the day your family and in making it through this war and at the end of the day it's like jericho and i we weren't great friends uh when we came up through the game we were competing against each other. We want to be the best. Now we're real cool with each other. You know what I mean? Nothing but love. But when you're on the grind in this business, you better stay focused because there's so many distractions.

I tell the story. I was in Daytona Beach one day, and I was in a hotel with a bunch of guys. And then the cocaine came out. Like, let's get us party. And I'm like, guys, I'll meet you guys at the bar. You know what I mean? Because I knew that one moment could get me caught up and it could be over one one moment and I learned that from being in the back of that police car um um you know at at a young age one moment literally I was facing five to 99 years

in prison geez but isn't that the thing no book is in the fact that like it's that moment where there is that stuff that you can go back in the past and you go well if I could have changed that one particular moment that I wouldn't have gone to prison I wouldn't than that but on in but the hindsight of that is, yeah, but you wouldn't have really become who you are today had that not happened. I wouldn't change one thing as far as that goes in my life. I think prison saved me, actually. I met some really smart guys in prison, man, that was there. And they shouldn't have been, not saying that they was innocent or anything,

but they were, seemed like they was smart enough to know about it. And I learned so much that 18 months. that I was, I was, I was locked up. I really did. I learned about myself. And I knew I wanted better. I knew I wasn't the kid that was going to be on the corner, you know, drinking a 40 with his buddies and he was, you know, 40 years, 40, 50 years old still in that same corner.

I knew that. But there again, finding your way there is, is something that you really got to, you know, got to have working for you. For me, I always say when someone stick their hand out to you, you know, and you've been in that situation, opposed to thinking, yeah, I'm a sell out if I take that hand. You take that hand. And hopefully when someone is in that position, you can do the same with him.

That's what I was taught. But I got the name of Bruce Gassarch. He paid for me to go to wrestling school. You helped me get my first real car, my Z-28. He was a guy that gave me a help in hand and, you know, say, man, I'm going to help you out. You know what I mean? If you want to do this wrestling thing, I'm going to help you out. paid that money for me to go.

And I was like, wow, man, what a, what a dude? You know, can't judge anybody. You just got to look at life literally right in the eye and take it for what it is. I agree. I think it's a matter of not judging anybody, but also not judging the things that happened in your past because you never know how that's going to shape the future. I agree with you 100%. So a couple questions, I think that you've probably answered before,

but I got to know just for my own few. It's just a couple of quick ones. Who's your favorite person you've ever been in the ring with? Like a match-wise? Oh, Chris Benoit. Christopher. Nothing, nothing topped that for me. I've had a lot of great matches, singles matches.

But those matches were like, it was like real like spot, you know what I mean? Like gladiator stuff. Everything was like just like on the fly. It was just like it's real as intense as you could possibly feel it at certain times, you know, we would literally slow down the war you could hear nothing but the crowd and we're in the middle of the ring just listening to the crowd and just say

hey man don't move okay just stay right there we got them you know it's one of those moments you know so those those matches that Best of Seven series in WCW definitely put me on the map and made me believe that I could actually do this

yeah so what about what about best on who do you think the goat on the mic is all time you know you know people say rick flare you know and i like i love rick flare you know um but uh the rock it's nobody better than the rock uh i get rock that that that that that that mantle just because man he was dynamic uh everybody knew how good this guy was um and everybody knew how big you know you know he was gonna become outside of wrestling. So nobody better than

the rock. And what about greatest best, greatest WrestleMania match? Oh, man, I'm Steve Bo Savage. Ah, there you go. Yes. And I say that because that's what made me want to

be a professional wrestler that match with those guys went out there and it was just, man, it was just dynamite. It was just everything was explosive. Talking about guys that had like first, second, and third, sometimes fourth, fourth gear. Awesome.

I remember my brother and I, we first got in the business. We was working each other in Galvest in Texas, actually, at the Moody Civic Center. And we recreated that match, you know. And I was Steve Boat. My brother was Savage. And it was awesome, man, to try to do something like that. That's what made me want to be in the business. that's my favorite match of all time

and I always and I recently I hadn't so after I left WWE I took a break from watching wrestling for probably like 15 years until I started getting into Shmodown because it was just you know it's like I worked there saw how everything happened and I kind of know it just I was just kind of put off a little bit then I got

back into it started it started to when I got to the WB network I started to catch up on all the stuff that I had missed and people kept talking about Sean Michaels and the Undertaker being like the greatest wrestling match. It's a great match. It's a great match, but it ain't Steamboating Savage. It just isn't. There was something about that match.

So I watched that match at least two, two or three times a year. I watched that match. And I always, because of the storytelling. So when, did everybody talk to, even when he was in WCW, did everybody talk to Randy about that match? Like always, is he always, did people always talking about that match to him? I'm sure he's gotten a lot of questions. I know I asked him about it. It was a highlight for me, and he was telling me, you know, the dynamics that went into actually being able to create that. I working on the house shows, those guys pretty much put that thing together. I remember one match, it was on TV, and, man, it was so freaking awesome.

It was when a macho man came off the top rope with the bail on the saddle, just throat and throws. His laranics. Exactly, you know, but that match, if young people, young guys in the business, young girls in the business, just go back and watch that. And forget about the match for one moment. Just forget about the match for one moment and just watch the crowd. Try to feel for one moment, how can I try to recreate that?

How can I get to that point where the crowd is acting like that when I just walk to the ring because it seemed like a heavyweight fight, you know, between Ali and Frazier and the fans were nuts about what. what was going on. And when Savage went down, man, I always talk about being able to feel, being able to make that emotional connection for a tear to actually formulate in one's eye and roll down the cheek.

That's what that match created. And if young people can feel that, this business definitely can be special. It was so good. And I remember even when they were talking about that match on the A&E and A&E thing, and the way that they cut it was so funny. And Hogan's like, no, they weren't trying to steal our spotlight. And they cut the steamboat.

He was like, do we totally trying to steal us more? They did, man. To take it away from Hogan and Andre the way that they did, it was so, so special. But, all right, last question as far as wrestling before moving to some TV and stuff. Who do you think right now, any promotion, is the biggest star in wrestling? Well, I try not to look at guys like Roman Raines, okay, just because he's, he's set. he's a guy that we're going to always put

at the top as far as he's there but as far as guys that just popping up and really making a huge difference the way the business is being looked at and they're doing it from an old school perspective and that's MJF

you don't see you don't let's tell you right now the reason I say that is because we're not talking about any of his matches because you don't remember any of them. Right. And that's what good wrestlers, that's what they do. The intangibles. You wonder why you are so intrigued with this guy so much more than you are with everybody

else on the roster. And you really don't know what it is. It's those little bitty small things that is being done that goes quite, you know, well over your head. You just don't see them. It's like the wind. You can feel it, but you can't touch it. And that's what a guy like him, JF is bringing to the table. You think we'll ever see MJF in WWE, or you think he's an AEW lifer? No, man, I really like the way this kid is doing business and using the internet. Just like he said, he's going to, in 2024, he's going to start a bidding war that's never been seen before. That's, you know, putting my boss on notice that, hey, I'm just, I just work here.

I'm just an employee. This is a business at the end of the day. And I think of football players and basketball players thought once. that they would be on one team for their careers. They're thinking about making some money at the end of the day. And I think that's what this business has always been built on. It's about making money. I always hear the guys talk about going out there and having great matches.

That's cool all in all. If I had some great matches along the way in this business, that's cool. But I'm thinking about how much money I can make more than anything. Yeah. Especially when you had, like you said it before, It's about it's about you, but it's about family and it's about taking care of your family. And that's the main thing. All right, switching away from wrestling for a second.

Before we, before we jumped into the conversation here, I brought up to you. I said, hey, so what are you watching right now? You said, you said, Daredevil and you just finished Iron Fist. Did you start watching those because of any of the Marvel shows that are on now or because of Spider-Man? Or you just decided, hey, I just shows I wanted to watch for a while. You know what? It's not even shows that I want to watch or anything like that. I just found myself at home trying to figure out, man, I want to watch something,

but what do I want to watch? And then my wife would say, let's watch The Iron Fist. It's Marvel. I like action. And I started watching it. And I was like, man, this is, you know, really intriguing. I like the story. I like the action is okay, okay?

But I'm really off into the acting more so than just the action, just because I got a show reality. wrestling. I just did a piece with one of my, one of my, my, my, my wrestlers will all day. And actually, the theme of that piece that I did, it came from the Iron Fist. You've done that throughout your career, right? Whether it was the, the, the, the, the, Warriors, or a lot of, a lot of things, you've been such a movie fan that you've taken, you always, I've always tried, King Booker, I looked at, you know, the Pope and Forrest Whitaker, you know so I was I've always just been trying to figure out how to create yeah

more so than anything yeah so iron fist and then you watch dare devil but have you watched the Punisher yet no but I am on the episode where uh dare dare devil is uh um feuding with the Punisher so I'm going to get to the Punisher next you got to watch I'm just trying to figure out um how can I you know and the thing is I binge watch so I'll be through with you know season in, you know, less than a week. And they're a devil, they got three seasons, so I'll be with it for at least a couple more weeks. But I just love,

like I say, the story, the action, the production of it, as well as trying to figure out how I could use it. Yeah. As well as use it with my students, because I think with wrestling, the acting has been taken so much away from the wrestler, the action.

be able to go out there and really try to enhance, try to see exactly how good can I get. I always knew when I was playing the King Booker role, I was thinking about Hollywood. I was thinking about a producer or a director saying, man, I got to get this guy a call. He's good. You know what I mean? So for me, to be able to use that, they're again for my students to be able to enhance their knowledge of the acting with professional wrestling, which is more than 50%. they're going to need that.

Yeah, and I think that it's a smart thing you do when you're blending the theatrical with the performance and all that. So when you're watching, so Matt Sarah, I don't know if you, if you know Matt. The Terra Sarah. Matt is Matt and I, very similar to you and I, Matt, where you and I kind of connected again through Schmowdown, Matt was watching a lot of the, like the movie content that I did, and then we just started to become buddies. And similar to you, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's.

such a big movie fan, right? And so what he does, and he's traveling all the time for UFC or whatever he's doing, and you're traveling. So when you're traveling, are you watching constantly watching movies and TV and taking those notes, but also just entertainment as well? Because you're a big fight fan too. So how do you balance it out?

What are you watching when you're on the plane? I'm actually on the switch. Oh, are you? Playing the Witcher, you know, playing some golf or something like that. Yeah, yeah. I'm a big gamer. I've always been a gamer. I'm forever.

But again, I'm always on the road. And UFC is something that I love. Boxing is something I really have a passion for. Keith Derman, Mario Badios coming up this Saturday night. I cannot wait for that. But yeah, man, I'm always linked in because the show. I'm always trying to get stories. I'm always writing something.

I always got my book with me, you know, my little composition notebook, writing down something because there's always something happening, especially in the sports world. And for me, to be able to make the transition from professional wrestling to broadcasting, you know, being able to talk about something that I really love, being able to be a part of something that I've never thought I would be able to be able to be part of like, you know, I'm in the press room, press swam for the U.S.C. fights, you know,

talking to Dana White. You're stupid. I'm like, wait a minute. How did this happen? But I remember Frank Sinatra being in Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali fight, and he was a photographer. And I always say, man, that's what I want to be like. One of the most famous people in the world, Frank Sinatra, he's got a camera taking pictures, you know.

So to be the regular guy for me is so for. and awesome. Yeah, who's your favorite boxer of all time, not including Ali, not including Ali? Not including Ali. Man, everybody ranks so low under him, but of course, I would probably go to Van to Holyfield. Me too. Me too.

A Holyfield, you know what? The fight that got me for Holyfield that I realized, I mean, I was always a fan of Holyfield after the, with the Buster Douglas stuff and him coming up, but it was high school. I watched him fight. I don't know if you remember this fight. I already know. I already know. Which one? Dwight, Muhammad, Quarry. No. But that's a very

fight, too. That was amazing fight. Burt Cooper. Okay. Bert Cooper. Yeah, he almost lost. He should have lost that fight. He should have lost that fight. He should have lost that fight. Burk Cooper actually, the referee saved Evander Holyfield in that fight. That's how much I know about boxing. Yeah, man. He landed on the ropes.

He landed on the ropes and he should have been, he should have knocked him down. And I was, yeah. And I remember, but the thing is, there was a couple things that Advander said in that that made me fall in love with them immediately as a fighter. He was one of the one of my biggest problems with boxing for a long time and still continued is that the way that the unlike the UFC where there's a ranking system you got to fight the number two number three contender we'll negotiate and do all that but that's one it's one division it's one system that's who's in that's who's in line with boxing it's like nah I'm never going to fight the number one contender I'm never going to do that holyfield's like I'm fighting who is

in contention that's what I'm doing I'm the champion that's what I'm going to fight and whoever it was he was supposed to fight wasn't Tyson at that point but was somebody else dropped out of the fight at the last minute, and then Burke Cooper just stepped in. And for the first time in his career, he was knocked down. And Holyfield just came back and fought. And then the Riddick Bo fight in the first fight in the 10th round, still, I think, the greatest boxing round in history. If you watch that boxing, if you watch that round, anybody listening,

watched the 10th round of Bo versus Holyfield won. And it's insane. It's like something out of a Rocky movie. And yeah, so he's outside of Holly, he's my favorite fighter for sure as well. Definitely. I mean, just because his, his, His true grit. I mean, he would bite down on his mouthpiece.

He wasn't the biggest dog in the fight. But, man, his heart, man, was big as big as all of Texas. And I swear, man, yeah, Van de Holyfield, actually, I've had conversations with him. And he loves talking about when he was in the Olympics more than anything. And an awesome, awesome fighter, yeah. I was going to ask you, so you've had a chance to, did you ever interview him or you just kind of shot the show with him? No, I interviewed Avanda Holyfield. And it was a great interview.

Of course, I've got a chance to hang out with him a little bit, you know, in certain sections. But to actually talk to him, for me, of course, everybody wanted to talk about the Mike Tyson bite. But for me, I like taking guys like that to a place to where they really feel something. And I tell you, talking about the Olympics and all of those guys that came up out of the Olympics with him, Man, it had to be a special, special time in boxing for someone like him. Yeah. All right. Last thing to talk to you, but before I let you go here, as we both mentioned, both boxing fans, both major Rocky fans, right?

So, and I made a prediction in the beginning of this, and I said Rocky 3 was your favorite. Was I right? Yeah, he was right. You know, but just because I love the role of Mr. T. Mr. T. He played a hell of a role. It's the best role I think I've ever seen Mr. T actually play. he was so convincing in that role as well. Again, just a story of it was awesome as far as Mick saying,

look, man, this guy knock you into Maro Rock. You know what I mean? It's my job. It's my job. You know, so when you said, I've been fighting setups. As you said, Mickey, I've been fight setups. So for me, it wasn't setups. It wasn't set-ups.

I was going to try to you. I do. I watch, I can't even tell you how many times I watched it. We did a whole, my daughter and I just started watch, like, rewatching. This is where I said, I just, I love my kids more than anything in the world, but I fell in love with my daughter even more when she was like, Dad, I want to watch Rocky. I was like, you sit down.

You can have what you got, any ice cream you want, what you just said, beautiful. And we watch, we're, we're in Rocky five right now. It's brutal, but we're watching it. You know, what I like, you know, the whole Rocky series. All of them had different flavor.

Yeah, all the way up to the end. They've all had different flavors. And a lot of people say, I didn't like this one. I didn't like that one. But for me, the Rocky franchise has been one of the only franchises that has literally played out to the end to where you could go. Man, that was pretty awesome. You're not looking at how good the next one was opposed to how bad the last one was. You're not looking at it like that.

the series actually captured something for everybody all the way to the end. I think, and I don't think we've seen the end of it. No, are you excited for C3. Well, Three comes out in November or December. So is that one of the ones that you got, you'll be at the theater watching? You know what? I don't know if I'll be at the theater watching it, but I definitely will be watching it immediately when it come out. Nowadays, they've got this stuff where you can just sit at home.

I'm with you, man. If I can watch it at home in my office, I'd rather do that. Um, all right, book, tell them where to, where, so people want to see reality wrestling, uh, and they want to check out Hall of Fame. Where, where do they go? Oh, man, just go to the, uh, the YouTube channel, reality of wrestling slash YouTube. Um, you can catch Hall of Fame on there on a weekly basis. Uh, you can catch all of the, uh, reality of wrestling shows as well as, you know, content that we just put up on a, on a, on a regular as well. And of course, you can find me on Twitter at Booker T5X. Um, that's, uh, the word five X. as well as you can catch me. No, no, that's 5X on Twitter. That's right. That's my bad.

Of course, Instagram. Same thing, Booker T5X. We're just doing our thing, man. Of course, like I say, over this WrestleMania weekend, get ready because reality wrestling is going to be doing some big things. And you're going to be able to see that as well on Fight TV. So make sure you're checking out your fight TV and check out the listings when reality of wrestling class with world class pro in Dallas, Texas.

it's going down. Sherry Mortell Classic. First ever, the inaugural. Sherry Mortel Classic is going to be going down as well. So, guys, check me out. I'm always around. And I will put the links to reality wrestling in the link of this description. So you can go and you can check that as well.

And I'll put a little eye card there also. So you can just click on it and make it easier for it and go check out book. And the biggest question of all that I didn't ask is, when's Booker T coming back to the Shmo down, man? What are we going to see? I'm getting, I'm brushing up. I'm fresh enough. You know, one thing about this thing, man, preparation is the only luck you ever going to have when you're messing around with the Smodown.

So I'll be ready. I'll be ready. The summer is coming. The summer of tea is coming. I love it. Ladies and gentlemen, he is the great Booker T. Make sure you check out the route of wrestling. And book, thank you so much for sitting down and talk with me, man.

I look forward to doing it again. Oh, you got it. All right, guys. So check it out. And once again, please subscribe to the channel. Show a little bit of class. Well, you just announce that's all we're asking for here. Do that.

Make sure you do that. Check out the Patreon. Do the whole thing. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere. Podcasts are found. For Booker T, I'm Christian Horan. See you next time.