Many prominent personalities grew up and made their careers in Houston. Among the most famous is Booker T, a world-renowned wrestler. Throughout his career, he has repeatedly risen to the top of fame, and with the same speed he has fallen to the bottom. He was admired and despised. He was an 11-time WCW Tag Team Champion, and as a solo wrestler, he became a six-time World Champion. His name was twice inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. The story of Booker T is worth a whole movie. Read more on i-houston.
A whirlwind of events on the way to fame
Robert Booker Tio Huffman Jr. was born on March 1, 1965, in Plain Dealing, Louisiana. The future champion was the eighth and youngest child in the family. His father died when little Robert was only 10 months old. After this loss, the mother and her children moved to Texas. The future wrestler’s fate brought him to Houston.
He spent his childhood and youth in the South Park neighborhood. Life put him in such a situation that he was constantly forced to defend his rights and fight for a place in the sun. This had its advantages, as the boy gained fighting skills. The further he grew up, the more he liked it. He became successful in street youth fights.
The mother did not like her son’s fame, and she often forbade him to go out, even locking him in the house. But unfortunately, his mother died during an unsuccessful surgery. At the time, Robert was only 13 years old. He and his next-oldest sister were left alone in their mother’s old house. The house was disconnected from water, gas and electricity for non-payment of utility bills. The children were supported by Booker’s temporary part-time jobs.
When the social services became interested in them, they had to choose between an orphanage and moving in with their older sister. Robert Booker chose the second option. All these factors made the young man even angrier. He completely dropped out of school, attending it only to find out where the next party was and where he could buy drugs. His sister did not have the same influence on him as his mother. Robert was quite a strong and successful boy among girls. At the age of 17, he became a father. But Booker did not feel responsible for the future of his child, did not come to his senses, and continued to lead a sinfully depraved life.
To have any money at all, Robert Booker had to work. He worked part-time at a local restaurant. Here he became friends with another daredevil like himself. It was his friend who encouraged him and several other young men in their circle to commit a crime: robbing a fast food joint. Their first robbery was a success. So they continued their robberies, inspired by success and blinded by easy money. This could not go on indefinitely. So in 1987, the gang was arrested. Under pressure from the investigator, R. Booker entered into a plea bargain and received a five-year sentence.
The young man spent only 19 months in prison and was released on parole. But there was no reason to be happy about his freedom: he had no housing, no money and no prospects. With such a biography, he was not hired for a decent job, so he was forced to work in the most menial jobs.
The beginning of his wrestling career
In 1989, his older brother Lash found him. He was already known in wrestling as Stevie Ray. So he suggested that Robert attend a wrestling school. The young man gladly agreed, but to study at the famous school offered by his brother, he needed as much as 4,000 dollars, which, of course, he did not have. R. Booker was upset, and his boss saw it. At the time, he was working as a loader for a warehouse company. He began to ask him about his depressed state. After the young man told him, the boss agreed to pay for his training.
Robert finally found himself and felt at home in the fight. He had good physical fitness and street fighting skills. This allowed him to quickly become a favorite of his teachers. He successfully completed the wrestling course. After that, his brother Lash offered to work with him in the Western Wrestling Alliance. After it closed, both brothers turned to Texas professional wrestling. They later joined the Dallas-based Global Wrestling Federation, where they formed their own team known as the Ebony Experience. In their debut championship, they managed to win it.
A tandem of two brothers
Despite his success in the ring, Robert Booker had to work to earn his daily bread. Traveling from Houston to Dallas and back took up a lot of his time. This lasted until 1993, when the brothers signed a contract with the World Championship Wrestling. Then both brothers started working in tandem, creating the Harlem Heat team. All the journey was worth it, as the duo became 10-time WCW Tag Team Champions.
Swimming on their own
Having won all the possible team trophies, brother Lash advised Robert to continue his wrestling career in individual competitions. His solo journey was also successful. It was during this period of performances that Robert took the pseudonym Booker T. In 2000, he reached the wrestling Olympus, winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Together with the championship, he became the first black man to win such a title since 1992. Subsequently, when WCW was reformed into the World Wrestling Federation, Booker T became the last titleholder of this association.
But Booker did not stop there. After grandiose reforms in the wrestling industry, he continued to perform as a WWE wrestler. This was the apogee of his wrestling career. He went into the ring with such famous wrestlers as Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Triple H and Ric Flair. Despite his age, he was able to adequately demonstrate his skills gained over the years of training and performances.
Having gained the fame of invincible here, he took part in the King of the Ring tournament in 2006. He changed his pseudonym to King Booker and managed to win the tournament. This event happened in 2007. At that time, Booker T announced his retirement. But after a few years of lull, he returned to the ring in 2011 to take part in the Royal Rumble tournament. In 2013, his name was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for his individual wrestling, and in 2019, he and his brother were again honored with the induction of their names into the Hall of Fame for their joint achievements in the Harlem Heat.
The end of his fighting career
Although Booker ended his career as a fighter, he did not give up wrestling. After retirement, he became a commentator for WWE SmackDown and later became the company’s general manager. Not satisfied with such minor roles, Booker, already accustomed to cameras and fame, became a coach in the popular WWE Tough Enough reality series. After that, he opened his own wrestling school, Reality of Wrestling. There, he personally shared his experience and nuances of wrestling. Despite his respectable age as a wrestler, R. Booker is in pretty good shape and active. He continues to develop his school, motivating his students by example.
Personal life
As we have already mentioned, Booker became a father at the age of 17. His girlfriend lost custody of him after the birth of his son Brandon. R. Booker was in prison at the time. Therefore, his son was placed in a foster home. In prison, Booker was able to reassess his views on life and values, so he made every effort to get his son back. He succeeded when Brandon was already 5 years old. Then he raised his son alone.
For a long time, Booker was not in a relationship. But that all changed in 2003, when he met Sharmell, a Miss Black America and a female wrestler. The couple married on February 5, 2005. They had twins, a boy and a girl. They even performed together as King Booker and Queen Sharmell.
Booker T is currently the most decorated wrestler in WCW history. He has managed to win 21 titles, including a record six WCW World Championships. At the same time, he became the first African-American to hold such a title.