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As his Reality of Wrestling passion project continues to grow with over 50 new TV markets in October and its debut in Las Vegas next month, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T sits down with PWInsider.com to discuss Reality of Wrestling, lessons he's learned that he now imparts on others, the success of ROW alumni, memories of the Sportatorium and much more.
Mike Johnson: Happy to be talking to WWE Hall of Famer Book T, who's promotion, the Reality of Wrestling, will be coming to Las Vegas for the first time on Friday, November 19th, as ROW presents one night in Vegas at the MGM Grand Center Premier Ballroom as part of the Storm Classic Global Open and Invitational weekend. Say that five times fast. Tickets are on sale now at www.RealityofWrestling.com. The complete live event is going to stream live on the Reality of Wrestling YouTube channel for free. Reality of Wrestling has had an busy, forward-moving 2021. They have launched a number of new television markets across the country ad now they are moving for the first time into the Las Vegas market. The linchpin of all this is indeed King Booker himself, Booker T. Thanks for joining us. Let's talk about Reality of Wrestling in Las Vegas. How did this all come about and why is now the right time to bring Reality of Wrestling to "Sin City"?
Booker T: Oh man, it's perfect time. This is something that's been in the works for about 17 years, trying to get my guys to that level where we can actually travel the world and actually show the world Texas wrestling and what Texas wrestling is all about. This is a showcase for my best wrestlers. Guys that's been with Reality of Wrestling for quite some time. I thought to let these guys show exactly how good they are to the world. And it's going to be a celebration for those guys, as well as just to show Reality of Wrestling is totally on the move. Like you said, having a television deal on Roku as well as right now, TV where people can see it on a regular is really, really cool. But this show, like you said, is going to be streaming on our Reality Wrestling YouTube channel. But not just streaming, it's going to be streaming for free. We want the world to actually get a chance to see what Reality of Wrestling is all about so they can get on board. So, we can really take Reality of Wrestling to the next level.
Mike Johnson: The Reality of Wrestling championship match that's been announced for the show is Will Allday, who's built quite a name for himself over the last year against Cam Cole. Talk a little bit about Will and Cam and why you decided that's the best main event for this show in Vegas?
Booker T: Well, one thing we focus on at Reality of Wrestling is our stars, but not just our stars, our young stars. Will Allday and Cam Cole, those are two guys that came to me and didn't have any wrestling experience at all. They came to one of my fantasy camps and then to see these two guys grow to the point to where they are known all over the country is really, really awesome. And to display, there again, what we try to teach at Reality of Wresting is the small little bitty things. Let these guys show what they have learned in such a short amount of time, just to show that we can compete with anyone, even with the small budget that we have. We have some of the best wrestlers in the country and Cam Cole and Will Allday are just two of them.
Mike Johnson: You mentioned getting to show the world Texas wrestling. Obviously, you started in Texas. So, I'll hit you with one that you probably don't get asked a lot about. First memories of wrestling in the Sportatorium for Global Wrestling and being part of the history of that building, which sadly no longer exists?
Booker T: Man, Global Wrestling Federation, definitely a building near and dear to my heart, 10,000 Industrial Boulevard in Dallas, Texas. I remember getting booed out of the building the first time my brother and I worked there until I did the Spinaroonie and then everything changed and it was onward and upward from that point on. Just working with some of the great guys like Black Bart, John Mantel, Maniac Mike Davis, who taught my brother and I so much, it was an experience. It was almost like on the job training, working at the Global Federation. And I tell you, that's where a lot of my foundation comes from, working around those guys, peeking out of the curtain, seeing exactly what worked and what didn't work. And I tell you, that's what Reality of Wrestling is all about.
Mike Johnson: You bring up Mike Davis and that's a veteran that anybody who really knows wrestling knows and respects, but he's not a name that got a lot of national exposure other than the short time in Global, where a lot of people probably remember "Moon Rock" and some of the silly stuff that he got to do. What were some of the lessons that names like he and Black Bart imparted on you and Stevie Ray that you take to heart and still try to pass to the next generation today?
Booker T: I think the confidence more than anything, mainly like David, he saw something in my brother and I, and he tried to enhance it. He tried to make it better. He always told us we were going to make it to that next level. One of my students, Sammy Guevara, who works with AEW in one of his first matches, actually his first match, he was so scared that he was going to mess up. And I said, "If that's the only thing you do is mess up, you're going to be okay. You'll figure it out." I think that right there, working with Mike Davis, him pushing me to that next level and really one of the main reasons my brother and I made it to WCW. I'm trying to do that same thing with my guys right now.
Mike Johnson: Just yesterday, Xavier Woods won the WWE King of the Ring tournament. You've had a number of chapters in your career. King Booker was such a huge part of your WWE run. What advice would you give to Xavier to take that King of the Ring win and make it his own so that he can use it as a springboard for his own future?
Booker T: Man, winning King of the Ring is one of those things to where you have an opportunity and I always say, "When you've got an opportunity, you got to take advantage of it." It's like a moment. It could be there and the next minute it could be gone. So, Xavier Woods has a chance to create what people are going to remember from him being King. There again, he's definitely going to have to step out the box, but I don't think that's something that Xavier Woods is ever had problem doing is stepping outside of the box. You got to be able to laugh at yourself. I don't think Xavier Woods has a problem with that as well. Such as I didn't have a problem with laughing at myself. So, I think he's going to be okay. We'll see exactly if he lives up to the role of King Booker.
Mike Johnson: Now you've had a lot of moments where you've had pressure on you and you've had to live up to the pressure that's put on you, whether it's the WCW World Championship for the first time, or even the TV title, where you have your first singles run, going to WWE, where it's a completely different animal from WCW. When it comes to pressure as an athlete and as a performer, what's the best part and the worst part of knowing that when you walk out that curtain it's do or die?
Booker T: I mean, it's pressure in a lot of ways, of course, but I think when you're talented, I think that's just something that comes along with being talented is pressure. Whether you're going to go out there and do great, or whether you're going to flop and fall on your face. But for me, I always relished having the pressure of going out and proving just how good I was. That's the one thing I always tell my students at Reality of Wrestling, "You got to know if you are better than the guy standing across from you. You got to know if you can match up with that guy standing across from you as well." So for me, that's never been a problem, going out and performing at a very high level, because wrestling was something that I felt like I did very well and I could compete with anybody in the world.
Mike Johnson: You mentioned Sammy Guevara earlier as one of your successful students. Another one, Rok-C, recently won the Ring of Honor World Women's Championship. Thoughts on her ascension in pro wrestling and how she's done since she first started training with you at a very young age.
Booker T: Yeah, there again, Rok-C, she's been part of Reality of Wrestling since she was about 10 years old. Okay? And then she becomes the youngest Reality of Wrestling champion after only a few months of training. She's a prodigy. She's definitely one that's going to have a really, really bright future. And she's representing Reality of Wrestling to the utmost. I couldn't choose anyone better from the female perspective to represent Reality of Wresting. And she's doing such an awesome job. And that's what Reality of Wresting is all about. It's a breeding ground. It's a stepping stone for young guys, young girls, to get to that next level. We are the AAA of professional wrestling. That's what we want to be, where guys, if they want to get to that next level and know exactly what it takes to get to that next level, come to Reality of Wrestling and be a part of it. And hopefully we can get you there.
Mike Johnson: Talking about Reality of Wrestling, it was just about a month ago that the newer TV deals with all the newer 50 different markets, including Las Vegas, have started to roll out between action and other distribution outlets. You've done a lot in your career as a wrestler,but how hard has it been to build the footprint of Reality of Wrestling and get it to become something beyond just a training center as something that's local for Houston?
Booker T: It's been really hard. My wife and I, we put a lot, a lot of time in the Reality of Wrestling, but it's a labor of love. We're a company where we say, "We crawl before we walk. We walk before we run. We run before we start jumping up a top rope." So it's been a process with Reality of Wrestling trying to get there, but when we get there, we want it to be ready. We just didn't want to be a company that started and the next week we got TV and the next week we're out of business. We didn't want to be one of those companies. We want to start slow, learn it properly. The one really, really cool thing about Reality of Wrestling is all of the talent are guys that started with Reality of Wrestling and they've grown. And they've grown to the point to where they can teach the next generation. And hopefully that's the motto, the next generation can then teach next generation. Hopefully this thing will go on well beyond my years here on this earth, if we do the thing right.
Mike Johnson: The show's going to take place as part of the Storm Classic Global Open and Invitational weekend in Las Vegas. Why was partnering with the Storm Classic a good fit for Reality of Wrestling?
Booker T: Man, Matt Storm, he's a Reality of Wrestling loyal man. He's a faithful Reality of Wrestling soldier. And he wanted to partner with us, not us wanting to partner with him. He wanted to actually give us a chance at letting the world see Reality of Wresting from a grand perspective, MGM Grand perspective, so to speak. And let's just say, give credit where credit is due. All of this happened because of Matt Storm and Storm Classic. It'll give Reality of Wrestling a piece of the action, our champagne wishes, our little bit of a caviar dreams, doing something big. And hopefully this is just the beginning. We've got another event with Storm Classic in Galveston, Texas coming up on the 30th of this month as well. So, we got a lot going on and just trying to expand and let independent wrestling grow, because I think independent wrestling right now is hotter than it's ever been. Even when I was at the peak of my career, and it's just so many young people out there trying to be a part of this. I just want to thank Matt and the Storm Classic for giving us this opportunity.
Mike Johnson: I was there in New York City at Madison Square Garden the night you were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. I've never asked anyone who's been enshrined into the Hall this before, but I wonder about this. How nervous are you going out there to give that speech versus going out there to perform in front of the fans, given you're going to kind of be Booker the person and be Booker Huffman and talk about your life versus being Booker T the performer. Is there a level of nervousness to kind of go out there and accept such a huge honor from the company?
Booker T: Of course. I must say I was always nervous. I was always afraid to walk out of that curtain. My palms would always sweat. Every match, that happened to me. Every time I've walked on stage to speak at a speaking engagement, my palms are sweating. I'm nervous. I'm somewhat afraid, but I try to use it and make it work for me. Of course, the stories you're telling, you want to try to be funny. You want to try to be witty, but if that stuff just doesn't come naturally, it's not going to come. But for me, I've always found my comfort zone being in front of the camera. And I've always been able to take myself to a certain place to where I was comfortable enough to be able deliver whatever it was I was doing. But that's what I say, pressure, it could be your friend, but then again, it could be worst enemy.
Mike Johnson: You had two amazing autobiographies, My Rise to Wrestling and then before that From Prison To Promise, which I think is one of the best books ever written about or by a professional wrestler about their life before wrestling and all the obstacles and trials and tribulations they went through on a personal level. Do you think there's a third book? I feel like there's still more to be said about the rest of your life. Would you want to do a third book about your life?
Booker T: Man, of course we're going to be doing another book. I mean, of course, Reality of Wrestling growing as big as it's getting with me being one of the few black entrepreneurs in the wrestling business from a promoter standpoint, I think there's still another story that'll be told.
Mike Johnson: Well, we look forward to that, but before we get to Booker T putting pen to paper again, next month, Reality of Wrestling will return to live action. Live on YouTube as Booker T and the stars of Reality of Wrestling invade the MGM Grand Conference Center Premier Ballroom from "Sin City" in Las Vegas, as part of the Storm Classic Global Open and Invitational weekend. You can get tickets right now at realityofwrestling.com. Sir, it has been a pleasure speaking to you. We look forward to seeing how the show goes. You have an open invite to come back anytime you want to talk about Reality of Wrestling or anything else over the course of your storied career, it would be our pleasure to have you. And we wish you and everyone at Reality of Wrestling nothing but the best.
Booker T: Awesome. Hopefully after the show, you can have me back on. You can tell me if you like it or not.
Mike Johnson: Sounds good to me.
Booker: Awesome.
Mike: All right, everybody, we got out of this without a shucky shucky quack quack moment [Booker laughs] or maybe we didn't. Booker, very much a pleasure. We wish you and the family, nothing but the best. Thank you so much for the time.
Booker T: Thank you. Be good.
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