Booker T WWE
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Booker T - World Wrestling Entertainment After WCW was bought by the WWF in March 2001, Booker T originally appeared as a face. However, he turned heel during The Invasion storyline as a senior member of The Alliance. After the Alliance disbanded following the 2001 Survivor Series, he remained a heel. In December 2001, Booker T joined forces with Vince McMahon and The Boss Man and feuded with Stone Cold Steve Austin. After Booker T cost Austin a match against Chris Jericho for the WWE Undisputed Championship at Vengeance 2001, Austin gained revenge by attacking Booker T in a grocery store, humiliating him by covering him in food. Booker T won the WWE World Tag Team Championships for an eleventh time, this time with Test. In addition, he held the WWE Hardcore Championship twice in May 2002. When the WWE roster was split into two groups, Booker T was drafted to RAW. Booker T joined the WWE version of the nWo in 2002, but was thrown out of the group by Shawn Michaels, thus turning face. He formed a successful tag team with Goldust, another enemy of the nWo and won the World Tag Team Championships. The duo engaged in comedic skits based on Siskel and Ebert, where they would "review" films such as "The Scorpion King" (starring The Rock), or would have Booker T dressed in some ridiculous outfit. By 2003, Booker T's popularity had soared and he amicably separated from Goldust in order to pursue the World Heavyweight Championship. In February 2003 he eliminated The Rock to win a battle royal for the number one contendership, granting him a title shot at WrestleMania XIX. Several weeks before WrestleMania, the incumbent champion, Triple H, cut a controversial promo on Booker T in order to gain heat. Triple H downplayed Booker T's WCW success, pointing out that the WCW Championship had been held by non-wrestlers like Vince Russo and actor David Arquette. He implied that Booker T, as a black wrestler, would never win a world championship in WWE. Booker T went on to lose to Triple H at WrestleMania, falling victim to a botched Pedigree. Booker T remained on RAW for another year, trading the WWE Intercontinental Championship with Christian and winning the World Tag Team Championships a third time, this time with Rob Van Dam. On March 22, 2004 he was traded to SmackDown! along with The Dudley Boyz in exchange for Triple H. On SmackDown!, Booker T quickly established himself as a heel again by disparagingly referring to SmackDown! as the "minor leagues". He first ruffled the feathers of then WWE champion Eddie Guerrero. He then feuded with former partner Rob Van Dam, then with The Undertaker in a feud which saw him utilize voodoo magic in order to try and overcome his "supernatural" foe. Later Booker immersed himself in a feud with John Cena, winning the vacant WWE United States Championship. Eventually, a Best-of-Five series of matches was booked to determine the undisputed United States champion, which Cena won back in the fifth match at No Mercy 2004. On October 21, 2004, SmackDown! general manager Theodore Long placed Booker T in a six man tag team match with Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio against John "Bradshaw" Layfield, René Duprée and Kenzo Suzuki. Bradshaw expected Booker T to betray his partners, but instead Booker T pinned Bradshaw, this turning face once again. Booker T faced Bradshaw for the WWE Championship at the 2004 Survivor Series on November 14, but lost after he was hit in the head with the championship belt. In March 2005, Booker T signed a two-year contract extension with WWE, quelling rumors that his retirement was imminent. Booker T's wife Sharmell was soon re-introduced to SmackDown! and became his valet, leading to a feud with Kurt Angle, who began stalking Sharmell. Angle referred to Sharmell as a "gutter slut", claiming that he "liked it". The feud ended when Booker T defeated Angle at Judgement Day 2005. In July 2005 Booker T began a feud with Christian, who he defeated at The Great American Bash. On the October 20th edition of SmackDown!, Booker T was placed in a match against Chris Benoit for the WWE United States Championship. He won the match due to an unseen assist from Sharmell. Although Booker T is believed to have become a heel, he had yet to turn due to him being unaware of his wife's doings. On the following edition of SmackDown!, General Manager Theodore Long showed footage of Sharmell interfering in Booker T's matches. Later Booker T and Sharmell went to apologize to Benoit and give him a rematch, but instead they both attacked Benoit, officially turning heel. Booker then boast that he had been fully aware of what Sharmell had been doing and had been playing dumb to fool everyone. On November 25, 2005 Booker T fought against Benoit for the United States Championship. Booker T was stripped from the belt by Theodore Long, because of the confusion of who won since they pinned each other at the same time. Long decided to put Benoit and Booker against each other in a best of seven series, just like the one the two had in their WCW days. The two met at Survivor Series for the first match for the vacant United States Championship, which Booker T won. He increased his lead to 2-0 during a special live episode of SmackDown!. On December 9, 2005, an episode of SmackDown!, Booker T increased his lead 3-0. At Armageddon 2005, in a must win match for Chris Benoit, Booker T tapped out to the Crippler Crossface, making the series 3-1. At a house show in White Plains, NY on December 26, 2005, Booker T strained his groin muscle, which will reportedly take four to six weeks to heal. Booker T was scheduled to face Chris Benoit in Match 5 of the Best of Seven Series at the SmackDown! tapings the following night. At the beginning of the show, general manager Theodore Long said that Booker would have to forfeit. Both Booker and Benoit protested (Benoit not wanting a cheap victory). Booker managed to persuade Long to allow him to choose a stand-in for the match. After shooting down Orlando Jordan's request, Booker selected Randy Orton as a stand-in. Benoit claimed victory over Orton via disqualification, due to interference from Sharmell. In Match 6, taped on January 3rd, Benoit again beat Orton via disqualification, this time from Orlando Jordan after Jordan promised to rise to the occasion earlier that night. This tied the series at 3 matches apiece. In the last contest, March 7, on January 13(Taped January 10) Randy Orton once again acted as a substitute, pinning Chris Benoit following Booker T hitting the latter with the United States Title Belt giving Booker the series and the championship. Orton shook Booker's hand after the win but then informed Booker he "owed me one," presuambly with a future title shot. At WWE No Way Out, Booker T lost his U.S. Title to Chris Benoit after tapping out to the Crippler Crossface. He tried to back out at the start and forfeit the title, but Benoit called him a coward and the match proceeded. On the February 24, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, Booker sat at commentary for a match between Boogeyman and the recently released Chad Dick and James Dick. After Boogeyman won the match , he proceeded to try and get to Booker, but the Bookman and his wife Sharmell hopped over the barrier and escaped through the crowd. Boogeyman proceeded to throw a sack of worms over the announce table. On the March 10, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, it was announced that Booker T will be wrestling Boogeyman at Saturday Night's Main Event on March 18. On a March 17th 2006 edition of SmackDown!, he was in the middle of a match when Boogeyman's music and smoke filled the arena. Sharmell, who had been so scared she dressed in a beekeeper outfit given to her by Booker T to deflect any worm baths, hid under the ring as Booker T looked for his assailant. Booker T then hid under the ring himself, only to find the Boogeyman was underneath. Both escaped with noticeable "worm" stains, and in total shock. On March 24, 2006, on Smackdown!, Booker T was forced to sign a contract by GM Theodore Long that would make him and a 'mystery partner' wrestle against the Boogeyman at Wrestlemania 22. After signing the contract, Long revealed that the mystery partner would be none other than Sharmell. On April 2, 2006, on Wrestlemania, Booker T and his partner, Sharmell, lost to the Boogeyman. When the Boogeyman kissed Sharmell with a mouth full of worms, sending her screaming backstage. After that, Boogeyman hit a huge chokebomb on Booker T and got the win. Booker T announced on the April 7, 2006 Smackdown! that he and his wife had taken out a restraining order on the Boogeyman. However, later that night, when Booker was facing newcomer Gunner Scott in a match, the Boogeyman's music hit, which caused Booker to be distracted. This allowed Scott to roll him up for the pin and the victory. The two are currently in the midst of a rivalry with Booker recently hiring Finlay to take on Scott with the latter getting pinned following Booker's interference. In a rematch on Smackdown Booker would defeat him thanks to Sharmell tripping Scott. In tag match several weeks afterward Booker with his partner Finlay were beaten by Benoit and Scott when Gunnar surprised Booker with a Crucifix and pinned him yet again. On the April 21, 2006 Smackdown!, Booker T defeated Matt Hardy in the first round of the latest King of the Ring tournament. He was set to face Kurt Angle in the semi-finals, however it was reported on WWE.com that Angle had suffered a cracked rib at the hands of Mark Henry, and could not compete in the match. Therefore, Booker received a bye and has advanced to the finals. On May 8 2006, it was reported on WWE.com that Booker T and Batista got into a fight during the shooting of the Summerslam commercial. Pictures were later revealed on WWE.com allowing fans to view the injuries. At first fans believed this fight was worked, as Batista was recovering from an injury suffered at the hands of Mark Henry and would be returning to the ring, possibly starting a feud with Booker T shortly thereafter. Contrary to the fans' beliefs, the fight was born out of a real-life disagreement between the two, with Booker T claiming that Batista was being disrespectful to the more experienced members of the WWE Roster. Batista has denied showing disrespect in any way, shape or form. However, both have agreed to disagree, claiming that the scuffle would not get in the way of their careers and promising to wrestle as professionally as possible, despite the fact that both have claimed that they would never be friends. If used as a wrestling angle, this will mark fourth time a significant real-life feud has been utilized as a storyline in the WWE. Others have been the Hogan-Vince McMahon feud, the Goldberg-Chris Jericho feud, and the Edge-Matt Hardy feud. On May 21, 2006 at Judgement Day 2006 Booker T defeated Bobby Lashley to become the King of the Ring. As he was being crowned however, he was speared into the throne by Lashley. He has also changed his name to King Booker, Without The T. Booker T WWE |
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