A charismatic Superstar acquired during the WCW purchase in 2001, Booker T was the top babyface in Ted Turner's company when it went out of business and its heavyweight and United States champion. He was the franchise of that promotion and one of the few bright spots of the company in 2000. He should have been one of the stars at the forefront of the Invasion. And he was, at least for a little while. Not one of Vince McMahon's pet projects or homegrown performers, Booker was oftentimes beaten by more established stars such as Kurt Angle, Steve Austin and The Rock. He was never quite allowed to look any better than McMahon's stars and as a result, he floundered for the first-half of 2002. Then he was paired with Goldust and the team became incredibly popular. Their backstage skits and vignettes caught the audience's eye. They won the tag titles but by the beginning of 2003, they would be split up in favor of Booker finally earning his main event push. He became the number one contender prior to WrestleMania XIX and was booked in a match against Triple H for the very same World Heavyweight title he, himself, had held numerous times before. To hold it once in WWE, however, would prove that McMahon and the powers-that-be believed in him. When the storyline between he and The Game began to take on racial undertones and Triple H implied that "people like" Booker T did not win titles, it seemingly set the stage for the underdog challenger to leave Seattle's Safeco Field with the championship. Triple H won the match, pinning Booker nearly two minutes after delivering a Pedigree. The match backed up every racist claim The Game made about him. It took Booker over three years and a character change to recover from the loss. Sure, he won the World Heavyweight Championship on SmackDown in 2006 but injuries necessitated it. The manner in which he was treated after dropping the title later in the year only supported the argument that McMahon never saw Booker as one of his marquee stars.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
