11 Things We Learned From Legends With JBL With Booker T (Part 1)
An eye-opening look at the WWE Hall of Famers early life and career.
Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise? This week saw WWE quietly drop another episode of Legends with JBL with his guest WWE Hall of Famer and former WWE and WCW (five times) Champion, Booker T. More episodes are to follow, with guests including Bruno Sammartino, Scott Hall & Kevin Nash, Madusa and Sting on the horizon.
Before those, however, there was a two-parter with the current WWE panelist.
The two Texans sat down and talked extensively about Booker's rough upbringing, his uneasy start in the professional wrestling business and eventual success as well as high-profile incidents such as backstage fights or certain matches that perhaps didn't go as well as hoped. Running just shy of 90 minutes in total, the whole thing was certainly revelatory and worth sitting through.
This article will look at the main takeaways from the first part, which predominantly focused on Booker's childhood, tumultuous teen years, time spent behind bars and his first years in the business. Who helped or hindered Booker along the way? What did he think of his first, rather controversial WCW gimmick? And, perhaps most importantly, how did he come up with the Spinaroonie?
All are answered here, as we look at 11 things we learned from Booker T on Legends with JBL.
Now, can you dig that, reader?
11. Friendship With JBL And The Dallas Sportatorium
JBL welcomes us to the show and says that he and Booker first shared a locker room well over twenty years ago. They both wanted a chance and a shot to make it and neither one of them had a back-up plan. Since that time the two have become life-long friends. JBL lists Booker's accomplishments before joking that it's twenty five years later and he's still putting Booker over, which draws a laugh.
The two talk about the old Dallas Sportatorium (which JBL calls a 'one of the worst buildings in the world'), former home to promotions such as World Class Championship and Global Wrestling. Booker references Black Bart and Manny Fernandez as two guys who helped him a lot early in his career.
He and his brother, Stevie Ray, went to the building one day hoping to secure Stevie Ray a tryout match and, months later, the fans there were rooting for their Ebony Experience tag team. Booker says that his time there helped him understand the power that professional wrestling had.