11 Things We Learned From Legends With JBL With Booker T (Part 1)
6. GI Bro And Bad Early Reputation
Booker notes that he had a stigma when he first got into the business due to an incident at an independent show. He says he has always been a hothead, which goes back to his mother telling him that as long as he's 100% sure about something to always speak up about it but, if you're only 99%, to keep his mouth shut.
Booker was working as G.I. Bro (during the time of the Gulf War) at the National Guard Armoury and the promoter wanted him to go out and get beat up by a friend and put him over. Booker disagreed. He didn't think it was appropriate, argued his case and was labelled as having a bad attitude.
Not helping his case was the fact he spoke up about a bad payoff ($10) received by Fred Ottman (Tugboat, Shockmaster). His opponent was paid $500 for the same match. Booker threw the ten bucks back in his face and told him where he could put it...
He might have had a dodgy reputation, but Booker knew he was talented enough to go out to the ring and perform to a high standard. Even after being berated by Ivan Putski after a match with Dale Wolfe, he knew he was good enough and endeavoured to fight on and keep working.