All hail King Booker! The five time WCW World Heavyweight Champion was another veteran who helped to keep things in order on Smackdown during the mid-2000s. The WWE called up a lot of new talent during that time and, with the likes of Booker, Holly and Benoit around, they knew they would be kept in line and take the job seriously. These guys were also legitimately tough and knew they could handle themselves should a situation turn physical. This is exactly what happened in May 2006 when Batista and Booker T got into a very real backstage fight while shooting a commercial for SummerSlam. Speaking to WWE.com at the time, then-Director of WWE Television Promotions John Gaburick said that 'e fight lasted at least five minutes, it was a brutal, bloody, vicious affair [...]It took JBL, Mark Henry, Chris Benoit, Finlay and road agent Ricky Steamboat to finally break things up'. Considering it took that much manpower to get the two off of each other, you know it must have been heated. The incident apparently came after Batista continued to make disparaging comments about the state of Smackdown and some of the performers on the show. Elaborating on the his reasons for fighting, Booker stated that:
I'm all about tradition and I'm all about respect as far as the guys that came before me and put in work. That pretty much was what that thing was about, it was about respect not just for myself but for all of the rest of the boys in the locker room.
A lot of people resented Batista around that time for the comments he had made about the brand but could not say or do anything due to Batista's connections. Booker, as a respected veteran and legit tough guy, felt he had to step up and say something to The Animal. Apparently Booker's respect rating went even higher after kicking Batista's a**. In August 2011, Booker used his sway as a locker room leader to put the kibosh on the Young Bucks after the duo reportedly forgot (or refused, depending on which account you read) to shake Booker's hand and turned their backs on him. Rob Van Dam also came out and said the same thing and called the Bucks disrespectful.
