NWO Twenty Years Later: Where Are They Now?
14. Stevie Ray
Whilst the nWo was taking over WCW between 1996 and 1998, Booker T was quietly beginning to carve out an impressive reputation for himself in the background. Eventually, the nWo bloated bigger and bigger until the bubble inevitably burst. With the company in tatters and its top stars depleted, either having departed the sinking ship to WWF or their stock value all but evaporated, Booker T was left as one of the sole remaining lights giving the company a modicum of hope.
His brother Stevie Ray, meanwhile, had been left completely behind. Booker and Ray had successfully teamed together in the promotion as Harlem Heat since the early '90s, repeatedly claiming tag team gold and distinguishing themselves to such a degree that when the nWo rolled into town, the tandem were popular enough that a turn was not necessary.
Ray decided to take a sabbatical during the first half of 1998, but his timing couldn't have been worse. During his absence, brother Booker established himself as a singles star, and when his older sibling returned, Harlem Heat was no more.
WCW had little idea of what to do with the isolated Stevie Ray - they presumably felt they had one black babyface too many. Like every other worker for whom they were devoid of ideas, Ray was jettisoned into the nWo, forced to tag with the likes of Horace Hogan and Scott Norton - a far cry from his Harlem Heat days.
Whereas incumbent WCW champiion Booker T memorably emerged on SmackDown shortly after WWF's purchase of the rival organisation, and went on to enjoy a glittering career in the company, eventually being inducted in the Hall of Fame, Stevie Ray gradually disappeared from view.
Six years older than Booker, Ray was in his mid-forties when the takeover occurred, and was in already in a state of semi-retirement, having spent his final year in the company working as a colour commentator. Ray clearly had the gift for the gab: after helping his brother run his Houston based wrestling promotion for a stint, he now uses his verbal skills to host his own radio show.