The One WCW Gimmick Too Offensive For Eric Bischoff

Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 was Harlem Heat, whose WCW run yielded 10 Tag Team Title reigns from their 1993 debut until late 1999, when Stevie Ray turned on brother Booker T.

The tandem first worked as The Huffman Brothers around the Texan indie scene in 1989. Brought into Dallas' Global Wrestling Federation after drawing the attention of veteran manager Skandor Akbar in 1992, they were rechristened the Ebony Experience and quickly became fixtures in the promotion's tag division, though their stay was a short one. Having worked their first GWF match in April '92, the brothers Huffman were off to WCW by the following summer.

Billed from Harlem, New York City rather than their native Houston, Texas, Booker and Stevie became Kole and Kane, and the Heat was on. Numerically, they are the most successful duo in WCW - and Booker would later become a singles legend as well.

What we're saying is that the 2019 induction was earned. While not quite a team on the level of a Midnight Express or Fantastics, Harlem Heat were an important, successful, and prominent force for years.

That induction may never have come had WCW gone through with a certain plan for their debut...

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