Booker T Recalls His Feuds With Stone Cold Steve Austin & The Rock, Not Getting Buried After Joining WWE

During a recent interview with Insight with Chris Van Vliet, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T discussed joining WWE from WCW in 2001 and feuding with the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and Kurt Angle right off the bat. Booker T reflected on getting such big opportunities, while many WCW stars who joined WWE didn’t fare as well. Below are some highlights from Insight:

Booker T on Feuding With Steve Austin, The Rock, and Kurt Angle Shortly After Joining WWE, Avoiding Getting Buried Like Other WCW Stars

“I always say you got to know how to make it in the locker room before you have a chance at making it in the ring. When I came into WWE, I had to get those guys to trust me, and I had to gain that trust. I had to keep my head down and do things a certain way, as far as let me show these guys how good I am, as well as, hey, he’s not that bad of a guy. So they instantly gave me a chance. So I was put with the top guys, I think, for a reason too, just to see if these guys took to me, if they were gonna go back and take a report back and say, I don’t know about this guy. I always tell my students, everything is a test. Don’t think nothing isn’t a test in this business. I didn’t care what they threw at me back then. I knew I was gonna pass the test.

“So I used to love working with Pat Patterson because he would give me a match, and he would say, ‘Go out and do it this way, gi-ging.’ Gi-ging, that’s where that come from. Yeah, this way, and then bing zip, ging, and it’s over with, and that was the match. And then I would go, I love it. So I didn’t care. Just give me the instructions, and I’m gonna go out here and deliver it, just like you just explained it to me gigi gigi gigi. I wanted to be able to fit in and fit in properly and gain those guys’ respect.

“I remember, I don’t know, maybe six months in, might even be sooner than that. I came in one day, and I was going to the locker room, and Undertaker say, ‘Hey, man, why don’t you come dress over here with us?’ I went dressed over there with those guys, and it was where the big guns dress; wasn’t a lot of guys, not a lot of baggage in there, you know. So, felt like I was in from that point.”

On His Bingo Segment With Steve Austin

“I remember everything from that. I remember even the suit I had on. I had the store here called Jam Zone, where we sold CDs, clothing items from New York, and I had this brown outfit. I remember that’s why I got it from New York warehouse district. I don’t know, maybe 30,40, bucks, but it looked good. It looked sharp. But I remember having so much fun doing those skits. I remember just totally going into a totally different mode. I was watching some earlier today, actually, and it was just me doing a skit talking about a movie role that I was auditioning for, and it was about The Rock. I was trying to remember it. I was like, I don’t even remember this, but it was so stupid. It was so funny, and that’s what I got a chance to do. Like with the bingo stuff, with the old lady, the bait and switch, and it just was stupid.”

Steve Austin and Booker T also famously had a grocery store brawl on WWE SmackDown in December 2001.