Booker T Recalls His Infamous WWE Raw Match With Buff Bagwell

On the latest episode of the Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T talked about his infamous WWE Raw match with Buff Bagwell in 2001 in Tacoma, WA, which was supposed to be the launching pad of the WCW rebranding, only for Vince McMahon to nix all WCW plans. You can check out some highlights below:

On his infamous WWE Raw match with Buff Bagwell: “Could we have had the match in Atlanta two weeks later? Of course we could have, but we weren’t in WWF to be endeared. They didn’t care about making us look good; it wasn’t about making us look good. And I think I realized that very, very quickly. Right off the bat, I realized that. Even though I came in the Heavyweight champ as well as the United States champ, I knew I was gonna have to earn my keep in that company…

“The week before Buff and I worked at match in Tacoma, we worked a house show. And I knew the match in Tacoma wasn’t going to go well. I remember going, just like he was talking about — John Laurinaitis, who is also Johnny Ace. I went to Johnny Ace, and I told Johnny Ace if there was any way we could postpone this match, because I just didn’t think it was going to go well. And Johnny Ace goes, ‘There’s nothing I could do.’ So therefore, the fix was in. [laughs] The fix was in, bro! That’s something I never said before, I’ve never talked about it. Because you know, that’s neither here nor there. [It’s old stuff.] Yeah, it is. And then going out and having the match, it wasn’t a match that Buff and I had 1,000 times. It wasn’t. The match Buff and I had had 1,000 times was far gone by that time. It really was, you know.”

On not performing at his highest level: “I know that night, I was ready to perform at the highest level. And that night I did not perform at my highest level. And that was one of the only nights that I could not go out and will that match into existence. And I could say this: it wasn’t my fault… I think that’s the first time I ever got the boring chant. That’s the only time I ever got that yeah, it was in that match. And I remember exactly why. I remember exactly when it started happening. And I was like, ‘Wow!’ I was so mad, and I was so upset, just because I wanted to conquer WWE. I wanted to come and be able to perform with anybody in the world. And you know, I wasn’t performing with a WWE guy, I was performing with a WCW guy. But I still wanted to come there and show the world how good I really was, and that night I just couldn’t do it.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Hall of Fame with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.