Booker T Wanted To Emulate This WWE Hall Of Famer With King Booker Gimmick

WWE Hall of Famer Booker T got to shake up his presentation in the mid-2000s when he took on the King Booker persona, complete with new music and a new British accent. 

According to the former World Heavyweight Champion, it was a legendary star who inspired the portrayal as he used the character to pay tribute to an unhinged fellow Hall of Famer.

"I always thought [Randy] Savage was a great king," Booker told The Undertaker on the "Six Feet Under" podcast. Savage took on the "Macho King" persona in the early 90s, and Booker saw his character as an evolution of that. "I wanted to take that character to another level. I wanted to break the mold."

The WWE legend wanted to make sure that fans would immediately think of King Booker any time they thought of the King of the Ring, and the former Intercontinental Champion said he had fun creating so many moments alongside his wife, Queen Sharmell. Booker's wife Sharmell joined him in the Hall of Fame, being inducted in 2022 in Arlington, TX.

He is proud of his post-King of the Ring trajectory, recently noting that he was the only King of the Ring winner to win the World Heavyweight Championship, his sixth world title, until Gunther this year. Booker won the tournament and then soundly defeated Rey Mysterio, ending the diminutive superstar's first World Heavyweight Title reign. Gunther won the 2024 King of The Ring tournament, controversially defeating Randy Orton in Saudi Arabia, and then defeated Damian Priest at SummerSlam to win the title.