Steve Austin And Booker T Discuss Story Of Booker Being Asked To Carry Austin's Bags After Injury
Recently on The Steve Austin Show, WWE Hall Of Famers Steve Austin and Booker T shared a platonic Skype session. Among many other things, the multiple time world champions discussed Booker's WWE debut and whether he really injured Steve. During the conversation, Steve divulged that his back was injured, not his hand. Also, Steve shared a funny story about the one and only time he asked a colleague to carry his bags.
During the conversation, Booker told the story of then WWE producer Bruce Prichard calling him after his WWE debut to tell him that he broke Steve's hand. Booker explained that he was told to pack and carry Steve's bags as a means of making things right. Booker declined.
"I came to the ring, jumped over the barrier, dropped Steve Austin on a table. Boom! Big debut, Booker T is in." Booker recalled, "I leave the arena that night and I don't remember why we didn't talk. I don't remember why, but I do know that I left the arena. What happened? Bruce Prichard called me. I'm on my way to the next town. Bruce Prichard said, 'hey man, what was going on?' I said, 'it was a great night tonight!' Do you know what I mean? I'm excited! I'm in WWE. He goes, 'no, you didn't hear what happened?' I said 'no, what are you talking about?' He goes, 'well, you broke Steve's hand.' I go, 'I broke Steve's hand?' and he goes, 'yeah, and you've got to fix it!' But I go, 'who? Fix what? What are you talking about?' He goes, 'man, you've got to fix this.' And I go, 'you've got to give me Steve's [telephone] number and let me call him up.' This is my debut in WWE. I said, 'let me call Steve and let me apologize for breaking this man's hand because that wasn't my intention!' Do you know what I mean? I do remember seeing [Austin] on the announce table and bouncing off. [Laughs] I remember that, but he goes, 'no, you need to meet Steve in his hotel room tomorrow, man, and you need to pack his bags at the hotel because, man, you need to fix this.' I tell Bruce Prichard on the phone, I said, 'hold up. I [am not] packing [any] goddamn bags.' [Laughs] I'll call him! Do you know what I mean?"
According to Steve, his hand was never injured from the bump in question. Rather, he fractured three bones in his back. Moreover, 'The Toughest S.O.B.' suggested that the injury was not Booker's fault.
"I had heard that story told many times almost just like that. And first of all, had [Booker] called me to pack my bags, I would have said, 'naw, I've got it because nobody has ever carried my bags! Nobody has ever packed my bags but me. And there was never [any] heat, but here's the deal, Book. If I remember correctly, that was the Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey, correct? Okay, [Booker] picked me up over the shoulder, boom, I hit the table. The deal was, I was so slippery because I was so sweaty. [Booker] know[s] how those tables are or you know what they're going to do. What happened was, when I flatbacked on that table, I just skipped off like someone skimming a rock off of the surface of a pond. And when I did, my lower back hit the legs on one of those announcer's chairs. [Booker] know[s] those chairs are full of padding on them, so they're heavy duty chairs. What happened was I fractured three of those transverse processors in my back. Those little things that stick out, all three of them snapped over, so my hand was never broken. I broke those three bones in my back and I went to the back and I was like, 'goddamn!' It was nothing [Booker] did. It's the way the bump went. And so [Booker] put me perfect on the table." Steve noted, "I just skipped off."
Interestingly, Steve indicated that he began doing comedy segments with WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle following the injury.
"From that day forward, there would be a doctor waiting for me in the dressing room before every show." Steve recollected, "and this was kind of leading into when I started doing a lot of the comedy stuff with Kurt Angle because the doctor would be in there, we'd meet in the bathroom, I'd have 60 MG of Toradol shot in my ass. Now Toradol, it's a pain blocker. Yeah, it's a non-narcotic pain blocker, but it works like a bug. It's like a miracle drug. So every show, whether I was on the road, working a tag, or whatever, as my back healed up, and someone would shoot me full of Toradol. And that's why I started doing the comedy skits with Kurt because I couldn't get [any] heat because I was hurt, I couldn't do anything. [Booker] never broke my hand and when I hit the table, I skipped off. It was a fluke that my back hit the chair."
While Steve stated that he has great love and respect for Bruce Prichard, the former Brother Love had the story wrong.
"I love Bruce Prichard and he helped me tremendously when I was in WWE, but that's not the correct story. Bruce is a premiere storyteller. He grew up watching Houston Wrestling just like [Booker] and me." Steve continued, "Bruce is a great storyteller and I consider him a good friend, but, no, he had the story wrong. It was my back and there was never any heat between [Booker] and me. I've seen some Twitter stuff, this is a year or two ago, when it surfaced that [Booker] was supposed to be carrying my bags and s–t like this. Naw, naw, naw, it's bulls–t. That never happened, [Booker] and me never had [any] heat, and that's the damn truth."
Booker joked that Bruce was trying to drum up interest in his podcast.
"That's the problem." Booker said, "Bruce is just trying to get some material for his show. That's all it is, man [laughs]."
Apparently the one time Steve asked someone to carry his bags, it was when he asked Sting to carry his bags in Germany when Steve had the flu. Sting declined.
"One time, we [were] over there in Germany." Steve remembered, "this was when I was with WCW. We didn't really go to Germany or Europe very much. It wasn't until [WWE]. Anyway, we were over there and I was out drinking like a fish. I didn't have a hangover. I caught the flu. Dude, we were walking through the airport, international travel, we're coming back to the [United] States, I am sick as a dog. I consider myself a pretty tough guy. Am I the toughest guy walking? Naw, but I'm going to work hurt. I finished a match after almost getting paralyzed. Now a flu bug has got me, and, dude, I got a stomach ache from hell. I'm sweating bullets. I put my passport in. I'm dragging my bag. I've got a black Tumi. Everybody was carrying Tumis back in the day. And there was Sting. Sting was the world champion. Dude, Booker, I'm selling. I'm selling like a mug. And I look at Sting. It was almost like a dude crawling across the desert trying to get some water. 'Water? water?' And I said, 'Sting,' I said, 'man,' I said, 'man, I [am not] feeling good, man. Could you carry my bag for me?' And Sting looked at me like I just fell out of a dog's ass. He [is not] going to carry my damn bags for me, but, Book, that is the only time I asked someone to carry my bags. I wasn't carrying [any] bags to get up a favor or get push. I was sick as a son of a b—h. Holy smokes! And Sting, Sting wouldn't carry my bags. I guess I'll have to grind it out and get my ass on the airplane."
Shucky ducky quack quack. If you use any of the quotations that appear in this article, please credit The Steve Austin Show with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: The Steve Austin Show