Booker T Thanks Hulk Hogan For Helping Harlem Heat In WCW

WWE Hall of Famer, Booker T, recently sat down with Kristian Harloff of The Big Thing to discuss a variety of topics surrounding his career and his wrestling school, Reality of Wrestling.

The former King of the Ring winner reflected on his time in WCW, and how Hulk Hogan and Sid Vicious put in good words to management for him and his brother, Stevie Ray.

"I wouldn't say Hogan and I, and my brother. I wouldn't say we were friends or anything like that, but he did put a word in for my brother and I to get a push," Booker T said. "There's a rumor, that Hulk Hogan got paid money as well for doing that. I have always given him props for speaking up for my brother and I, but there's a rumor that he made money off of merchandising from Harlem Heat being successful, but I thank him for putting the word in for us.

"The person that was instrumental in my brother, in our, in my career, was Sid Vicious, who put us on the map. Sid Vicious was the guy who let us live in his apartment for like three months. Sid Vicious was the guy who made sure my brother and I got raises on a regular basis. Sid Vicious is the guy that I give all the credit for my brother and I getting in WCW, and actually starting off on the right foot because my brother and I, Sid Vicious Big Van Vader, pay-per-view, our first main event, our first pay-per-view in Houston, Texas. Sid made that happen."

Booker T noted that when he joined WWE from WCW he wanted to earn the respect of the top stars in the locker room, and felt that he eventually did so.

"We've always had a lot of respect for each other, you know, Taker, Rock, we've always had a lot of respect for each other," Booker T explained. "It was a competition, but it was a proving ground back then as well. I first got there and I left all my accolades back in WCW. I said I'm gonna come here and prove to these guys, like I tell my students, you gotta know how to make it in a locker room before you can make it in the ring.

"I said, OK I'm gonna leave all that behind and I'm gonna prove to these guys that I wanna be one of the boys. After a few months, dressing in the locker room with all the wrestlers around, you know, 60 guys. Undertaker, I was walking past him one time, he was like, 'hey man, why don't you come over and dress here with us?' and it's a locker room called the TV locker room where all the cameramen keep their equipment.

"There's very few of those guys that be in there because they're running around the arena all day, so the top guys would normally go in there. I got invited to the TV locker room, I was like wow I guess I made it, I guess I'm one of the boys now."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Kristian Harloff with an h/t to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.