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00:00Steve Austin, Booker T, I felt like it was going to catapult me to that next level.
00:10You could see that there was going to be something else down the road for Booker T.
00:15I expected him to bring it, it was hardcore, it was a fight, but that's just part of the
00:20game.
00:21Wait a minute!
00:22Booker T just broke his own code!
00:25When I first came into WWE, I really didn't know my place.
00:30That night turned out to be a little toxic to me, of course.
00:33It is if you didn't have enough problems if you're Booker, now you really have some uphill
00:37battle.
00:38He was a different opponent from me, I've never done anything like this before.
00:43This is a very new landscape.
00:45Oh no!
00:46Booker T!
00:47Booker T!
00:48The grocery store fight is something that put us on the map.
00:55Stone Cold Steve Austin having been the man in WWE, and Booker T having been the man and
01:00final champion in WCW, finally we're going to see Booker T and Stone Cold Steve Austin
01:05in the ring.
01:06Doing something like this with someone like Booker T, I call that a grand slam.
01:12People remember the character aspects as much, if not more, than the matches.
01:17If I'm going to do something, I want to be the best at it.
01:22When I got a chance to work with Booker T, it was pure entertainment.
01:34When two legends collide, the rivalry stays pinned in our minds forever.
01:39This is where we break down the legendary stories behind the greatest rivalries of all time.
01:46I'm Gabriel Iglesias, and this is WWE Rivals.
01:53Please, I want you to double.
02:00Shopping gets me tired.
02:01I want you to double.
02:02Shopping gets me smart.
02:03I'm thirsty.
02:04Please double.
02:05Please.
02:07Stone Cold Steve Austin, Booker T. Two guys that both came in through the WCW channel
02:14and eventually became megastars in WWE.
02:19In my early stages of Stunning Steve, I really emulated the greatest of all time, Nature
02:25Boy Ric Flair.
02:26And I tried to wrestle like him, and no one can wrestle like Ric Flair.
02:31And so I was kind of trapped.
02:33I was considered by my peers a good mechanic in the ring, but I wasn't a superstar because
02:40I just didn't have all the pieces together.
02:42I didn't have the gimmick or the character.
02:44You can't take it.
02:45Tough guy.
02:46Get out of the business.
02:47Get out of the business.
02:48You know, a lot of people don't realize that Booker and Austin both came through the Sportatorium,
02:53just like you and I.
02:54That's right.
02:55Just like we did.
02:56Yeah, yeah.
02:57It's a breeding ground of champions.
02:58A bunch of Hall of Famers came through the Sportatorium.
03:00Yeah.
03:01Yeah.
03:02Me, Pac, Devon Irks, Booker T, Stone Cold.
03:04Whoa.
03:05Free birds.
03:06Free birds.
03:07Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:08Yeah.
03:09I think Booker's so incredibly underrated, and I feel like when you start thinking about
03:14the greats, for whatever reason, his name doesn't get thrown up in there.
03:17He's right up there.
03:19Booker T and Stevie Ray.
03:21Islam Heats controlling this matchup.
03:24Booker has gotten over everywhere he's been.
03:27What he and his brother did and what he did by himself.
03:29He had a Hall of Fame career in WCW alone.
03:33It's been hot in here.
03:35Boy, and is it ever when these two men get into the ring.
03:38I got into professional wrestling following my brother.
03:41My brother always wanted to be a professional wrestler.
03:44He loved professional wrestling.
03:46And my brother was getting a tryout, and I just went along with him.
03:49And they say, well, who's this guy?
03:51And he goes, that's my brother.
03:52Well, I'm looking for a tag team.
03:53So that's how I got my foot in the door.
03:56It was something that gave me a sense of purpose, and I was good at it.
04:00We've been the Huskies from Harlem style, if you know what I'm saying.
04:04Confidence, arrogance, ability.
04:07All words to describe Harlem Heat.
04:10Man, when Harlem Heat first walked in, those guys were turning your head.
04:14V-frames, big arms, shoulders.
04:16They're put together.
04:18Double team maneuver from Harlem Heat.
04:21When Booker and his brother Stevie got on my radar, I kind of started watching.
04:25These guys are championship material.
04:28These guys can draw money.
04:30My brother had his role.
04:32I had my role.
04:33We went out and we were like peanut butter and jelly.
04:35It was just a perfect mix.
04:37We're not just here today.
04:38We're here to stay.
04:39And we're taking the gold before it's all over, baby.
04:44I remember meeting Steve Austin in WCW.
04:46I never crossed paths with Steve as far as in-ring.
04:50But I always had a lot of respect for Steve.
04:53I always thought he was a hell of a talent.
04:55And I thought when WCW let him go, I was like, wow.
04:58We just let a big fish go.
05:01I ended up getting fired, but I wasn't ready to be in that top tier
05:05because aesthetically I didn't have the right look.
05:08I didn't have the right gimmick or persona.
05:10I was never in the head space in WCW to be Stone Cold Steve Austin.
05:16Stone Cold Steve Austin.
05:18He's a stone cold, if anything.
05:23When I went to WWE, that's when everything organically clicked.
05:27And it happened.
05:28Talk about your subs.
05:29Talk about John 316.
05:32Austin 316 says I just whipped your ass.
05:41When he comes out and all of a sudden says that Austin 316 with Michael Hayes,
05:44I mean, everything changed.
05:46That night, everything changed.
05:59People have the Austin 316 signs.
06:01I've never seen anything like that.
06:03It's just something about him had that energy, that attitude,
06:07that people wanted to see him.
06:09That pop that he would get.
06:11Anyone, Hulk, anyone.
06:13It was deafening.
06:14People were just waiting to see Stone Cold.
06:17He was that big.
06:21I remember when having hair was a thing.
06:23And then, you know, sometimes you got to clean it up to go to the next level.
06:27You don't put a roof on an empty barn.
06:29You know?
06:33Man, the numbers that we were doing back in those days were so crazy.
06:36I was so in your face.
06:37I was so raw.
06:39But I was so real.
06:40I could not be denied.
06:42Does anybody have a cold beer for Steve Austin?
06:48You know, watching Steve run from when he first came to WWE
06:52and all the way to the end,
06:54I just saw a guy that was on a mission.
06:57Just to watch that guy go out and do his work is pretty awesome.
07:03You know, I was living the time of my life at that time.
07:05Then I started doing singles wrestling.
07:07I always wanted to be a singles wrestler.
07:10My brother, he gave me his blessing to go out there
07:12and be the best singles wrestler I possibly can.
07:16Once you're established as a tag team wrestler,
07:18that's pretty much it for you.
07:19You know, you're a tag team wrestler.
07:21When Booker T broke loose,
07:23there was no question he took off on his own, man.
07:25This guy was the one.
07:26He had it all.
07:28You know, some people might can't adjust from tag team wrestling
07:30to singles competition
07:31because they're used to having a partner to depend on.
07:33But this man here,
07:35this man looks like he's been a singles wrestler for years.
07:38Booker T was kind of the guy that could do it all.
07:40And just the way he moved his instincts,
07:42everything to me seemed to come very natural to Booker T.
07:46You could see that there was going to be something else
07:49down the road for Book.
07:51Booker T is the World Heavyweight Champion!
07:56In the late 90s going into the early 2000s,
07:59the biggest story was WWE versus WCW.
08:04These were two wrestling companies that were fighting for survival.
08:09The announcement was made that WWE had actually acquired WCW.
08:15It's 2001, we're watching it on TV,
08:18and all of a sudden you're seeing Monday Nitro,
08:20you're seeing Raw,
08:21same time you're watching this happen.
08:23Welcome to a landmark night in the industry of sports entertainment!
08:30As a fan, you're just like, wow, this is insane.
08:35Well, everybody was kind of in shock.
08:37We heard about the rumors taking place,
08:39but everybody was kind of in shock.
08:40They didn't know what's going to happen to our jobs.
08:42They didn't know what the future was going to be.
08:44It's the end of WCW,
08:46and WWE is now making decisions
08:48about what their future is going to look like
08:50with this talent from WCW.
08:53Seeing this ship go down,
08:54I was really preparing myself for what was next.
08:57It is title versus title here tonight.
09:00The World Heavyweight Champion, Scott Steiner,
09:04and United States Heavyweight Champion, Booker T.
09:08He's got his blue hands!
09:10There's one, two, could it be it?
09:12Yes it is! Yes!
09:13Booker T is WCW World Champion!
09:18He's got two titles!
09:20Think how impactful it is that on that last episode of Nitro,
09:24Booker T wins the World Championship from Scott Steiner.
09:27That basically tells you everything you need to know
09:30about how WWE views the future of Booker T.
09:35I'm like, well, maybe they got plans for me.
09:39How the hell did this happen?
09:44This may be the end of a chapter,
09:47but let me tell you,
09:48there are many, many more pages left in this book.
09:53I don't think there was ever a sense of panic
09:56once the war was over.
09:58There was more a sense of, what do you do now?
10:02We had done this major storyline on television,
10:05Shane McMahon buying WCW.
10:09I now own WCW!
10:14There had to be a creative way
10:16to bring this new WCW talent into WWE.
10:20And we would slowly build this rivalry within WWE,
10:25the WCW guys,
10:27against the WWE superstars who had already been there.
10:30Steve Austin for the WWF title.
10:34Wait a minute! What the hell?
10:37That's Booker T!
10:39Booker T!
10:40Booker T!
10:41Destruction of Cole!
10:42Right through the announce table!
10:45The app.
10:48By the time the WWE bought WCW,
10:51they'd been on life support for a couple years.
10:54I mean, the war was over.
10:56Where does WCW go from here?
10:58Fans, we're reacting,
11:00and we can only react to what you see as well.
11:02We don't know.
11:04A lot of people don't realize
11:07we didn't get the Goldbergs,
11:09the Halls and Nash's.
11:11Their contracts were with AOL Time Warner.
11:15They weren't with WCW.
11:16So those contracts didn't come with the acquisition.
11:20I didn't know that.
11:21Those guys were all under certain contracts
11:23where they didn't come.
11:24Booker T chose to come.
11:25When I came into WWE,
11:27it was a little different than most.
11:28I couldn't think about coming to WWE
11:31and I'm the world champion.
11:32Erase that.
11:33Start with a clean slate.
11:34I gotta prove to these guys
11:36that I can make it in the locker room
11:38before I can make it in the ring.
11:40When Booker came in,
11:41he might have came in with confidence,
11:43but I'm sure there was a little trepidation there as well
11:45because, man, we've been fighting your ass
11:47for a long time.
11:48Now here you are in a living room.
11:51Hello again, everybody.
11:52I'm Jim Ross here at ringside.
11:54We welcome you live
11:56to the ninth King of the Ring.
12:00Because a lot of the top WCW stars
12:03didn't go over to WWE,
12:05when top stars did come over,
12:07it was a huge deal.
12:09And that's what happened at King of the Ring 2001.
12:13Wait a minute!
12:14What the hell?
12:15What?
12:16Booker...
12:17That's Booker T!
12:19He's the WCW champion!
12:24I'm starting out with the biggest fish
12:26in WWE.
12:27I mean, Stone Cold Steve Austin.
12:29Doesn't get any bigger than that.
12:30But that night turned out to be
12:33a little toxiturvy, of course.
12:36I'll never forget that moment.
12:38Booker T comes out,
12:39and he picks me up.
12:41And he's just gonna basically
12:43sidewalk slam me on the announce table.
12:45Oh, my God!
12:46A sidewalk slam!
12:48Booker T just dropped Stone Cold
12:51right through the announce table!
12:55And my back hit a chair,
12:57and it broke pre-transverse processes in my back.
13:00And I was in intense pain.
13:03I did my job, but when I picked Steve up
13:06and dropped him on the table,
13:08he hit the floor really, really hard.
13:11I remember everybody talking about it afterwards.
13:14You know, at that time,
13:16we're at an all-time high.
13:17We're selling out everywhere we go, right?
13:19There's a little group of guys at the top
13:21that...
13:22That's the...
13:23That's the money right there.
13:25And somebody injures the money player.
13:27It's a big deal.
13:29A lot of people were hard on the...
13:31Some of the talent that came over.
13:33Looking for any reason to jump down their throat
13:35because they did something wrong.
13:37Initially, I was hot at him.
13:39But when I look back at it,
13:41he did everything right,
13:42and it was just a fluke of me skipping off
13:44and hitting the legs of that chair.
13:46It was one of those things to where
13:48people can think that you're dangerous
13:50or reckless or one of those type of things.
13:52But I saw Steve the following day,
13:55and I asked him if he was okay.
13:57And he was like, yeah, yeah, I'm good.
13:58I'm okay, you know?
13:59I felt like, you know, I mean, we're good.
14:01You know, let's keep this thing rolling.
14:03But it did get off a little rocky.
14:05Ladies and gentlemen,
14:07give it up for Booker T!
14:17Hey, Austin.
14:19See, last night at King of the Ring,
14:21it was just too easy.
14:22No, it was just too damn easy
14:25to take you clean out of the game.
14:28Who the hell is that son of a bitch think he is
14:30calling out Stone Cold Steve Austin
14:33of the World Wrestling Federation champion?
14:35I do not deserve that.
14:36We knew Booker T was the top talent
14:38coming in from WCW,
14:40but we had no idea what we were in for
14:42as far as what Booker T was capable of doing.
14:45Booker T, the WCW champion
14:48in Madison Square Garden!
14:51My God, I can't believe this!
14:55You had all these WCW characters
14:58ready to come in versus WWE.
15:01What the hell's that?
15:02There's a WCW wrestler
15:04in Madison Square Garden!
15:06It's Mike Lawson!
15:08Wait a minute! Wait a minute!
15:10It's Lance Storm! It's Lance Storm!
15:13He's a WCW wrestler!
15:15There was a lot of money on the table
15:18to be made from the name invasion.
15:21Tonight's show will be brought to you
15:23by the letter I, invasion.
15:29Everybody's together under the same umbrella.
15:31All these different WCW guys
15:33are now all of a sudden with WWE.
15:35It was shocking. It was really shocking.
15:37The WCW invasion is on
15:40and it's on all the way!
15:43The competition was so intense.
15:45When those guys did that invasion angle,
15:48it was like a shoot.
15:49There's only a limited amount of spots here.
15:51Anybody's a threat. You know what I mean?
15:53Booker T might show up here tonight.
15:55Booker T is coming in.
15:56Booker T! Booker T! Booker T!
15:59That's all I hear about anymore is Booker T!
16:02When I first came into WWE,
16:04I can honestly say I really didn't know my place.
16:06I always felt like I was a WCW guy.
16:09I even still kind of feel like I'm a WCW guy a little bit.
16:12I always wanted to test myself
16:14with the best talent in the world
16:16and I felt like WWE was that spot.
16:19We've seen WCW superstars invading WWE,
16:23but now we're finally going to see matches happen.
16:28And it would happen at a pay-per-view
16:30aptly titled Invasion.
16:33At Invasion, WCW is gonna kick the WWS ass!
16:39Welcome everybody to Invasion,
16:42the future of sports entertainment as we know it
16:45will likely be changed forever tonight.
16:49Two guys like me and Booker lock up.
16:52It's on.
16:53The inaugural brawl underway
16:55and here comes the leader of the WWF team,
16:58The Old Stone Cold!
17:00The Texas Rattlesnake is here
17:03and by God, he's ready to fight!
17:09I'm Tim Ross here in ringside
17:11and we welcome you
17:13to the biggest night of sports entertainment
17:15in this company's history.
17:17That first pay-per-view drew something like,
17:19I think it was like over 800,000 buys,
17:21something very, very successful
17:23just because of the sheer novelty of it.
17:25Introducing first,
17:26the World Wrestling Federation
17:28Light Heavyweight Champion,
17:30X-Pac!
17:32Alright, so that night I got asked the question,
17:34how was the conversation about which side are you gonna be on?
17:37There was no conversation.
17:38I went with whatever side they told me to go on.
17:41Nobody needed to know about which side X-Pac was gonna be on.
17:45We were out there desmoking mirrors.
17:47That drew a big buy rate,
17:49but it was a very lopsided invasion.
17:52Everybody from WCW was second hand.
17:55A lot of guys were still
17:57setting out their time warning contracts.
18:00The guys that we had going into the invasion angle,
18:03there was no doubt we were gonna get our asses kicked.
18:06Just for lack of a better word.
18:10The Texas Rattlesnake is here
18:13and by God, he's ready to fight!
18:15Here tonight at Invasion, look at the Rattlesnake go!
18:18In the main event of the Invasion pay-per-view,
18:21the WWE team is captained by Stone Cold Steve Austin.
18:25Wait! What the?
18:27Austin just stopped her angle!
18:30What the hell is going on?
18:32But it's Steve Austin who actually turns on the WWE.
18:36Oh no! He's under kick!
18:38Oh my God!
18:40Austin just cost Team WWE a match!
18:45I think that if you look back on it,
18:47most of the top WCW stars hadn't come over
18:50to be a part of this Invasion story.
18:53So Stone Cold Steve Austin being taken off Team WWE
18:56and siding with WCW
18:58was probably what that team needed
19:00to just be portrayed as a credible threat on WWE TV.
19:04Steve Austin joins WCW.
19:07Him and Booker T are now on the same side of things.
19:10The Invasion did not end at the pay-per-view though.
19:13It continued for months,
19:15this sort of battle between WCW and WWE.
19:18Booker T, he was probably the best beneficiary of that
19:22in terms of breaking out to truly shine
19:25and be given the opportunity and run with it.
19:27And I think that's what he did.
19:29Booker T is a five-time WCW champion!
19:34That means the man knows
19:36not only how to win championships,
19:38but to defy the odds!
19:41A lot of guys that came
19:43didn't have the same workmanship that Booker T did,
19:46didn't have the same charisma that Booker T had,
19:49so he had everything.
19:52I can't tell you how many guys
19:54were rooting for Booker backstage.
19:56Everyone, everyone loved Booker.
19:58Booker's the most important thing we got from WCW.
20:00There's no doubt about it, not even close.
20:02Booker T was the only guy
20:05in the initial WCW group that came over
20:09that became that megastar for WWE.
20:12He took every opportunity to grow
20:15and do what he could to be bigger and better.
20:18The real, most electrifying move
20:22in sports entertainment
20:24is the spin of Rooney.
20:26The spin of Rooney!
20:28What talent this man possesses!
20:30If you come to WWE,
20:32you better be able to work,
20:34and Booker T could work his ass off.
20:36That's why he ended up making it,
20:38because he had everything he needed,
20:40from the looks to the charisma to the work.
20:42Booker checked all those boxes.
20:44That's the bookend!
20:46Booker T crashing rock through the announce table!
20:51In my opinion,
20:53the most electrifying man
20:55in sports entertainment today,
20:57Booker T!
21:00Now can you pick that sucker?
21:02It was a great position to be in.
21:04Most awesome position to be in.
21:06When I got in the ring with The Rock,
21:08I knew I was there, I knew I had made it.
21:10I'm in the ring with The Rock.
21:12He was a great free agent, if you will,
21:14coming over from WCW,
21:16and that was a great launching point for him,
21:19and it was a great launching point for us.
21:21We knew we had something pretty cool.
21:23I just remember thinking
21:25I wanted to see the bookend versus the rock bottom.
21:27The moves were so similar,
21:29I just wanted to see them in the same ring, same time.
21:31Bookend! Bookend!
21:33I don't remember any of it.
21:35God, I was thinking so much,
21:37trying to make everything perfect.
21:39The Rock in the top! The Rock bottom!
21:41The Rock bottom! The Rock got the win!
21:43The Rock bottom!
21:45He did it!
21:47One thing about it, The Rock said that was one of his best matches.
21:50He put that match over like crazy.
21:54So after months of battling
21:56between WCW and WWE,
21:59eventually,
22:01it all comes to a big match
22:03to settle it all at Survivor Series.
22:05Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,
22:07to the 15th Survivor Series!
22:09Oh!
22:11He just nailed Austin!
22:13The Rock bottom!
22:15It's over!
22:17The WWE has won it!
22:19Steve Austin gets pinned,
22:21WCW loses,
22:23and now, in theory, is going to be disbanded,
22:25absorbed by WWE.
22:27As fans, you kind of have no idea
22:29what's going to happen now moving forward.
22:33The following month at an event called Vengeance,
22:35Stone Cold Steve Austin
22:37had the opportunity to become
22:39the first ever WWE
22:41Undisputed Champion.
22:43This match is between
22:45Austin and Jericho
22:47for the Undisputed title.
22:49Look at this! Booker T!
22:51Booker T is off to the back of the head!
22:54My God, almighty!
22:56Jericho has done it!
23:00A madman named Stone Cold Steve Austin
23:02is on the loose
23:04and looking for revenge
23:06against Booker T.
23:08Shut that door. Easy, easy.
23:10Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
23:12What the hell is this?
23:14We have a report of a fire. We're just here to investigate.
23:16This is the fireman.
23:18The stuff is the fireman.
23:20The shenanigans.
23:22This is the fun ride that I really want to be on.
23:24Hey! It's Stone Cold!
23:26Stone Cold brings guys to the fireman!
23:30Rattlesnake alert! Rattlesnake alert!
23:32And Booker T running for his life!
23:34It was perfect timing
23:36for Booker and Steve, who had never really
23:38had a chance to have a memorable
23:40long-term program, to finally
23:42engage in it.
23:44Booker T in a waiting limousine!
23:46The chase is on
23:48and it leads to one of my
23:50favorite WWE segments
23:52of all time.
23:56All of a sudden, creative tells us,
23:58Hey, man, you and Booker are gonna have this
24:00brawl at a grocery store.
24:02I've never done anything like this before.
24:04I think we found out pretty much that day
24:06it was one shot, one take.
24:08Stand by.
24:10Stand by.
24:12And...
24:14And...
24:16God be with us.
24:18Everybody stand.
24:24Stand by.
24:26And...
24:28God be with us.
24:30Everybody stand.
24:32We knew Booker was gonna be the guy.
24:34We're just hoping that at some point,
24:36that Booker's gonna be able to break out.
24:38And then all of a sudden, you put him in the grocery store like that?
24:40Yeah.
24:42That could be horrible.
24:44Hey, it's Booker T!
24:46What's he doing?
24:48He's in the grocery store!
24:50All of a sudden, creative tells us,
24:52Hey, man, you and Booker are gonna have this
24:54brawl in a grocery store.
24:56We went there, camera set up,
24:58we got a lay of the land,
25:00and it was kind of one of those run-and-gun type shoots.
25:06Uh-oh.
25:08Uh-oh.
25:10Man, I'm like,
25:12here's a blank canvas that Booker T
25:14and I are gonna have an opportunity
25:16to paint together.
25:18Look at this!
25:20It's Austin!
25:22Booker T made that smarter than Austin did!
25:28Uh-oh, is that Austin?
25:30Wait a minute!
25:32Who is that guy?
25:34He's a shopper!
25:36Oh, no!
25:40Hello.
25:44It's not Austin!
25:46Austin attacking Booker T!
25:50Somebody better call the police!
25:56Fighting in a grocery store,
25:58it can really be stupid.
26:04But Steve, being the artist he is,
26:06and me being the person I am,
26:08I say, man, let's go out
26:10and really make this thing memorable.
26:14We're just gonna do a little fight here.
26:16We'll be fine.
26:18If we mess anything up,
26:20we'll clean it up.
26:22It'll be fine.
26:24Oh, they're getting free flowers!
26:26Tiffany flowers!
26:32Do you have any grateful flowers?
26:34Pardon me, do you have any grateful flowers?
26:36They're just reaching for stuff.
26:38I'm gonna put some walnuts on you.
26:42Oh, no!
26:48I've never done anything like it before.
26:52I asked Booker a couple things.
26:54Is this cool?
26:56But he goes, bro,
26:58whatever you want to do, Steve,
27:00because he trusted me.
27:02I let Steve just go all for me
27:04that night.
27:06Oh, no, here comes the flower.
27:08I had a different kind of shampoo
27:10in my head.
27:12It was flour and eggs.
27:16You got one take.
27:18If something goes wrong,
27:20you gotta cover it.
27:22I mean, they're not sitting out there,
27:24here's what we're gonna do.
27:26We're gonna put this, put your foot here,
27:28put your foot here.
27:30I didn't have any of that.
27:32They just said, here's a grocery store.
27:34Tear this son of a bitch up.
27:36And have some fun.
27:38We're in the mood.
27:40Hit your eye.
27:42Like a pig.
27:44Piece of pie.
27:48I can get badass
27:50and I can put all these surprises
27:52on him, but it's the reaction.
27:54I'm action.
27:56He's reaction.
27:58The reactions were just off the chart.
28:00Go.
28:04What do you got now?
28:06Oh, no.
28:12Can Booker scream?
28:16He was one of the toughest guys
28:18in the history of this.
28:20He's screaming.
28:22He's getting punched in the car.
28:24Booker did more
28:26than his share.
28:36We're gonna incur whatever cost,
28:38whatever damage they do.
28:40You don't have to worry about decimating
28:42an entire produce section.
28:44Don't worry about the mess.
28:46We're gonna pay for all of it.
28:48That's what you gotta love when doing these things.
28:56You son of a bitch.
28:58Get your ass here.
29:00Get in there.
29:02This is a cool thing, Tom.
29:04That'll cool off that rattlesnake.
29:14Oh, no.
29:16Here's Stevie.
29:22Hey, Booker. You got me, okay?
29:24Whoa.
29:26And it was one of the most memorable things
29:28that I've done in my career that people
29:30still talk about him.
29:32Booker T and Stone Cold in the grocery store.
29:34There you go, little baby.
29:36You want a bird?
29:38I get that to this day, man.
29:40The grocery store fight was the best
29:42match I've ever seen in your career.
29:44And I'm like, wait a minute. I won six world championships.
29:46What are you talking about?
29:48It was such an iconic moment.
29:50Oh, no.
29:52When you get a chance to do something out of left field,
29:54you better hit a grand slam.
29:56I dare say,
29:58I call that a grand slam.
30:06Nice kick.
30:12I'm gonna get you.
30:14I'm gonna get you.
30:16Oh, wow.
30:18Hey.
30:20Hey, look at this.
30:22It's me, Booker T.
30:24Yeah, I'm out here in the parking lot right now
30:26standing.
30:28It's your truck game.
30:30I think the program
30:32is enhanced any time you can get
30:34out of the arena. There's a lot of fun
30:36in seeing, okay, how can we top ourselves
30:38this week?
30:40This is what's gonna happen to your punk ass.
30:42What?
30:44Oh, God.
30:46Look at this.
30:48Oh, hey, look at that, sir.
30:50Oh, yeah.
30:52Oh, yeah.
30:54Oh,
30:56can you dig that?
30:58Sucker.
31:00You know, country guys are rednecks
31:02and all about
31:04their trucks.
31:08Booker T.
31:10Didn't want to stand and fight King.
31:12Even though he had a punch in his hand.
31:14Austin's a hunter,
31:16so, you know, I think he just relished
31:18playing the cat and mouse game.
31:20Oh, no, not this again.
31:22And Stone Cold
31:24in hot pursuit again
31:26of Booker T.
31:28A lot of people talk about the whole supermarket
31:30deal, but the one
31:32that stands out to me is
31:34the one of him and the church.
31:36His number is N31.
31:38Oh.
31:40Listen,
31:42will you please come?
31:44Will you please speed up?
31:46I don't have all night. Please.
31:50It's Monday Night Raw, so what's happening
31:52at a church on Monday night?
31:54It's bingo night.
31:56Come on, woman.
31:58Booker is not a friendly bingo
32:00player, as it turns out.
32:06Yeah.
32:08You know, when they pitch stuff
32:10like that to me, it's no script.
32:12It's no real script as far
32:14as you got to say this, this, this, this.
32:16You got to pretty much ad-lib
32:18and try to bring it to life.
32:20I'm the bingo man. I'm finna win
32:22this one more number.
32:24The next one is
32:26A as in Austin
32:28316.
32:30What?
32:32Wait a minute.
32:34Oh.
32:36Who thought to do it in a church?
32:38You know, the ability to make an ass of yourself is an art.
32:40And
32:42not everybody's comfortable with that.
32:44So, Booker was
32:46really comfortable with that.
32:50I think what made Booker so special
32:52was just his innate confidence.
32:54Booker was like,
32:56I'm so good. I can make this good.
32:58But no matter how bizarre it is,
33:00no matter how stupid it is, no matter how great it is,
33:02I can make it even better.
33:04Yeah, he's perfect for all that.
33:06He's just so good.
33:08You know, I guess you'd call it acting.
33:10I don't know what you call it, but it's instinct to him.
33:12So he has a real good feel
33:14about what this business is all about.
33:16Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.
33:18What?
33:20You do like the time on that.
33:22I think the segment is about
33:2412 minutes.
33:2610 minutes and 30 seconds
33:28of it is all
33:30Booker T. Interacting with people,
33:32you know what I mean? Hiding in the confessional.
33:34That's all off the cuff, by the way.
33:36That's crazy.
33:38You mean to tell me there are no ladies of the night?
33:40No, Father, there are no ladies of the night.
33:42You mean to tell me you haven't been
33:44smoking the green stuff, the marijuana?
33:46No, not at all.
33:48And that's what I learned
33:50throughout that time in WWE
33:52was character,
33:54building character,
33:56trying to really think about the show
33:58and the story and the flow of things.
34:00Yes, my son.
34:02What do you wish to confess?
34:06Speak up, sucker.
34:08What do you want to confess?
34:10As much as I pride myself on my work in the ring,
34:12it's the character stuff
34:14that really made Stone Cold.
34:16I ain't sinned yet, Father.
34:18It's what I'm fixing to sin
34:20and it's going to be real, real bad.
34:22What? What? What?
34:24Booker T!
34:26A scolding dog
34:28right through Kurt's father
34:30brother Rattlesnake!
34:32There have been attacks.
34:34There have been fights in grocery stores,
34:36in churches.
34:38So there's a lot of anticipation just to see
34:40what it would look like when you see these guys
34:42actually touch each other in the middle of the ring.
34:46The complex, controversial
34:48Rattlesnake King has been
34:50dying for weeks to get his
34:52hands on the man who has cost him
34:54the undisputed championship.
34:56That man is Booker T.
35:00Father Booker, you better say some prayers
35:02right now if you know any, Father Booker.
35:04If I was in the ring with
35:06Stone Cold, it was a fight.
35:08Oh no! Stone Cold
35:10with a handful of Booker T!
35:14The following contest is
35:16the first blood match.
35:18First blood rules.
35:20No pinfalls, no submissions, no disqualifications.
35:22First man to bleed
35:24will lose.
35:26The Rattlesnake King has been dying
35:28for weeks to get his hands on
35:30Booker T.
35:32You better say some prayers right now if you know any,
35:34Father Booker.
35:36The Stone Cold-Steve Austin-Booker T rivalry
35:38is so memorable
35:40because of how
35:42great the segments are
35:44leading to these matches.
35:46And you know Stone Cold, the hatred he has
35:48for this man.
35:50Wait a minute! What the hell is this?
35:52Oh man!
35:54What the hell is he doing
35:56out here?
35:58When the matches do happen, they're quick.
36:00They end in interference.
36:02There you go!
36:04It's over!
36:06Austin's living! Austin's irate!
36:08To me, the career
36:10of Stone Cold-Steve Austin or
36:12the career of Booker T,
36:14he had some great matches.
36:16I had some great matches.
36:18The character aspects, as much
36:20if not more than the matches
36:22because that was the reason that they cared
36:24about the matches.
36:26Following contest is a qualifying
36:28number one contenders match.
36:30And Austin and
36:32Booker T, a long history
36:34between these two superstars.
36:36Booker, you know, he's a natural
36:38athlete, but make no mistake about it
36:40man, Booker T would knock your head off.
36:44I think Steve always talks about
36:46he's the hardest person
36:48that ever hit him in the wrestling ring was
36:50me.
36:52And he did one night. Booker T just knocked
36:54the hell out of me with the right hand.
36:56It really caught me.
36:58I remember hitting him
37:00and I go,
37:02this is not gonna be good.
37:04It just angered me so much and I shot a right hand
37:06back and just drilled him.
37:08And here comes Austin unloading with a right hand
37:10to Booker T.
37:12I don't think Booker T believes Austin just did that.
37:14But that was the
37:16beauty of, you know, two guys
37:18from Texas. We know about the receipt.
37:20You know, if you give a guy one
37:22you can expect a receipt later on.
37:24Counting it on a stutter of his own!
37:26Oh! Good night
37:28Booker T!
37:30What an effort!
37:32The guts of Stone Cold!
37:34Here comes
37:36Steve Austin!
37:38One of the best times of my career
37:40actually, working with Stone Cold Steve Austin.
37:44I just regret
37:46that Steve and I didn't have
37:48you know,
37:50WrestleMania match.
37:52Bigger angles,
37:54more time together.
38:00Now how did this rivalry
38:02between Booker T and Stone Cold
38:04legitimize Booker T
38:06in WWE?
38:08I think being able to go toe-to-toe
38:10with the best is
38:12it automatically brings you up, right?
38:14You had Stone Cold who was obviously
38:16Stone Cold Steve Austin and then when Booker T
38:18came and was on that same
38:20level as him, you know, comedically,
38:22athletically, physically
38:24it automatically legitimized him.
38:26This should be a great matchup.
38:28A lot for Booker T to prove here.
38:30At least, if nothing else, to himself.
38:32He had a Hall of Fame career
38:34in WCW alone.
38:36But this is a new audience.
38:38We knew backstage.
38:40We knew who Booker was.
38:42We knew Booker could hang with the greatest of all time.
38:44But for the WWE fans,
38:46they had to see that.
38:48All of a sudden now, these WWE fans look at it
38:50and realize what we knew all along.
38:52This Booker T is special.
38:54He's a once-in-a-generational
38:56performer.
38:58He's a once-in-a-generation
39:00performer.
39:02Just like Stone Cold Steve Austin.
39:04Once the WWE fans realize that,
39:06you see this Hall of Fame career that followed.
39:16Man, the last time I was here
39:18would be when Stone Cold Steve Austin
39:20and I had the infamous
39:22grocery store fight.
39:24It's the Dollar General now.
39:26Back then, it was called the Green Frog.
39:28It was a neighborhood grocery store
39:30that Steve Austin and I went in there
39:32and pretty much dismantled.
39:34Stone Cold Steve Austin
39:36and I, we spared no expense.
39:38We made sure we touched every
39:40piece of that Green Frog
39:42grocery store, and I tell you,
39:44it's definitely bringing back memories.
39:48Emotional scars
39:50as well as physical.
39:52I
39:54think
39:56this moment
39:58had such a huge effect
40:00on my career because I think
40:02this is the moment where I felt like
40:04I had really arrived
40:06as an entertainer.
40:16Hey, Steve!
40:18What are you doing here?
40:20You can't sneak up
40:22on me! What are you talking about?
40:24How are you? Man, we're two guys
40:26from South Texas. He's from Houston.
40:28I'm from 100 miles down the road.
40:30I wasn't trying to sneak up on you. Yeah, you were!
40:32No, man! You're on the grudge!
40:34We just both believe in hard work,
40:36and we both knew that in this business, you had to
40:38pay your dues, and there's respect.
40:40We always smile with each other.
40:42We always laugh with each other.
40:44We had great times in the ring.
40:46We had great times on the road.
40:48How old are you?
40:5049.
40:52I thought I heard you back there.
40:54No, I just looked at you.
40:56We're brothers who are in the same
40:58business, and we had the same
41:00goals and the same ideals
41:02and ideas, and
41:04just the same mantra.
41:06It was one of those things to where we look back on it
41:08and say, wow,
41:10man, we had a hell of
41:12a hand in creating
41:14this thing.
41:16Man, this is a
41:18party right here, dawg.
41:20Wait, wait, I can't stand this, man.
41:22I gotta get into this.
41:24Booker T, joining the party.
41:26I tell you,
41:28that was a great moment for me, that Georgia
41:30Dog woman. Yes, sir!
41:32Here it comes, JR!
41:34WrestleMania-sized
41:36Spinarooni!
41:40And the celebration continues
41:42for Booker T and Stone Cold
41:44Steve Austin!
41:46Oh, and, oh,
41:48Stunner! What a Stunner
41:50on Booker T!
41:52So looking forward to
41:54taking the Stone Cold stuff.