This article is in the Orlando Sentinel

Booker T moves on from WWE but says he's not finished wrestling yet

Brian Fritz | Fightin' Words on Wrestling and Mixed Martial Arts

October 24, 2007

Over the past year, World Wrestling Entertainment had been ruled by King Booker. But the king has vacated his throne.

After seven successful years with World Wrestling Entertainment, the wrestler best known as Booker T (Robert Booker Huffman) decided it was time to walk away from the promotion.

On Oct. 16, the WWE announced that he and his wife, Sharmell, had been given their releases from their contracts effective as of Oct. 27.

Booker T was serving a 60-day suspension when his name came up on a list of clients of Signature Pharmacy, which has been battling an investigation by New York prosecutors alleging the sale of performance-enhancing drugs over the Internet. Booker T has denied that he was ever a client of that company and feels that he was a scapegoat.

"I feel that I wasn't protected by the (WWE)," says Booker T. "I feel like I got suspended without just cause. I feel like it wasn't right, and that's the reason why I chose to leave WWE because in order to protect my reputation, I have to believe in something."

It's a reputation that he had earned as a veteran of the wrestling business, a career that has lasted more than 18 years.

"I've never heard my name come up in any scandals or anything like that," he says. "You've never heard of Booker T having a late-night party or was drunk on the town naked. I've been a total role model as far as my professional wrestling career goes. I just want to keep it that way. I've got a lot of fans out there. A lot of kids look up to me."

There were other factors that led to his departure from the WWE. Over the past few years, he lost two good friends with the deaths of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Plus, the tough schedule was starting to take a toll on him both physically and mentally.

"I knew that at this stage in my career it was time for me to take a step back from the WWE because I wasn't willing to keep putting myself out there and wake up 50 years old one day pushing a walker," says Booker T.

After more than three years of performing for the WWE Smackdown brand, Booker T was moved to the Raw brand in June, a change he did not want.

"My time on Smackdown, it was a great run," explains Booker T. "It was beautiful, just pushing for whoever was the champion over there. We really didn't care who was the champion. There were no politics, no hassles. Then going back over to Raw, it was like a dark cloud coming over. I just knew it wasn't the place where I wanted to be. There are a whole lot of politics. You have to deal with a lot of garbage. I just knew, for my mental state, it wasn't going to be a good place."

It was at the Judgment Day pay-per-view on May 21, 2006 when Booker T won the King of the Ring tournament and transformed himself into King Booker, a character he had been until his release by WWE. Fans really had taken to the role, which saw Booker dressed in a robe and crown as he spoke with an English accent. It was over the top -- as most successful wrestling personas are.

"It was my creation, my persona and everything that I did was all me," says Booker T. "I'm trying to reinvent myself , and being that character gave everyone the opportunity to see me in a different light. The fans loved it and fell into the character of King Booker."

In July, King Booker declared that he was the only king in wrestling as he started a feud with legendary wrestler and Monday Night Raw announcer Jerry "The King" Lawler. Many thought the storyl ine between them would build to a match at the Aug. 26 Summerslam pay-per-view.

Instead, the feud ended weeks earlier in a match on television which King Booker won. At Summerslam, Booker squared off with Triple H (Paul Levesque) who was returning after an eight-month absence resulting from an injury.

"That's where the business part comes in, the politics come in," explains Booker T. "I really feel like it should have been me and Jerry Lawler at Summerslam. I'm a professional, and I go out there and do my job. It wasn't what it could have been. I can honestly say I have never watched that match on tape because I felt like my body was out there but my mind wasn't."

Now, Booker T is focused on his own wrestling promotion in his hometown of Houston, called the Pro Wrestling Alliance. There, he trains newcomers how to wrestle and also holds shows in the area.

"One reason why I opened my wrestling school was to teach guys the real way of going out there and doing this -- knowing the psychology of professional wrestling, knowing how to be that fan sitting in the audience as you're in the ring doing your thing,'' says Booker T. "That way you know exactly what that fan is looking for. They go out there and do their routine, and that's pretty much it."

As for his career in the ring, Booker T says it's not over yet.
   
"Oh no -- definitely not retired. When I retire, you're going to see the fireworks, everything."

Brian Fritz is the host of the Between the Ropes show, which airs Wednesday nights from 10-midnight on 740 AM (WQTM). You can e-mail him at [email protected].