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Post by cordless2016 on May 2, 2015 19:37:59 GMT -5
Having watched Booker for much of his time in WCW I was ecstatic as a 10 year old when he finally won the world title in 2000. Not only did he deserve it but he was booked strong as well. He was taken seriously, and booked super strong, even pinning Goldberg. The video below is part 1 of 4 and shows why he was so great in 2000...
He was respected by the fans. He was booked as a hard worker who busted his butt for years. And most importantly he wasn't treated as an idiot.
Then he got to the WWE and this happened...
Almost immediately upon debuting for Vince he was treated as a joke. He had a few matches with Kurt Angle where he barely got any offense. He had a series of matches with Rock where again he barely got any offense (besides there SummerSlam match). Hell he was booked weak against WWE midcarders like Edge and Test.
But the most mind boggling change was to his character. In WCW he was portrayed as a smart, hard worker who earned the respect of his peers and the fans. In the WWE he was booked as a buffoon who called everyone a "sucka" and as we would learn at WM18, wrote his college thesis on Einstein's "Theory of Relatives."
This change in character would follow him for most of his WWE run but in 2001 it was ridiculous. My question is was anyone else as upset about this huge character change as me? Even as a kid I was like "is this even the same guy?" I understand this was during the time Vince was burying everything WCW related but didn't he realize that Booker was going to be a part of the WWE for the next decade? Maybe he didn't think Booker would last long but in the end it was still ridiculous how he was booked in 2001.
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Post by Roman Bellic on May 2, 2015 19:44:14 GMT -5
i think it was a jab to WCW after WWE won the wars
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Post by marino13 on May 2, 2015 19:57:13 GMT -5
Booker in wCw was great. Except for maybe his Book End and hokey catch phrases. But I still was a fan and loved seeing him go over Goldberg.
But his WWE run took forever to get going. Rock made him look like a nobody. Austin made him look like a bitch. And worse yet, his first WM he loses over a shampoo commercial. Rough times for the Book man.
I think Vince had a tendency to pick on the newbies. A bully of sorts. Once he realizes they can hang he loves them. Booker took some time, but caught on and had a great career.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on May 2, 2015 19:58:26 GMT -5
It didn't bother me cause I was never a fan of Booker T.
Plus WWE always treats WCW guys like crap.
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Post by Valbroski on May 2, 2015 20:03:44 GMT -5
yeah I was only 8 when all this happened so I had no idea who Booker T was because I never watched WCW.
I always found his fued with Austin entertaining, though. especially when they fought in the supermarket.
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Post by drifter on May 2, 2015 21:52:44 GMT -5
Booker in wCw was great. Except for maybe his Book End and hokey catch phrases. But I still was a fan and loved seeing him go over Goldberg. But his WWE run took forever to get going. Rock made him look like a nobody. Austin made him look like a bitch. And worse yet, his first WM he loses over a shampoo commercial. Rough times for the Book man. I think Vince had a tendency to pick on the newbies. A bully of sorts. Once he realizes they can hang he loves them. Booker took some time, but caught on and had a great career. Honestly, when they started giving him the catch phrases, and the Bookend, and also adding the "don't hate the player hate the game," at the beginning of his theme, it came off like they were trying to turn him into their version of the Rock. And man, to me, when they added that to the beginning of his theme, it sounded like crap, it didn't fit, to start his music. At least WWE fixed it, to what his music is now. The can you dig it sucka, start flows so much better into his music. Yeah, I think Vince has had that reputation for not really warming up to someone, until they prove they can take it. There are quite a few guys out there that have said in interviews, that Vince will respect a guy, that will stand up for himself, and not just take all the crap given to him. And with Booker also being one of those guys that was the face of WCW, he had that weight added on to things too. |
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Post by cordless2016 on May 2, 2015 22:13:22 GMT -5
I believe Booker was doing the "Bookend" long before Rock was doing the "Rock Bottom." Could be wrong but I could have sworn Booker was doing the move while still apart of Harlem Heat.
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Post by marino13 on May 2, 2015 22:30:24 GMT -5
Booker in wCw was great. Except for maybe his Book End and hokey catch phrases. But I still was a fan and loved seeing him go over Goldberg. But his WWE run took forever to get going. Rock made him look like a nobody. Austin made him look like a bitch. And worse yet, his first WM he loses over a shampoo commercial. Rough times for the Book man. I think Vince had a tendency to pick on the newbies. A bully of sorts. Once he realizes they can hang he loves them. Booker took some time, but caught on and had a great career. Honestly, when they started giving him the catch phrases, and the Bookend, and also adding the "don't hate the player hate the game," at the beginning of his theme, it came off like they were trying to turn him into their version of the Rock. And man, to me, when they added that to the beginning of his theme, it sounded like crap, it didn't fit, to start his music. At least WWE fixed it, to what his music is now. The can you dig it sucka, start flows so much better into his music. Yeah, I think Vince has had that reputation for not really warming up to someone, until they prove they can take it. There are quite a few guys out there that have said in interviews, that Vince will respect a guy, that will stand up for himself, and not just take all the crap given to him. And with Booker also being one of those guys that was the face of WCW, he had that weight added on to things too. Yeah I wasn't a fan of them making Booker a wCw version of the Rock. It reeked of desperation. |
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Post by drifter on May 2, 2015 22:36:37 GMT -5
Honestly, when they started giving him the catch phrases, and the Bookend, and also adding the "don't hate the player hate the game," at the beginning of his theme, it came off like they were trying to turn him into their version of the Rock. And man, to me, when they added that to the beginning of his theme, it sounded like crap, it didn't fit, to start his music. At least WWE fixed it, to what his music is now. The can you dig it sucka, start flows so much better into his music. Yeah, I think Vince has had that reputation for not really warming up to someone, until they prove they can take it. There are quite a few guys out there that have said in interviews, that Vince will respect a guy, that will stand up for himself, and not just take all the crap given to him. And with Booker also being one of those guys that was the face of WCW, he had that weight added on to things too. Yeah I wasn't a fan of them making Booker a wCw version of the Rock. It reeked of desperation. It's just funny to think, here they were with Booker, a home grown talent, that they break in to the main event, the fans are behind him, so the decision, make him into a watered down version of a WWE talent. |
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Deleted
Joined on: May 12, 2024 13:31:52 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2015 13:43:50 GMT -5
Vince taking pot shots at WCW, that's all it was.
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Post by mikey1974 on May 3, 2015 19:03:45 GMT -5
Vince taking pot shots at WCW, that's all it was. pretty much. he had an opportunity to disrespect / put down a WCW talent, and he took it. like usual. |
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famdamuxwl
Superstar
Joined on: Feb 26, 2013 18:53:27 GMT -5
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Post by famdamuxwl on May 3, 2015 19:21:12 GMT -5
It didn't bother me cause I was never a fan of Booker T. Plus WWE always treats WCW guys like crap. That is wrong! What about Sting!!! Oh wait.... never mind.. Your correct. |
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Deleted
Joined on: May 12, 2024 13:31:52 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2015 19:43:21 GMT -5
Vince taking pot shots at WCW, that's all it was. pretty much. he had an opportunity to disrespect / put down a WCW talent, and he took it. like usual. The fact that he's still doing it today is very worrying. |
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dante123
Main Eventer
Joined on: May 28, 2009 13:04:39 GMT -5
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Post by dante123 on May 3, 2015 21:07:49 GMT -5
I believe Booker was doing the "Bookend" long before Rock was doing the "Rock Bottom." Could be wrong but I could have sworn Booker was doing the move while still apart of Harlem Heat. He did back in 1993 |
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