Booker T knows he was in hostile territory in Sturgis, but he says that atmosphere led to his favorite moment as a member of Harlem Heat.
Booker made a name for himself as one-half of Harlem Heat alongside his real-life brother, Stevie Ray. The pair thrived in WCW’s tag team division during the mid-nineties, feuding with other top teams at the time, such as The Steiner Brothers.
The four men worked a series of matches between 1996 and 1997. One match saw Booker T and Stevie Ray defend the WCW World Tag Team Championship against Rick and Scott Steiner at WCW Hog Wild on August 10, 1996.
The setup was quite unusual for a wrestling PPV at the time because it had thousands of bikers in attendance — and most of them wanted to get their hands on Harlem Heat. Booker recalled the “crazy” experience he had working the infamous PPV, alluding to the racial tensions between the bikers in the crowd and him and Stevie.
“That was crazy,” Booker T said during an on-stage appearance on the Club 520 Podcast stage show at WWE World. “It was the stupidest thing in the world. I kept asking myself, ‘How did I get in here?’ It was like freaking being in the Wizard of Oz. I’m serious. It was that crazy because like I said, we was the only [Black guys] there who was going to get Steiner Brothers…circle around the ring. Everybody was on motorcycles and they rode out on their Harleys and we beat the hell out of The Steiner Brothers.”
Booker T and Stevie Ray almost caused a riot at WCW Hog Wild
Booker T said he and his brother riled up the fans to such a point that security had to intervene.
“We almost started a riot, man,” he noted. “They started throwing rocks at us, man. And security had to get inside there. I remember telling the fans — like I said, it was nothing but bikers. And I remember getting the microphone and I said, ‘Listen, I don’t like rednecks. You people are rednecks (laughs).’
“I had to act tough to see if it would work. I swear to God. I don’t know what I was thinking, I really don’t, but it worked. Got those guys. They were so riled up, man. It made that match so freaking awesome. Just getting out of there was the problem.”
Harlem Heat retained their WCW World Tag Team Championship against The Steiner Brothers after Col. Robert Parker broke his cane over Scott Steiner’s head, allowing Booker to pin Scott.
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