Booker T On Who Put Harlem Heat On The Map, His Idol As A Kid & More

WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T recently spoke with ESPN for an interview. Below are some of the highlights.

On working with Stevie Ray and who put their Harlem Heat tag-team on the map: “Oh man, first part of my career was awesome. Having my big brother Steve Ray, he’s my blood brother, my real brother, having him watch my back for nearly 10 years in WCW. It was a great ride, 10-time world tag team champion with my brother and then to work with Sheri Martell back in the days, you know, a dream come true. I always say that Sheri Martell was that one thing that put Harlem Heat on the map, made us a legitimate tag team. We took it from there, after that, the singles career.”

On his idol as a kid: “I have an obligation more than anything. I was young, like a lot of people are right now, making mistakes. Was young once upon a time looking for that person to look up to. Muhammad Ali was my idol and I always say, if Muhammad Ali had told me the exact same thing my mother, the principal, the security guard, my brothers. …You know, the same thing they were telling me that I didn’t listen to, I would have listened, just because it came from Muhammad Ali.”

On working at different levels in the pro wrestling business: “You know, it’s gratifying to be able to change my levels in life. You don’t want to be in one place forever, and for me, I had a chance to move to the next stage of life. So many of us wrestlers get caught in one place. For me, I went at 30 years old and knew how well it felt to retire and see what was like on the other side, enjoy the fruits of the labor and now doing commentary is awesome and in my wrestling school I still have a chance to live vicariously through my wrestling students.”

Check out the complete Booker T interview at ESPN.com.