Arn Anderson – “I Think The World Of Booker T, He Made You Believe”
During his time in professional wrestling Booker T has done it all.
From being a highly decorated tag team star alongside his brother Stevie Ray, to becoming a five time, five time, five time, five time, five time, WCW Champion and WWE King Of The Ring.
Speaking on his podcast ARN, available via Ad Free Shows, looking back at the last ever WCW Nitro, Arn Anderson has lavished praise on the man who was the company’s most decorated wrestler.
Reflecting on Booker’s career, Anderson praised the former world champion for being both believable and entertaining inside the ring.
“I think the world of Book [Booker T]. I loved him and Stevie [Ray] and Sensational Sherri when they were together – awesome, awesome tandem. But you could always tell that Booker was going to be, at some point, separated out as a single.
When you say ‘the guy’s entertaining’, I could look at that and go ‘what guy are we talking about? Okay is he doing all ‘haha’?’ That’s considered one form of entertaining. Or is the guy going out and just athletically tearing the joint down but mixing some of the razzamatazz like the Spin-a-Roonie and all that stuff in with quality work, and that’s what Booker was. He was a guy that would go out, he would make you believe he was never going to stay down, he made you believe in him as the character, he made you believe he could fight. But when it was time he entertained and he would hit that Spin-a-Roonie and all kind of different things that he had. And he was the all-around cowboy and I was so happy that he was finally getting his claim to fame.”
Anderson added that while he wasn’t a fan of the much maligned ‘King of the Ring’ gimmick, Booker was the only man who was able to make it work.
“Once he got to the WWF, surprisingly they must have seen it in him too because they just continued on. He’s the only King of the Ring, that I thought, did that tired gimmick justice – [I was] not a fan of it, I think it was just ‘haha’ and made most guys just look foolish. He’s a guy who took it and ran with it and made it entertaining and had a hell of a run with the company as a result.”
Booker T himself has also recently recalled his time in WCW, comparing it to what he now sees in AEW. Booker would question the wisdom in AEW signing so many veteran stars, commenting that “it seems like they’re pulling a revamp of WCW.”
While Booker T has moved away from being a full-time performer in recent years, he still maintains a working relationship with WWE appearing on numerous ‘Kick Off’ shows before WWE pay-per-view events.