83 Weeks - Harlem Heat [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Today’s show is part of our special series celebrating Black History Month. We’re looking at the legendary WCW tag-team of Harlem Heat…Booker Huffman and Lash Huffman, both real-life siblings, and better known to the wrestling world as Booker T and Stevie Ray.

(When did you first meet Booker T and Stevie Ray?)

They’re one of the only tag teams that only appeared in WCW (with a few small exceptions), never had a run in WWE, and was still inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

(How far does that speak to their success in the business?)

But getting to know how they got there means we have to go back to August 22, 1958...that’s when Lash Huffman...Stevie Ray...was born. He was one of eight children. Booker Huffman, obviously Booker T, was the youngest of the eight children. Booker was born on March 1, 1965 in Plain Dealing, Louisiana according to his book Booker T. From Prison to Promise. And like the book title implies, early life was rough. By the time Booker was 13 (Stevie Ray would have been about 20), both parents had died.

(Some people pull all the right cards from the beginning of life. Booker was not one of those guys was he? Yet, he succeeded in spite of this and it brings a greater respect to his accomplishments, right?)

Booker lived with his siblings, including his future tag team partner. And someday, we will do a full-spotlight on his career and life. But since we are here, let’s briefly mention his prison stint.

Booker spent nineteen months in prison after pleading guilty to armed robberies at Wendy's restaurants in Houston. Booker and his cohorts wore Wendy's uniforms during the holdups since they had been working there for 2½ years. Because of the gunmen's uniforms and familiarity with the fast food chain's operations, police suspected the robberies were inside jobs—and it did not take long before Huffman and three other men were found. Booker pleaded guilty in December 1987 to two aggravated robbery counts and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was released after serving 19 months, and was placed on parole until April 1992.

(Did you ever have a conversation with Booker about this experience and how it changed him?)

Booker sought to make a better life for himself after the incident, working as a single father in Houston. Stevie Ray is the one who suggested he and Booker check out a new wrestling school being opened and run by The Polish Hammer, Ivan Putski, in tandem with WWA (Western Wrestling Alliance). In a cool moment of giving it forward, Booker’s boss at work helped him pay for wrestling lessons. Booker and Stevie trained under Scott Casey - known mostly for being an enhancement guy in the late 80s WWF.

Eight weeks later, Booker debuted as "G.I. Bro" on Putski's Western Wrestling Alliance Live! program. The character was a tie-in to the raging Gulf War and the WWF's Sgt. Slaughter angle, funny enough. That’s coming up on a Something to Wrestle With episode. Booker T and Stevie Ray started to team together as The Huffman Brothers in Ivan Putski's Western Wrestling Alliance after a brief feud with each other. Even though the WWA met its demise some time later, Booker continued to wrestle on the Texas independent circuit, often with his brother Lash, who performed as Stevie Ray.

(So for the people who thought GI Bro was a WCW creation, how about that? Any Ivan Putski encounters?)

They were spotted by Skandor Akbar who hired them to work for the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF), where he and Eddie Gilbert were involved. Gilbert teamed Stevie Ray and Booker T together as the Ebony Experience, and they won the GWF Tag Team Championship on July 31, 1992. During their time with GWF, they held the tag title a total of three times.

Subsequently, Booker T and Stevie Ray left the GWF to work for World Championship Wrestling.

(Did you see their work in GWF at the time? When was your first time seeing them wrestle?)

(Did Sid Vicious play a role in getting them jobs? How did they get hired in WCW?)

In storyline, the two debuted in a totally different way from what we know. It’s been described as an unfortunate accident that never aired but was taped on June 22, 1993, WCW Saturday Night. The idea was that they had supposedly just got out of prison and the chain gang. They came to the ring wearing wrist and foot shackles along with prisoner garb. Managed by Col. Robert Parker. A guy who looks like a fucking plantation owner. Obviously, this was pulled off of TV. Now, Jumprope said in an interview that it was an accident that wasn’t meant to look as bad as it did. But there’s a pretty good question…

(How did it end up on TV to begin with? Who’s idea was this?)

Fuller also said that Sid saved the jobs of all three after that happened because of how upset Turner was.

(Is that true? What was the reaction from Turner? What can you tell us about this?)

The team would instead be known as the tag team Harlem Heat, with Booker renamed Kole and Lash renamed Kane. It’s weird how many times people were given the name Kane before Glenn Jacobs. They were then billed from Harlem, which has notoriously bad heat waves during the summer, so it actually makes sense.

(Where did the name Harlem Heat come from?)

Their first matches came during July Disney MGM tapings that were set to air in September. But they actually debuted in August on Worldwide. They won over two enhancement guys after hitting a powerbomb/elbow off the top rope double team. From the beginning, they had a very physical style, but considering the Steiners and LOD, a physical style was almost the benchmark for tag-teams.

On WCW Saturday night in August, 93, Harlem Heat continued working with Sid Vicious including in a brawl against Sting and Flair. They worked a lot of other shows around this time with top guys.

(It’s pretty crazy to see how they came into the company and immediately were working with the top guys. Was that Sid’s influence? And, do you think they delivered the goods when playing with the big boys here?)

On August 18, Clash of the Champions 24 in Daytona Beach went down. While the Harlem Heat were already working with main eventers, this moment ensured they would be etched in history forever. The show featured Sting & Davey Boy Smith as guests of A Flair for the Gold in which they discussed their upcoming participation in Wargames at Fall Brawl; moments later, Sid Vicious, Col. Rob Parker, and Harlem Heat interrupted with Sid demanding to know who their mystery partner would be for Wargames and Sting announcing it would be...none other than...the Shockmaster. The pyro goes off. A man that is obviously Tugboat is wearing a Stormtrooper helmet with glitter. And he falls through the wall with the helmet rolling off of him in a manner that couldn’t have been scripted to be funnier. “I told you. Oh god” can be heard off camera. Then a voice that sounds like Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget speaks over the PA.

(Any excuse we have to bring this up is a good one. To their credit, Harlem Heat kept it together. But, it’s strange how many botched debuts are happening here, right? Do you have any memories of Booker or Stevie Ray’s reaction to this?)

They teamed with Vader and Sid Vicious in the War Games at Fall Brawl on September 19, 1993, against Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes, and The Shockmaster. Booker/Kole submitted to the Shockmaster’s bearhug in the match. Still, it’s been written that they were over as heels because of the caliber of faces they wrestled and managed to contend with.

They worked against the team of US Champion Dustin Rhodes and the Shockmaster at several events after this but by the next big show, Halloween Havoc 93, they weren’t working with main event guys. At that show, the Shockmaster, Ice Train, & Charlie Norris defeated Harlem Heat & the Equalizer (Dave Sullivan) at 9:48 when Shockmaster pinned Kole with a bearhug into a powerslam.

(I never understood why Shockmaster would win here. Was it felt that the character might really go somewhere? Was this just Dusty looking out for Uncle Fred?)

At Battlebowl on November 20, the team was split up with Kane and Charlie Norris losing their match and Davey Boy Smith and Kole losing their match. They’re still being used. It just feels like the company is trying to figure out how to use them properly.

At the November 30 taping of WCW Saturday night at Centre Stage, Ric Flair defeated Kole/Booker with the figure-4 in a ten-minute main event. Shockmaster stopped Kane from interfering to allow Flair to win. It might not be a win, but, getting in there with Flair in the main event is a nice rub.

It was around this time that Sid Vicious was fired for his altercation with Arn Anderson.

(Did it pose a threat to Harlem Heat’s job security when Sid left, here? Or had they proven themselves by this point?)

No idea if it’s related to that or not, but Harlem Heat was left off of Starrcade 93.

But by SuperBrawl 4 on February 20, 1994, Harlem Heat was winning again on PPV, defeating the team of Thunder and Lightning.

(Any memories of Thunder and Lightning? What team did you like better, them or Fire and Ice? And why do all of these sound like back pain ointments?)

The team doesn’t appear at the next two pay per views, Spring Stampede or Slamboree. During much of the summer, they appeared sparsely in the company. Then, on August 6, at a live episode of WCW Saturday night, they defeated Brad and Brian Armstrong. But before the match, they were on a cell phone speaking to a mystery advisor.

At WCW Saturday Night tapings to air on August 27, Harlem Heat spoke to Mean Gene saying their advisor would be helping them get to the top. They would only confirm that it was a “he.”

On October 10 at Gainesville, Georgia in TV tapings, the late Johnny Attitude was introduced as Harlem Heat’s mystery manager...in segments that never aired. He’s the guy who founded Micro Championship Wrestling.

(Do you remember why the plan was changed from having Johnny Attitude be their manager?)

(I always thought as a kid that the cell phone angle was to build up to Sherri - and it did technically do that - but that wasn’t the plan at first?)

At the October 30 Worldwide tapings to air on November 26, Harlem Heat appeared with Sherri, telling Tony Schiavone she was now known as Sister Sherri and not Sensuous Sherri.

That’s because by that TV taping, plans had already been laid in motion to switch to Sherri as the manager. Or so it would seem. At the live Clash of the Champions on November 16 from Jacksonville, Florida, Harlem Heat defeated the Nasty Boys at around the 10-minute mark when Stevie Ray pinned Jerry Saggs. The match ended when, after Saggs hit the flying elbow smash, Booker T hit an axe handle off the top and put Stevie Ray on top as both Brian Knobbs and the referee were distracted by Sherri Martel who appeared ringside during the closing moments of the bout; after the match, Sherri and Heat revealed she had been the person they had been speaking to for months on their cell phone.

(Where did the plan for Sherri to manage them come from? It seemed like a perfect pairing. But it also seems like that wasn’t always the direction.)

Sister Sherri began managing the team. It was also around then they changed their names back to Booker T and Stevie Ray, from Kole and Kane respectively.

(Why did they want to drop the kayfabe names? I didn’t mind them)

Harlem Heat won their first of TEN WCW World Tag Team Championship at a WCW Saturday Night that was taped at the end of 94 but aired on January 14, 1995. The Heat defeated Stars and Stripes (The Patriot and Marcus Alexander Bagwell) to begin a five-month title reign. They went on to defeat them in rematches including one at the Clash 30 from Caeser’s Palace in Las Vegas.

(Why was this the right time to put the titles on Harlem Heat?)

(What were they like backstage now that they’ve been paired with Sherri and have their first taste of gold?)

Harlem Heat began a memorable feud going into the next pay-per-view with a team that enjoyed a resurgence in the mid-90s WCW roster - the Nasty Boys. On several occasions, the Nastys almost took the titles from them only to have the heels keep the belts.

They had a memorable match at WCW Uncensored 95 on March 19 in Tupelo. Observer readers voted their match that night the best on the card. It was a non-title Texas Tornado match, by name, but it was basically a recreation of the Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl.

Meltzer said:

It was easily the worst concession stand brawl in history but it's almost inherent a concession stand brawl is going to be good. Heat wound up with mustard all over them. Inside comment of the match was when Bobby Heenan made a crack about the inmates are running the asylum and Tony Schiavone said he'd read that line somewhere (it was in one of the letters Vince McMahon sent to Ted Turner trying to get him to either clean up or shut down the company). One of the concession stands was "selling" funnel cakes. Anyway, that stand collapsed when the guys were whipped into it, and Knobs pinned Booker T with a powerslam on the wood from the stand. **½

The mustard is a direct throwback to the original.

(How do you remember Harlem Heat’s feelings about doing this type of match?

(Was the “inmates running the asylum” thing a line you fed the announcers or an ad-lib?)

It was announced that the Nasty Boys would get one final shot at the Harlem Heat’s tag titles. The title shot would be at Slamboree. But before that could happen, Harlem Heat won the tag titles back from the Nasty Boys. You heard me right. On May 3, at TV tapings set to air on June 24, with help from interference, Harlem Heat won the tag titles back. Gary Michael Cappetta announced Heat as the champions but not the new champions, indicating there had not been a title change

That’s because they didn’t lose the belts until May 21 - at Slamboree.  The Nasty Boys defeated WCW Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat (w/ Sister Sherri) to win the titles at 10:52 when Jerry Saggs pinned Booker T following the running powerslam / flying elbow smash double team.

(Was this as complicated to pull off as it was to try to explain?)

(Why does it seem like Booker T is the one doing all of the jobs here?)

Harlem Heat became tweeners and entered a feud with Col. Parker's Stud Stable of "Dirty" Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck, eventually dropping the titles to them on an episode of Saturday Night on July 22, 1995, thanks to interference from Parker. Parker and Sherri were carrying on a love affair and Parker eventually left the Stud Stable in favor of the Heat to be with Sherri. Harlem Heat regained the WCW World Tag Team titles from Slater and Buck at Fall Brawl 1995.

Their third title reign only lasted one day, as they lost the titles on the September 18, 1995 Nitro to the AMERICAN MALES. AMERICAN MALES. AMERICAN MALES. AMERICAN MALES. AMERICAN MALES. AMERICAN MALES. AMERICAN MALES. but Harlem Heat regained the tag team title nine days later at WCW Saturday Night tapings. That’s four title reigns

(Was there any reason for the brief title run here for the American Males? Did you just want to give them the big win on TV?)

Harlem Heat would drop the tag titles to Sting and Lex Luger on the January 22, 1996 Nitro in Las Vegas. For the first half of 1996, they held onto the belts.

But the biggest moment of Harlem Heat’s career to date happened on the June 24, 1996 Nitro, when Harlem Heat defeated Luger and Sting to begin their fifth reign.

(Was that a big endorsement for the Heat or was this just about getting Sting and Luger freed up for the nWo angles?)

The next two title changes were at a series of house shows in late July. The Steiners defeated Harlem Heat on July 24 in Cincinnati but three days later, Harlem Heat regained the straps from the Steiners in Dayton. That marks six title reigns.

On September 23, at Nitro from Birmingham, Booker T and Stevie Ray were defeated by Public Enemy (Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge) but took the titles back for the seventh time on the October 5 WCW Saturday night.

They lost the titles to The Outsiders at Halloween Havoc on October 27, 1996. After that, they became full-fledged faces when they fired Col. Parker and beat him up.

(These guys were getting a lot of fan appreciation for their work back then and even as heels, seemed to be pretty heavily cheered. Was this just a natural next step for them?)

They briefly feuded against Parker's newest team The Amazing French Canadians, a feud they would win. In 1997, they feuded with Public Enemy, The Steiners, and the nWo. Most WCW wrestlers had something to say about the nWo around this time, even if they weren’t programmed with them.

So Spring Stampede 1997 happens. Booker T and Stevie Ray are backstage talking to Mean Gene. While Booker is talking, he is fired up. “After we take Lex Luger and the Giant, we want the gold sucka! Hulk Hogan. We coming for YOU…” followed by the N word.

As soon as the word leaves Booker’s mouth, he puts his hands over his head like “What have I done?” Sherri tries to reassure him and stays in character. Booker recovers and puts on his mean mug. But on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T described it as the worst moment of his life in WCW. He said he wanted to stick his head in the sand. He said in the wrestling business, until that day, none of his peers in the business had NEVER heard him say that word.

“I thought that was the end of my career.”

(What are you thinking when you first hear it? Was Booker ever in any trouble for the slip? Did Turner get upset?)

On the July 7, 1997 Nitro, they fired Sherri and added a new manager, Jacqueline, on the September 15 Nitro.

(Why did you remove Sherri from the team?) (Tell us for a second about bringing in Jacqueline.)(Memories of Jacqueline?)

They were briefly put out of action by the nWo, but returned to feud with the Faces of Fear (Meng and The Barbarian). Stevie then took five months off from WCW to recover from an ankle injury and Jacqueline left for the WWF while Booker made a transition to singles competition.

(Was the plan always for Booker to transition to singles here or did Stevie Ray’s injury change plans?)

Booker managed to win the WCW World Television Championship during Stevie's absence. Upon his return to WCW, Stevie Ray joined the New World Order, while Booker continued to be a rising singles star. Despite being on opposite sides, they managed to peacefully co-exist (despite Booker expressing dismay at Stevie for joining the nWo). I loved this because instead of the typical feud we would almost expect to be booked, we got a very realistic outcome.

(What was the idea behind keeping their character’s friendly despite the different factions? Any specific reason for it?)

By mid-1999, Booker was able to convince his brother to leave the nWo and reunited Harlem Heat once more. The two defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Kanyon for their record-breaking eighth WCW World Tag Team championships at the 1999 Road Wild but lost them to the West Texas Rednecks - Barry and Kendall Windham - on August 23 at Nitro.

Harlem Heat would defeat them about a month later at the 1999 Fall Brawl to win the titles and begin their ninth run. They lost the titles a month later on Nitro to Konnan and Rey Mysterio. But when The Filthy Animals were stripped of the WCW World Tag Team belts due to an injury suffered by Rey Mysterio Jr., the title was put up in a three-way dance at Halloween Havoc 1999. Harlem Heat claimed their tenth WCW World Tag Team title defeating members of The First Family (Hugh Morrus and Brian Knobs) and the Filthy Animals (Konnan and Billy Kidman).

They lost the belts the next night to the Filthy Animals (Konnan and Kidman).

(Do you start to feel like all of these title switches have made it hard to mean anything?)

Let’s talk about the less remembered Harlem Heat 2000

In late 1999, a female bodybuilder named Midnight joined Harlem Heat. While Booker T liked the addition, Stevie Ray neglected her help and started arguing with Booker T. Ray eventually challenged Midnight in a match that would decide whether she would stay with Harlem Heat. After being defeated with a surprise small package, Stevie Ray turned on both Booker T and Midnight.

Midnight was Ann-Marie Crooks, trained by the WCW Power Plant. She was a body builder before her wrestling career and a realtor in Florida after.

(Did you ever encounter her and have any memories or impressions or did your time not overlap?)

(We had Legion of Doom 2000. Tecmo Team 2000. Harlem Heat 2000. Is that just a doomed gimmick, adding 2000 in front of the name of something?)

In February, 2000 Stevie Ray formed Harlem Heat, Inc. with Big T, Kash (formerly known as 4x4 from The No Limit Soldiers) and J. Biggs. Stevie Ray and Big T referred to themselves as Harlem Heat 2000.

Of course, Big T was Anthony Norris, better known as Ahmed Johnson. He had gained a massive amount of weight since his WWE days and reports were that his weight was what caused him to get released later on in the year.

(Did you ever get to know Big T?)

And J. Biggs was the man known in WWE as Clarence Mason, real name Herman Stevens Jr. and yes, a real attorney.

Booker T lost the rights to his music and the "T" in his name at SuperBrawl 2000 as it was owned by Harlem Heat and was referred to simply as Booker. Big T pinned Booker in the match. Kidman and Booker defeated Harlem Heat 2000 (Stevie Ray and Big T) at Uncensored.

(Overall feelings looking back on the Harlem Heat 2000 adaptation?)

That was it for Harlem Heat in WCW.

I do want to talk about their theme song for a second, though. Not only was it a stake in a match we just talked about, but it would end up being Booker T’s theme song for the rest of his career, except for a few short periods.

Booker T said this on his podcast:

“That’s some music that WCW back in the day found in the archives.  When I went to WWE, I really needed that music and they (WWE) purchased the rights to that music.  I don’t know if they bought it outright but I definitely could not have gone through my career with any other music than that song.  I remember at one point they tried to change my music in WWE and they had me coming out to a rap song.  That wasn’t working for me.  I said, ‘Vince, I need my old music back, please.’  He said, ‘ok, just roll with it for another 3 weeks to a month and we will get it back.’  I did not feel nowhere near the same Booker T walking out to that music as I did walking out to Harlem Heat music that I had seared in my brain for so many years.  That song, when I first heard it, I knew it was the song that I wanted and the song that I needed because that song didn’t stereotype Harlem Heat.  When you heard that song, you knew it was Harlem Heat and no matter what color you were, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, you were going to start rocking.”

From what we can tell, he was right and it was just some production music someone found and put with them.

(Who would have done that? Jimmy Hart? And is that the best selection of production music ever?)

But Booker T’s singles career was well underway by the time Harlem Heat ended in WCW. He was elevated to main event status in 2000. After Russo grew disgruntled with Hulk Hogan's “politics,” he fired Hogan during Bash at the Beach and announced an impromptu match between Jeff Jarrett and Booker for the World Title. Booker T won the match, in the process becoming the second ever African American champion in WCW after Ron Simmons, and the third African American to win a World Heavyweight title.

(It was a really historic moment and yet, it is overshadowed by the controversy with Hulk Hogan. Do you think that was unfair to Booker T?)

(Did he talk to you about what it meant for him?)

Booker T was then defeated by Kevin Nash on August 28 on Nitro. He regained the title a few weeks later in a steel cage match with Nash at Fall Brawl, but again lost the title, this time to Vince Russo himself in a cage match (Russo was speared out of the cage by Goldberg and won the title). Russo vacated the title and Booker won it for the third time in a San Francisco 49er Box Match against Jeff Jarrett on the October 2 episode of Nitro.

Booker's next feud was with Scott Steiner, to whom he eventually lost the title in a Straitjacket steel cage match. Steiner won by TKO when he put an unconscious Booker into the Steiner Recliner at Mayhem. Steiner was WCW's longest reigning champion in years, whilst Booker was briefly out with an injury. Booker returned to the roster and defeated Rick Steiner for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship at Greed. This made Booker the ninth WCW Triple Crown winner. On the final episode of Nitro, he defeated Scott Steiner to win the World title for the fourth time.

(Was Booker T the top babyface in WCW when it folded? Would you have had a big spot for him in the WCW rebirth, if it had gone down?)

According to sports journalist Michael Landsberg, Huffman was salaried at "close to a million dollars a year" in WCW. He won a total of twenty-one titles within the organization, making him the most decorated performer in its history. Booker was also the reigning WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and WCW World Heavyweight Champion when he accepted a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

And his time with the WWF, as we all know, was a huge success in its own right. That’s a show for another day and time, though.

On February 21, 2015, Booker T and Stevie Ray reunited as Harlem Heat for one last match at Booker T's promotion, Reality of Wrestling's The Final Heat event, where they defeated The New Heavenly Bodies for the ROW Tag Team Championship.

Harlem Heat was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6, 2019 as part of the 2019 class. A rare honor for a tag team that never competed in the company.

(What do you think the legacy will be of Harlem Heat? Can it be measured how many young African American viewers were inspired by their success?)

Questions

Francis Reyes asks...Who do you think was the main success of Harlem Heat Teddy Long or Sherri?

Francis Reyes asks..Who came up with the look and feel of Harlem Heat?

Macheww Spanks...Who decided to split them up and was it discussed anytime before it actually happened?

Carter asks...Two questions , what were your thoughts on Booker T using the ‘Harlem Hangover’ finisher (top rope, front flip, landing with a leg drop) and what was your reaction to the “We’re coming for you (N-Bomb) on that backstage promo? You can see Book realizing he messed up!

Mayhem asks...Some people say Booker T might of been a little too stiff or careless in the ring in certain spots. In your experience, did anyone come to you with concerns on him working too stiff or maybe not being as careful in some spots?

Macheww asks...I've heard Booker say that he had a lot of respect for Hogan. Hogan helped him get his big break. How did it happen if it was the true story?

Mikey 1981 asks...Who decided to change their names from Kane and Kole to Booker T and Stevie Ray and where do they rank in all time WCW tag teams.

TOP GUY Travis Liller asks...Do you feel that Harlem Heat is underrated? I feel they go down as one of the greatest tag teams period, but in their era they helped pave the way for African American tag teams and singles superstars to come.

Luther Burris asks...Why do you think Stevie Ray didn’t have the single run success like Booker T?

Heisenberg Blue asks...Who had the idea to bring “Big T” (Ahmed Johnson) into Harlem Heat 2000, and what was the reason for his leaving?

Instagram: A Wrestling HIstorian asks….I'm glad Booker T finally got his moment, but was there any consideration to put the WCW Title on Stevie Ray?

KARR_82 asks...How did they feel about the Road Wild PPVs? Kinda stick out at Sturgis.

Ted Dahlman asks...which member of Harlem Heat is the funniest, and which would you want on your side in a bar fight?

Rajiv asks...Did you realize at the time how groundbreaking for many young African American people it would be that Harlem Heat were tag team champions?

Rory Mehlberg asks...Which tag team, past or present, would you love to see Harlem Heat face off on a dream match.

Stu asks...What was the deal the with the flip flopping tag team title belt design in the mid to late 90's??

Rajiv asks...A lot of times in cases like The Rockers and the Steiners, it looks obvious who the breakout singles star would be. Was it obvious to you that Booker was that guy, or did you at one point think Stevie was the star?

Heisenberg Blue asks...Can Eric talk about the backstage (creative) talks that took place in regards to the decision to give Booker his run as a single, and his push as the World Champion?

WrestlingHistoryX asks...Did you ever think that Booker T would become a 5-time (you know the rest) champion, when on his 1st 3 ppv he would lose to the Shockmaster twice and Rip Rogers?

Chris N asks...Who was really sold on Harlem Heat and who wasn’t ?

Shruggable asks...Can you, in fact, dig it sucka?

Chris Carpenter asks...Whose idea was it to put Stevie Ray in the NWO?