Heated Conversations with Booker T
Release Date: November 18th, 2018
Recap By: James Hayes
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Booker and Co-Host Brad Gilmore welcome you to the show!
CM Punk Backstage Incident
Right off the bat, we got to address the story from Jericho’s cruise. Brad breaks it down.
“On Chris Jericho’s cruise there was a podcast going on with himself, Cody Rhodes, and I think The Young Bucks. Those were the people doing the podcast. And they started talking about the old WWE days with Jericho and Cody. They brought up locker room leadership, who the leaders were. And at one point CM Punk, who we’ve talked about on the show, who is a current broadcaster for The UFC, former UFC fighter, former WWE World Champion, he asserted himself as a locker room leader. And he told them to pick up the trash off the floor. He was asserting himself, as one of the leaders of the locker room. He told the people in the dressing room, ‘You’ll better pick up this trash on the floor.’ And then the story allegedly from Jericho and Cody was that you found this to be funny, that he would assert himself as the leader, and you saw it fit to throw your own garbage on the floor and say, ‘Pick this up.’ Or something to that effect.”
“Now I will say having known you for 5 or 6 years, I could see something similar to that happening,” Brad confesses. Booker asks, “Have you ever heard me tell that story?”
Brad says no, but maybe a version of it. Booker thinks the story has been embellished and that Jericho has been around 108 years, Booker says he wants to clear the air.
“There was some thievery going on in the locker room. Guys were getting things stolen. Ipads, Laptops, chargers, stuff like that. And what happened was CM Punk, myself, and Big Show, the problem had to be addressed by the boys because it was a situation that was happening among us. We didn’t bring the office into this. It was the boys. We felt like we had to have a meeting about this. Somebody said ‘Book you might want to say a few words.’ And I said, ‘Come on we brothers. We go up and down the road with each other. I should be able to leave my wallet right here in the middle of the locker room and go to catering, and when I come back somebody should say,’ Hey Book, you forgot your wallet I picked it up for you.’ Big Show came up and he said a couple words. Then CM Punk says, ‘Hey if I find out who’s doing I’m just gonna kick the SOB’s a**. I’m not gonna talk like Booker and Big Show.’ I was like, ‘Somebody check my locker to see if there is an iPad.””
Booker gets a phone call in the middle of the story. It’s Raven!
Booker: Give it up for the incredible Raven. How are you doing?
Raven: Good. Just did the Jerichocruise. I also just learned hypnotism.
Booker: We were just talking about The Jericruise. My name came up. Were you in the vicinity when this story was told?
Raven: No.
Booker: I don’t remember the story and I think they embellished the story a little bit. Jericho…
Raven: What is the story?
Booker: The story was CM Punk stepping up to be a locker room leader. Some trash was on the floor. CM Punk stepped up and said, “You guys need to pick up the trash.” And I got hot about it and threw my trash on the floor.
Brad: That doesn’t sound like Book.
Booker: That doesn’t sound like me. There was a meeting about some guys stealing a lot of stuff in the locker room. All kind of stuff. We spoke on it. I spoke very diplomatically. Big Show, he spoke very diplomatically. CM Punk went straight for the throat. He said, “If I find out who it is I’m just going to kick the Son of a gun, Son of a gun, Son of a gun.” Oh My Goodness, I got a little hot about it. And a little offended too. Like, he’s coming at the boys a little bit harsh, being a guy who hadn’t been in the business 20 years. So, that’s the way I remember it.
Brad: So, what did you say to CM Punk?
Booker: I didn’t say anything to him. But in the back of my mind I just kind of rolled my eyes and looked the other way. Because I’m like Bernie Mac, I didn’t want to start any trouble.
Brad laughs.
Booker: I tried to keep things sensible. I wanted to keep things level so I just let it go.
Raven: And that turned into you saying, “Pick up your trash.”
Booker: Chris Jericho been in the business 108 years. He’s taken a lot of bumps. The concussion thing is real. I’m just messing with you.
Booker laughs.
Booker: Definitely, I’ve been following you for a long time. Our careers pretty much parallel each other. I started back in the Global Wrestling Federation. We both did.
Raven: I started 3 years before that. Before I was in Global.
Booker: We’re only a year apart. So you got some time in. You started very young. That’s what I want to talk to you about. I’m gonna take a quick break. So, we can really roll into this interview. You know me we go back to the days where everything has to be monster. Not a lot of people know about that.
Booker takes a quick break.
Booker: We got Scott Levy on the line, Raven.
Raven: You’re the only person that calls me Scott Levy.
They all laugh.
Booker: I wonder why is that.
Raven: Your brother does too.
Booker: That’s out of respect.
Raven: Oh no. I don’t take it as disrespect. Nash will call me Scott.
Booker: Only you and your brother call me by my full name.
Brad: It’s like your in trouble or something. Scott Levy.
Raven: Right.
Booker: We got to talk about monster. Back in WCW I used to always say, “It’s gonna be a monster, man.” It could be anything. Raven used to always echo me.
Raven: He would always go. “It’s a monster!”
Booker laughs.
Booker: That’s what the business has been for me. It’s been a lot of fun. You got here early but you went to college. You got a degree. You are a smart guy. Your IQ is off the charts. How did you find yourself in the wrestling business?
Raven: I was a fan since I was a kid, but I never thought I’d actually do it. I went to college took a week off and went to the marines. Then went back to college. As I was finishing up getting my degree I thought, I don’t want to be 50 years old saying, “I wish I did that or I could’ve done that.” I figured it’s better just to go for it instead of living a life of quiet desperation. I wanted to do what I really wanted to do. So, I figured I’ll try it and if it doesn’t work out to doesn’t work out. The funny thing is I told all my buddies I was gonna be a pro wrestler and so when I moved up to go to Larry Sharpe’s Monster Factory the first day was so brutal taking bumps. You bang your head on the mat, now I know I had a concussion. I hurt so bad all I wanted to do is go home and quit. I was like. “I can’t. I told my buddies I was going to do this I can’t go home after just one day.”
Booker: The training is one thing. I want to get into the head of Scott Levy. What is your take on life? I ask you this question because you have such a high IQ.
Raven: I think you are here to have a good time. Live your life. Don’t hurt anybody. And try to leave the place better than you found it. It’s simple in my opinion we are not made to suffer. We are supposed to be happy and have fun. If you have an opportunity to do something you love or make more money doing something you love is way more important.
Booker: Let’s talk about that ECW run. How exciting was that?
Raven: It was crazy because they were just on the cusps of getting big, so I got there at the right time to ride the wave. I was there for the two years they were the most influential. They revolutionized the business in a sense. Paulie changed the music. The sound. He used different elements, whether it was the cruiserweights from Mexico. He got the music from Memphis. The violence was from Japan. He put all of it together in a soup. He knew how to stir the pot.
Booker: Paulie really is a genius.
Raven: He is. He didn’t stiff me. I have nothing but good to say about him.
Booker: He took a lot of guys that people thought were mediocre talent and made them into stars. I wonder what would have happened with ECW if they had access to the internet.
Raven: I think it would have spread further. They came so close to picking up the number 2 spot when WCW went out of business. And they had Spike TV before it was Spike. But the network didn’t get behind it. There were so many what-ifs. I try not to dwell in the past. I look back fondly, but I hate playing the what-ifs game because there are so many things that could’ve happened. It was a moment in tim,. Me and Billy Coragn are friends and he talked one day, about buying the company from Paulie. But he (Paulie) wanted to charge him some ridiculous mark price and he didn’t do it. Honestly, I don’t think Paulie wanted to sell it. He gave you a price you couldn’t match, that’s why he didn’t sell it to Dreamer because he wanted it to go under with him. Then if it continued it would not be his baby anymore if t was successful. That way if it gets buried the way Vince did it, it would not affect the magic of what he created. He never wanted to sell it. He was the Captain and he wanted to go down with the ship.
Best of Raven
Top 100 WCW Wrestlers #44 Raven
For more of this interview click the link at the top.
Before the Final Bell
“I do not remember one iota of my feud with The Rock at all,” Booker says. “Other than the promo.”
Brad does not understand how he can’t remember.
“When you say you don’t remember, you don’t remember what?” Brad asks. Booker replies. “I don’t remember.” Brad says, “How can you… Booker repeats “I don’t remember.”
The reason Booker says he does not remember is that he was too busy enjoying life.
Booker says he only remembers that matches that he felt something about, like Stonecold.
Happy Holidays and see ya next week!
Rating: 7 out of 10
Overall Observations:
This was a fine episode. Nothing particularly special occurred. The Raven Interview was what it was. No new insight into the ECW Legend was discovered. It’s always interesting to hear Booker’s response whenever there is a current media story about him. To find out there was not much truth to the story Jericho and Cody told on the cruise was downright funny. It was like a great big fish story that was stretched to the point of absurdity, except in this case Booker was the catch.
About James:
Based out of New York, James Hayes is an independent filmmaker and podcaster, currently working on a true crime series focused on African American crime. When he needs a break from the seriousness of true crime he turns to pro wrestling. James has 27 years of following the sport. Here is a link to his film credits https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2026980/, as well as his Twitter @JamesHa34395813.
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