Booker T

Booker T: 2023 Biography, Net Worth, Family, Income

Booker T. Huffman Jr. better known as just Booker T is a retired professional wrestler, colour commentator, and panelist. He was born on March 1st, 1965 in Plain Dealing, Bossier, Louisiana.

Booker T began his wrestling journey in 1986, when he and his brother Lash enrolled in Ivan Putski’s wrestling school in Houston, Texas. Eight months later he made his pro wrestling debut for the Western Wrestling Alliance as GI Bro. After the promotion folded he continued to wrestle around the Texas independent circuit often teaming with brother Stevie Ray.

In 1992 he and his brother headed to Global Wrestling Federation before signing with WCW a year later. Upon joining the promotion they became known as Harlem Heat. They made an immediate impact by joining Harley Race and Col. Rob Parker’s WarGames team to face Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes, and The Shockmaster.

In 1994 they were joined by the legendary Sensational Queen Sherri. As their manager, Sister Sherri led the team to their first taste of tag team gold. The following year, they were four-time WCW Tag Team Champions and by 1996, they won the titles another three times.

1996 saw them feud with Sting and Lex Luger, the Steiner Brothers, and the Outsiders over the titles. Then in 1997, an injury to his brother resulted in Booker getting his first singles run in the company. The move proved beneficial as he closed out the year as the WCW World Television Championship.

Heading into 1998, he began a feud with Chris Benoit, which led to them competing in their critically acclaimed best-of-seven series. The following year, Harlem Heat reunited to win the tag titles for the record-setting tenth time. The team would split when Stevie Ray formed Harlem Heat 2000 with the former Ahmed Johnson, Big T.

Back in singles action, Booker became the WCW World Heavyweight Champion at the infamous Bash at the Beach 2000. Prior to the main event, head booker Vince Russo fired Hulk Hogan live on PPV and set up a title match against Jeff Jarrett and Booker T.

Following his title win he entered a feud with Kevin Nash, Jarrett, and Scott Steiner which saw him claim the title another three times. Booker was the reigning WCW United States Heavyweight and World Heavyweight Champion when the company was sold to WWE.

A 2001’s King of the Ring, Booker made his surprise debut by attacking WWE Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin. His arrival spearheaded the invasion angle as WCW looked to take over the company.

Booker’s debut match was the infamous WCW Championship bout against Buff Bagwell on Monday Night Raw. The match was supposed to relaunch WCW as legitimate competition. However, the bout was such a flop and received such as negative reaction from the crowd, WWE effectively cancelled their plans to have WCW as a second brand.

The invasion continued and Booker feuded with Kurt Angle and The Rock over the WCW Championship. Following the invasion angle, Booker began a rivalry with Austin, which resulted in the fondly remember supermarket brawl.

Booker then very briefly joined the WWE incarnation of nWo. After being kicked out by Shawn Michaels he joined forces with Goldust and the pair became WWE Tag Team Champions. Following their split, Booker won a battle royal to make him the number one contender for Triple H’s World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XIX.

The lead-up to the match was incredibly controversial, with the champion cutting promos with strong racist undertones. The uncomfortable feud ended at WrestleMania when Triple H beat Booker.

In the following months, Booker got involved in the Intercontinental Championship scene and defeated Christain to lift the title. After a back injury sidelined him for several months, he returned to partner with Rob Van Dam. Together they won the tag team titles for Booker’s third and final time.

In 2004 Booker won the United States Championship becoming the 100th person to do so. He did so again in 2005 in a feud with Chris Benoit that included his new wife Sharmell, who often interfered on her husband’s behalf. The couple got some form of comeuppance when they became the target of the Boogeyman and his bucket of worms.

In 2006, Booker defeated Bobby Lashley to become the King of the Ring becoming known as King Booker in the process. As King Booker, he would act and speak like an English royal and even formed a royal court with Queen Sharmell, Lord Regal, and Lord Finlay.

The King defeated Rey Mysterio to win his first World Heavyweight Championship in WWE, thus making him a sixteenth Triple Crown Champion and eighth Grand Slam Champion.

In 2007, Booker requested his and Sharmell’s release from the company. Their requests were granted shortly after and they both joined TNA. In TNA he joined the Main Event Mafia with Kevin Nash, Sting, Kurt Angle, and Scott Steiner and became the first-ever Legends Champion. He went on to form a team with Steiner and win the TNA World Tag Team Championships.

In 2011 Booker returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble. Upon his return, he began work as a commentator. While working as the SmackDown General Manager he was inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2012 by his brother Stevie Ray. In 2019 he became a two-time Hall of Famer when he was inducted alongside his brother a Harlem Heat.

After a lengthy stint on the Raw commentary team, he currently works as a preshow show panelist and NXT colour commentator. He returned to the ring for the final time at Royal Rumble 2023.

Net Worth

Booker T has a reported net worth of $6 million.

Family

Booker T is married to fellow WWE Hall of Famer Sharmell. The couple wed in 2005 and have two twin children a boy named Kendrick and a girl named Kennedy, born in 2010.

Income

Booker T has a reported income of $500,000 per year.

Record

According to cagematch.net, Booker T has wrestled a total number of 1718 matches throughout his lengthy career. Out of these matches, 939 were wins, 725 losses and 54 were draws. This gives him a winning percentage of 54.7%

Figures correct on March 24th 2023.

WWE Career

• WWE World Heavyweight Champion
• WWE United States Champion – 3 Times
• WWE World Tag Team Champion – 3 Times
• WWE Hardcore Champion – 2 Times
• WWE Intercontinental Champion
• King of the Ring Winner

Foundation and Charity

Booker T runs his own charity the Booker T Fight For Kids Charity.