Athletes - Booker Huffman

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	Athletes - Booker Huffman

Robert Booker Tio Huffman (born March 1, 1965 in Houston, Texas), better known by his ring name, Booker T, is an American professional wrestler, currently performing for World Wrestling Entertainment on its 'SmackDown!' brand.

Career

Global Wrestling Federation

Huffman was trained by Scott Casey and debuted on March 1, 1989 as Booker T. He and his brother Lane wrestled in the Texas-based Global Wrestling Federation as "The Ebony Experience", with Lane known as "Stevie Ray". The Ebony Experience held the GWF Tag Team Championships on two occasions.

World Championship Wrestling

Booker and Lane signed with WCW in the mid-1990s. They debuted as the tag team Harlem Heat, with Booker renamed "Kole" and Lane renamed "Kane". At their request Kole and Kane were once again named "Booker T" and "Stevie Ray" respectively. and would hold the WCW World Tag Team Championships a record ten times.

In the late 1990s, Huffman began competing as a singles wrestler, while his brother was injured and then became a member of the nWo, then became a color commentator. Huffman won the WCW World Television Championship six times, and defeated Chris Benoit in a "best of seven" series on Nitro, Thunder and pay-per-views, for a match against the TV Champion, Fit Finlay. He was the first ever African American to hold the title.

During 2000, Stevie Ray reformed Harlem Heat with Big T, and had lawyer J. Biggs strip Huffman of his right to use the letter "T" as part of his name. Throughout this period, Huffman was referred to simply as "Booker". Huffman would eventually completely change his in-ring name, joining General Rection's military-themed Misfits In Action faction as G.I. Bro. He regained his more popular alias shortly before his World Title win.

Huffman was elevated to the main event in 1999; Lane Huffman has speculated that this could in part have been due to a number of racial discrimination lawsuits filed against WCW. After WCW booker Vince Russo grew disgruntled with WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan's alleged politicking, he fired Hogan during the live broadcast of Bash at the Beach 2000 and announced an impromptu match between Jeff Jarrett and Huffman for the now-vacant World Title. Huffman won the match, in the process becoming the second ever African American Champion. He went on to win the title three more times in 2000 and 2001, and would win the title once more in the World Wrestling Federation (where he lost the belt to The Rock. Coincidentally, the similarity in gimmicks between the two wrestlers has called into question who was the originator of said gimmick).

Huffman won a total of twenty three titles in WCW, making him the most decorated athlete in the history of the organization.

World Wrestling Entertainment

After WCW was bought by the WWF in March 2001, Booker T originally appeared as a face. However, he turned heel during The Invasion storyline as a senior member of The Alliance. After the Alliance disbanded following the 2001 Survivor Series, he remained a heel. In December 2001, Booker T joined forces with Vince McMahon and The Boss Man and feuded with Stone Cold Steve Austin. After Booker T cost Austin a match against Chris Jericho for the WWE Undisputed Championship at Vengeance 2001, Austin gained revenge by attacking Booker T in a grocery store, humilitating him by covering him in food.

Booker T won the WCW World Tag Team Championships for an eleventh time, this time with Test. In addition, he held the WWE Hardcore Championship twice in May 2002. When the WWE roster was split into two groups, Booker T was drafted to RAW.

Booker T joined the WWE version of the nWo in 2002, but was thrown out of the group by Shawn Michaels, thus turning face. He formed a successful tag team with Goldust, another enemy of the nWo and won the World Tag Team Championships. The duo engaged in comedic skits based on Siskel and Ebert, where they would "review" films such as "The Scorpion King" (starring The Rock), or would have Booker T dressed in some ridiculous outfit. By 2003, Booker T's popularity had soared and he amicably separated from Goldust in order to pursue the World Heavyweight Championship. In February 2003 he eliminated The Rock to win a battle royal for the number one contendership, granting him a title shot at WrestleMania XIX.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Booker Huffman ]

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