Before or After: Booker T

[TheChamp]

Greetings, TPWW, and welcome to the second edition of “Before or After”, where we discuss whether a wrestler was better before or after a certain point in his/her career. This time, let us discuss one of the most decorated superstars of all time: Booker T. Was Booker T better before or after the WWF/WWE?

[DLVH84]

Before.

[Logan]

For me it's definitely before.

Till about 96 (around WM 12 I think) I hated harlem heat mainly because I was still under the mindset of no matter what, hate the bad guys and love the good guys. Then I started actually watching the way wrestlers wrestled, and I started liking Booker. I thought WCW used him pretty well after HH split, and I especially liked his feud with benoit in the best of 7 series they had in 98. I also got into his feud for the world title with Steiner as well. The only thing I hated (thanks to, i think, Russo) was the GI Bro crap.

When he hit the E, He was decent at best, imo, but it was clear that he would go down like everyone else who came over in the buyout did, though it took longer than I thought it would, finally happening at SSlam against Triple H.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I never saw him in WCW, but that seems to be where he was best utilised as a babyface. As a heel, Booker quite frankly sucked unless he was playing the King Booker character (which was amazing).

[Logan]

I never saw him in WCW, but that seems to be where he was best utilised as a babyface. As a heel, Booker quite frankly sucked unless he was playing the King Booker character (which was amazing).

I agree, it was good. I think my favorite parts of booker in the E were his feud with rock, and Taker, though with taker I only liked the taped segments they aired, such as him talking with a fortune teller / voodoo woman on how to beat taker, and him in the graveyard; those were funny as hell.

[Seth82]

definitely before

[Shisen Kopf]

He wasn't GI Bro in WWE so before

[Rammsteinmad]

Before.

Booker T, definitely one of my top five of all time, has had an amazing career in both companies. However, pretty much as a lot of people have said, in WWE he was one of 'those guys' who came in from the buyout and was just kinda there for most of his career. However, that's not to say he wasn't used. He was always on TV and always had an angle going on. His team with Goldust was awesome and his King Booker stuff was hilarious. He also had some great feuds with the likes of The Rock, Chris Benoit, Undertaker and Steve Austin (who'll ever forget the supermarket segment?).

But in WCW, he just kinda stood out more with his unique offence at the time. His team with Harlem Heat were a big part of my 90's wrestling viewing, and his multiple time Television, United States and World Championships meant he was clearly someone the company valued highly. He had the best of seven series with Benoit which was a treat, and some of his matches with the likes of Scott Steiner and Lance Storm could have headlined PPV's.

Booker was psysically a lot more 'flexible' in WCW... not sure if that is the right word, but clearly when he entered WWE he had already gained a lot of weight in order to 'hang' with the Superstars of the WWE, and although he was still amazing in the ring, he kinda seemed to have lost it a bit, I'd have imagined it was him trying to get use to his new muscle mass. That's not a knock on Booker T though, he was still great in the ring, just saying he seemed a bit more 'bogged down' when compared to his WCW days.

And of course, WWE I would think bought out more of Booker on the mic, especially through the use of a lot of the comedy that he has done. His mic skills were acceptable in WCW, but his time in WWE just really gave him a lot more character and personality.

However, his time in WCW is reflected through the eyes of a mark (at the time) whereas his WWE time is remembered by someone who understands 'how it works', so take that for what you will.

[Asmo]

As Rammsteinmad says, his time in WCW is reflected through the eyes of a mark, while his WWE time is seen through a smark's perspective. Loved him before his WWE stint (especially the final match on the final Nitro). Plus, i thought the Harlem Heat entrance theme was one of the, if not THE best theme in WCW.

[Fox]

I was a huge Booker T mark when he was in WCW. His style was different, he had awesome entrance music, his best of 7 with Benoit was oustanding, and he was the one guy who I was just waiting to see get pushed to the main event (shame it had to happen in the shadow of the Russo/Hogan/Jarrett fiasco at BATB 2000).

Honestly though, it would be an easy choice for me had Booker T been given the victory over Triple H at WrestleMania XIX for the World Heavyweight Championship. A win at that show could have really put Booker T over the top as a true main event start in the WWE, and who knows where he might have gone from there. WM XIX could have been Booker T's real MOMENT - his WrestleMania moment, his career moment - a landmark on his already very excellent resume. He could have been the first African-American to win the World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania. But WWE failed to pull the trigger on that one because they're fucking morons.

[Tazz Dan]

Before

[DAMN iNATOR]

Before. He had a great run with Goldust that led to some classic, all-time hilarious moments on WWE TV that I still die at seeing whenever I look one up on YouTube, not to mention their tag title run.

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OQEh-5fYVE0" allowfullscreen="" width="420" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe>

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VQpggDLk8ow" allowfullscreen="" width="420" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe>

Also, the birth of "King Booker" at Judgment Day 2006, to me was a defining moment for his solo career, as well as his subsequent first-ever WWE World Heavyweight Championship (6th overall, WCW and WWE WHC).

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/p8Q5EQ44Qus" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5t3tqxsfRk8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[RiX1024]

Obviously before.

[Inadequacy]

Lol, Punk's old theme playing in the Booker vs Lashley video package

[Corporate CockSnogger]

Commentator Booker.

AWWWWWWW WAIDAMINIT!

[Mr. JL]

Definitely before the WWF/WWE

[loopydate]

Commentator Booker.

AWWWWWWW WAIDAMINIT!

HE GON' DO IT! HE GON' DO IT!

[Jordan]

I'm gonna be the only guy to say after, and his commentary is the reason why. He is fucking brilliant behind the mic and makes boring matches more fun.

[CSL]

I'll take after too. Loved Harlem Heat and just about everything they did but his singles run in WCW was kind of meh. I enjoyed the fact he got "the push" but still, meh, wasn't really anything to it, nothing that "stands out" and so on. His WWE stuff was far more "memorable". And as is mentioned above, he is outstanding on commentary.

[Innovator]

After. When he was getting his big push in WCW, he was basically copying what the Rock did a week before.

[Battlekat]

After. When he was getting his big push in WCW, he was basically copying what the Rock did a week before.

Basically this. His character was way more entertaining in WWE.

[TheChamp]

I think he was better wrestler before the "E", but the character was better afterwards. Even though he actually "main-evented" a WrestleMania, IMO he had more memorable matches in WCW. On the flipside, the spin-a-roonie wasn't as big in WCW, and he was heel gold when he was "King Bookah". Still remember wanting to shoot William Regal for shouting "All Hail King Booker" every time he went to the ring.

[Next Big Thing]

I preferred him before the WWE, but the King Booker gimmick was great. This always makes me laugh though:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Fj9U5pAgzA4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[TheChamp]

I preferred him before the WWE, but the King Booker gimmick was great. This always makes me laugh though:

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Classic.

[Emperor Smeat]

I'd say After even though the initial few years he wasn't doing much in comparison to his WCW days but became great starting around the King Book-ah phase or first run at the title in the WWE.

He had a lot of memorable feuds and matches before his move to the WWE but became much better overall as a wrestler in the WWE (ex. promos, characters, wrestling skills almost the same).

Biggest mistake was not focusing him early on as one of the leaders of the Alliance and the outcome of his match with Triple H at WM 19 but almost all the WCW and ECW guys were misused early on during that time.