Booker T’s name may be synonymous with the WCW World Championship, but for a long time, he believed his skin color made winning the title impossible.
During the third episode of VICE’s “Who Killed WCW?” docuseries, a clip was played of Booker T during his WCW days in which he said winning the world title was not possible.
When asked about those comments, present-day Booker admitted that he believed his skin color meant that he’d never be WCW World Champion. He said,
“Because I was black, to be honest. I knew how good I was. That wasn’t a doubt in my mind, but you still wonder if that company would be willing to accept a black champion.
“It took somebody like Vince Russo, somebody who was outside the box, to push them to make a decision and check their clutches for a second.”
Booker T would become a five-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, with his first win coming off a match announced by Vince Russo at Bash At The Beach 2000.
After joining the WWF in 2001, Booker T captured the WWE World Heavyweight Title in 2006 and is a two-time WWE Hall of Famer.
