Booker T sees this group as the new Harlem Heat, even if he doesn’t want to manage them

Booker T reflects on setting the King of the Ring standard in WWE.

Elsewhere on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T reflected on the King of the Ring Tournament, which will come to a head at the King and Queen of the Ring show in Saudi Arabia later this month. While WWE hasn’t been as committed to making the event a yearly special and hasn’t pushed either of their last winners, Zelina Vega and Xavier Woods, in a while, Booker still loves the event, as it holds a special place in his heart.

“Previous winners, it was one thing, but the gimmick is hard to run with as well. I mean, I remember listening to Xavier [Woods] talk about winning the King of the Ring tournament, something that he wanted to do for a very, very long time. It just so happened, when I wanted to King in the Ring tournament. It was perfect timing. The timing was — I mean, it like the perfect storm. All the stars lined up for me being the ruler of the Smackdown world. You know, being able to rule with an iron fist. Everybody is not going to be able to pull that off. For me, it was a challenge. Being the greatest king of them all, the most majestic king of them all. It was challenging on a weekly basis. And that’s why I say, you know, being in the tournament is cool. Winning the King of the Ring is cool. Being the king, something totally different,” Booker T explained on his Hall of Fame podcast via PWMania.

“There’s only one. And trust me, guys: that’s not by accident. That didn’t happen by osmosis or anything like that. That happened because I was just that damn good, man. I’m serious. That’s the only reason it happened. It happened because they had no choice but to go with King Booker. It really put the rocket in the machine behind him, because he was majestic. He was the greatest king of them all, in my estimation. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.”

Asked if he thinks he ruined the tournament for everyone moving forward, Booker admitted he probably did, as his efforts at the King of the Ring simply broke the mold.

“Yes, as far as the tournament. I feel like I broke the mold. But the thing is, I honestly said when I was doing the King of the Ring, when I first got the character. I said, ‘After I’m finished doing this character as King Booker, no one else was going to be able to do this ever again. No one else is going to ever be able to follow King Booker as king ever again.’ Nobody’s going to ever buy it, ever again. And I said that just, because of — there again, winning the King of the Ring is one thing. Being the king is something totally different. And I just felt like I had a blueprint on what being the king truly was, just because of my upbringing. Just because of all the movies that I watched in the past. And I knew exactly what I had to go out and do as king. But I also knew what I had to do in the ring as a performer as king. Because there again, the king rules with an iron fist. The king didn’t get the throne just because people liked him. He was ruthless. He was a tyrant. It was a beautiful time. Beautiful time, the best time of my career, the best time of my career, I can honestly say that. With Sharmell, Finlay, [William] Regal — Oh, man, that’s the faction right there that should have gone down in history if we had been done a little bit longer.”

While there were Kings of the Ring before Booker, including both of the Hart brothers who once called WWE home, the two-time Hall of Famer really handled the position in a truly unique position, bringing along Queen Shaemell, talking differently, and making the end of his career with the promotion, at least in the ring, just as exciting as when he joined after the end of WCW. In the end, there’s a reason why people compare all Kings of the Ring are compared to Booker: he set the standard.