Booker T stood toe to toe against the New World Order through his run in WCW and for a time, in WWE. Though Booker T was one of the nWo’s greatest foes, all the battles he had with the heel supergroup culminated in a brief run with the WWE version of the nWo, which WWE fans don’t remember half as well as Booker T’s time alongside his tag partner Goldust.
After two weeks, Booker was famously superkicked out of the group by Shawn Michaels after his service wore thin. There’s a long line of inconsequential nWo members, and next to, like, Vincent, Booker T might’ve had the least impact of all.
In a visit to The Sam Roberts Podcast, Booker T broke down why he thought the nWo was close to ruining wrestling, and was problematic for another, face-palming reason. In other words, he was probably fine wearing the iconic black and white shirt for just 14 days.
“I had a match with a good friend of mine, we’re really close, a partner of mine in the Main Event Mafia, big Kevin Nash. I had a match with Kevin Nash and it was my first match in Canada, in Toronto, Canada. He had been there many, many times before and people loved him as Diesel. And now, he’s coming back in WCW and he’s still Diesel to those fans over there in Canada.
“He went out there with nWo and he gave everyone the nWo kiss, the little kiss sign that they would do. ‘nWo in the house!’ Everybody in the crowd erupted. And I’m back in the back listening to all of this like, ‘he’s the bad guy!’ I walked out of the curtain and they played my music, and I walked out of the curtain, and they booed the crap out of me.
“That’s when I knew the nWo, the bad guys, [were] killing the business because they didn’t want the heat. They wanted the adulation. The nWo almost singlehandedly ruined the business as far as good guys, bad guys, cowboys and Indians. You don’t want to mess that up.”
Granted, Hogan and the rest of the stable seemed to eventually earn some major heat with their ludicrously-long interviews and ever-expanding roster. Which led Booker t0 his next issue with the nWo:
“Kevin Nash came to me, he goes, ‘Book, hey, Book, man, you know this nWo thing is getting real hot, bro. And, man, we need some color, man.’ I swear to God, that’s how he said it! ‘We need some color, bro.’ He goes, ‘we want to bring you in.’ I go, ‘man, thanks, but no thanks. No way.’ I said, ‘I’m a solo act, man.’”
Of course, Booker wasn’t the only member of Harlem Heat to go nWo. Stevie Ray was first to the role, joining up with nWo for a time back in WCW before Booker convinced him to join forces again as Harlem Heat 2000. You probably remember Harlem Heat 2000 about as well as you remember Booker T being in the nWo.
