During a recent episode of the “Hall of Fame” podcast, WWE legend Booker T shared his viewpoint on the decline of WCW, particularly the contributions of Hulk Hogan to the chain of events leading up to it.
The podcast contained some noteworthy talking points which are mentioned below:
Speaking about Hulk Hogan’s role in the downfall of WCW, Booker T affirmed, “I concur completely. Hulk Hogan certainly moved WCW onto the big stage. As Eric Bischoff once stated, when he made calls, people would pick up. When meetings were to be held, and when it was announced that Hulk would be present, the meeting ensued. To understand this, you need to realize that Hulk was a standout person. However, incidents like the Finger Poke of Doom, and the moment involving me [Bash at the Beach], are things that I believe could have been sidestepped. They could’ve been averted. These two incidents are the permanent blemishes on WCW’s record. There’s no remedy for it. But personally, I feel I needed these moments.”
Regarding what he did with the World Title he secured on the last night of WCW, Booker T added, “I brought the title home with me. At all times when I was the champion, I retained the title. Wherever I travelled, the title came along with me. Moving to WWE, I entered not only as the World Champion, but also as the United States Champion. There was no intention for it to become defunct. Not to mention, there wasn’t any insider knowledge provided to me in terms of the course the show was set to take, or the trajectory of my character. All the details were pretty much provided on a moment-to-moment basis. I never encountered a situation that I was uncomfortable with, or had objections towards. Similar to when they presented me with the Goldust narrative. My response was,’Alright, let’s get to it.’ Same response for the Stone Cold narrative, the grocery store incident, ‘Let’s get it done.’ I was focused on my work, performance, and on building my understanding of art.”