Booker T credits Michael Cole with helping launch his WWE commentary career — even though Booker wasn’t initially convinced he belonged behind the announce desk.
Speaking on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, Booker revealed that his unofficial commentary career actually began years earlier in WCW.
While traveling overseas, Booker would entertain other wrestlers by calling matches from backstage and deliberately making up names for moves.
“This thing goes back to WCW,” Booker said. “It’s just one of those things where every time we were on the road overseas, I was the commentator in the back for the boys, in front of the monitor.”
Booker wasn’t exactly attempting to audition for a broadcasting job at the time.
“I just would be having fun, and I would give guys different names; I would name their moves totally different names,” he continued. “I would just be way over the top with it, so it was just something I did to pass time, and the boys liked it.”
The tradition continued after Booker joined WWE.
As his full-time in-ring career began winding down, Cole approached him with the idea of making the transition from wrestler to commentator.
“When I was wrapping my career up, Michael Cole, he came to me and he was like, ‘How would you like to start doing commentary and get on the commentary team?’”
Booker’s initial reaction was essentially disbelief.
“What are you talking about? I can’t do that,” he recalled telling Cole.
Cole thought otherwise.
“He was like, ‘I think you could do it.’ I love Michael Cole. He’s always been my biggest supporter,” Booker said. “I wouldn’t be doing commentary if it wasn’t for Michael Cole putting me on the team and trusting me for some damn reason.”
That trust occasionally resulted in some interesting moments on live television.
Booker recalled one occasion when his excitement got the better of him and an F-bomb unexpectedly slipped out.
“I would screw up so many times,” Booker said. “One day on television I go, ‘I want to see a f**king fight.’”
The comment surprised Booker almost as much as it surprised Cole.
“I’m like, what the hell? I didn’t mean for that to come out,” he continued. “Cole goes, ‘What did you just say?’ I go, ‘What did I just say?’ I didn’t even realize I said it.”
Despite mistakes like that, Cole continued supporting him.
Booker, however, wasn’t nearly as confident in his own performance and became convinced that WWE would eventually pull him from the announce desk.
“He would still keep trusting me. I just didn’t understand it,” Booker said. “A lot of times I was like, I just know they’re gonna take me off the team sooner or later.”
Eventually, that day arrived.
After working commentary on both Raw and SmackDown, Booker was informed that WWE planned to remove him from weekly commentary while keeping him involved with the company’s kickoff shows.
Rather than being upset, Booker was relieved.
“I go, guys, I was gonna come talk to you guys about it. I was so happy that day,” he recalled.
Booker’s reaction even confused Corey Graves.
“Graves thought I was crazy because they took me off the team, and I was so happy because I just knew I wasn’t ready for that,” Booker said. “I knew I wasn’t.”
WWE would eventually put Booker back behind the announce desk, beginning another chapter in a commentary career he says wouldn’t have happened without Cole taking a chance on him.
Also during the interview, Booker T shared hilarious memories of famous ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin WWE segments and teased a WWE in-ring return for a Trick Williams match.
