Wrestler comes to grips with success
By KEN HOFFMAN
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
Friday night, Booker T. Huffman will stare across the wrestling ring at Compaq Center and find "that fat, stinky, greasy" Big Show. All 7-foot-5 and 500 pounds of him.
Don't worry, Booker T.'s beaten bigger odds.
"When I was growing up, there were guys in school who were dreaming of pro football, basketball or college as their way out of the neighborhood. I never played sports. I was just trying to figure out how to keep a roof over my head. It got pretty rough for me at times," he said.
Booker T. bounced around, in and out of trouble, for 10 years after graduating from Yates High School in Houston.
"We would make some money by break dancing on the street," he said. "It wasn't until I was 25 years old that I decided what I wanted to do."
He signed up for lessons at Ivan Putski's wrestling school on Dairy Ashford. He learned the secret of taking a punch and falling off the top rope -- without waking up in a body cast in Ben Taub Hospital.
He also developed his signature move -- the Spinerooni. That's where he knocks his opponent to the mat, but instead of pinning him, Booker T. begins spinning on his head like a top.
He's busting a move. That's not wrestling. That's break dancing.
Naturally, the crowd goes wild cheering Booker T., one reason why he recently changed his character from a vicious villain to a goody two-shoes hero.
"I'm too nice to be a bad guy," he laughed. "No matter how hard I try to be nasty, people can tell I'm nice. One time, I was yelling at the fans, trying to make them hate me. One little kid looked up and said, `Give it up, Booker, you couldn't hurt anybody.' It cracked me up," he said.
Booker T. always had trouble pretending to be mean. When he and his brother broke into wrestling, they billed themselves as Harlem Heat.
Why not Houston Heat?
"Harlem sounds more dangerous," he said.
After wrestling in the minor leagues for 10 years, Booker T. hit the big time in 2000 and landed a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment. He is now one of the biggest superstars in the company, headlining arenas all over the world.
"I don't take it for granted one minute. I appreciate it more than somebody who gets drafted by a professional sports team and becomes a millionaire overnight," he said.
Booker T. sees his success as an opportunity to inspire kids who feel trapped in their own hard-luck world. His message: Determination pays off.
"That's one reason that I opened a store (a hip-hop music shop called Jam Zone, 12313 Bellaire Blvd.). I'm in there every chance I get. I talk to all the customers. I want kids to see me working, wiping down counters and marking CDs. I want kids to see that it doesn't matter where you start.
"If you work hard and don't give up, you'll make your dreams come true. Nobody's a better example of that than me."
Credit: Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/features/hoffman/1503855
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