The Top Ten 8.08.06: Booker T Matches

Posted by Julian Williams on 08.08.2006

ALL HAIL KING BOOKER!! ALL HAIL KING BOOKER!! Why aren't you bowing down yet peasant?!?

Greetings rebels and vigilantes and welcome to another unauthorized edition of The Top Ten. This week we're going to look at The Top Ten Booker T matches, but first let's get into some emails for the last two columns.

Reader Feedback

First off, Peter gives a plethora of great skits:

Hi again

I decided to respond to this weeks Top Ten also. Heres my list
(another
top ten, but once again pieces you havent included):

Mankind parody before Royal Rumble 2000. Mideon was playing the
part of
Mankind and they showed him at various places (theme park, etc.), the
best
one probably being the interview with the screen-writer (Triple H).
This
remains funny to this day.

JR interviews both Rock and Stone Cold the last Smackdown before WM
X-7.
A tremendous interview, in which both guys amazingly put over the
importance of the match, the title and displayed their dislike of each
other perfectly. I remember me rewinding this a couple of times, since
I
liked this so much. It absolutely MADE you want to see the match. Great
work from both guys.

Christian trying to lose weight to meet Cruiserweight standards in
2000.
Once again, very funny. Christian put on the chicken suit. The ending
with
Christian high-fiving Kurt Angle after vomiting was hilarious.
Especially
Kurts expression.

Goldust impersonates The Rock at King of the Ring 2002, Darth Vader,
etc.
these skits were really funny and made the team of Booker T/Goldust
team a
surprise hit among the fans.

Booker T audition for shampoo commercial Booker was absolute gold
here.
The delivery, everything. Just because you know kung-fu, doesnt
mean you
know shampoo.

Kurt Angle kissing Stephanie before SummerSlam 2000. This was a big
thing
back then. It added A LOT more fuel to the Triple H/Stephanie/Kurt
storyline.

Kurt angle interviews The Rock the bogus interview with Kurt and
Rocky,
that was used as a part of the build-up to their No Mercy 2000 match.

Shawn Stasiak tries to destroy The Rock SummerSlam 2001. I pick a
lot of comedy skits. Stasiak trying to destroy Rock and always missing is
classic
comedy.

Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon at the Zoo cant remember the
year.
Heenan and Monsoon together thats gold.

Mick Foley and Al Snow in Vegas from 1999. In the strip joint comes
the
funniest part as Mick gives the stripper a quarter for her efforts only
to
get it right back in the eye.

Great stuff here by Pete, I especially loved the Al Snow and Mick in Vegas one because Mick giving the stripper a quarter was fucking hilarious. After I saw that, I started doing the same thing when I went to a titty bar but instead of a quarter in the eye, I got a kick in the groin and thrown out the back door. Now that's the sign of a good evening.

Andrew gives a list for both segments and skits. That's 2 lists for the price of one! BAM! You're not getting a better deal than this buddy:

Hey Yo,

I don't think I've ever written in to your column before, but I read
quite a
bit of stuff here on 411 and I figured I'd respond. I've read every
one of
your Top Ten lists and I agree with a lot (but not all) of what you
say. I
spend a lot of my time searching You Tube and my old tape collections
for a
lot of these skits, and I'd have to say your list is pretty good.

I have made my own Top 10 list that doesn't include any of the ones
that
made it to your list. I would include some of your picks on this list,
but
I figure I'd give some love to a lot of other great skits.

Also, I realize that your definition of "skit" for this article doesn't
include in ring skits. To me, there are a few in ring "skits" that
aren't
exactly promos that deserve a mention, even if it goes against your
criterion. Besides, I'm not you, so I suppose I don't have to abide by
your
rules, haha.

Top 5 in ring "skits"

5. Kurt Angle gives the Allaince a Milk Bath: August 2001
You even mentioned this at the beginning of the article, but this was
downright hilarious. The Alliance singing the "Wind beneath Our Ring"
with
the Austin head bobbing up and down on the words, followed by Angle's
tribute to the Austin of old was priceless.

4. Steve Austin gives the Corporation a Beer Bath: March 1999
This is the skit that inspired the above shenanigans. This was Austin,
Rock, and Vince McMahon at their absolute bests and was an
unforgettable
moment.

3. Eugene makes the Raw roster play musical chairs: Summer 2004
I don't know who remembers this, but Eugene was GM for a day on Raw and
he
had some of the Raw roster playing musical chairs. Best moments
include
Tajiri spitting mist in Coach's eyes to blind him, Flair shoving Stacy
Kiebler to get a chair, Flair strutting hilariously and then throwing a
fit
when he loses, and Jericho hitting Tomko with the chair to win it all.


2. DX impersonates the Nation: Summer 1998
One of the funniest moments in DX history. Jason Sensation as Owen
Hart
(RIP) was awesome. Plus, Triple H was at his personal funniest as "The
Crock". When was the last time anyone liked X-Pac? The answer is when
he
was in DX, and this was why.

1. The nWo parodies the Horsemen: September 1997
I would be out of order if I didn't mention my favorite group of all
time,
the nWo. Kevin Nash as Arn Anderson, Syxx as Ric Flair, Konnan as
Mongo,
and Buff Bagwell as Curt Henning. This was the nWo at its funniest,
and I
will never forget the fake tears from Syxx and Kevin Nash talking about
a
"spot"

Now, onto my Top 10 List of Skits/Vignettes that don't include any of
yours:

Honorable mention: Vince McMahon trains to take on Stone Cold at the
Rumble:
January 1999
This is when Shane had Vince doing the Rocky style training to face
Stone
Cold in the Royal Rumble match. Watching Vince chase a chicken and
swallow
eggs is funny stuff.

Honorable mention: Batista handles his emotions differently: Winter
2004
There was a lot that happened in the "slow burn" of Batista's face
turn, but
this was one of the funniest moments. Triple H and Ric Flair are
absolutely
livid at what happened to them in the ring, and when Triple H asks
Batista
why he's not mad, he says calmly, "I'm not mad, I just handle my anger
differently" and walks off. Classic stuff.

10. RVD gives Kane Hungry, Hungry Hippos for Christmas: December 2002
This is when Kane and RVD were a tag team, and RVD decides to give Kane
a
game of Hungry, Hungry Hippos for Christmas. RVD's stoner persona
(which
would catch up to him in about 3 and a half years) and the randomness
of
this made it a good segment.

9. Nash and Shelley, Paparazzi Productions: June 2006
I agree with you that Nash and Shelley have been comedy gold lately.
The
one I am referring to here is when Shelley interviewed Nash and he
claimed
that he made more money than the Rock, Hogan, Hart, and Austin
combined.
Totally off the wall and great stuff from Nash as usual.

8. The nWo impersonates the Horsemen part 2: 1999
This was the second parody of the Horsemen done by the nWo. This time
it
featured Vincent as Mongol, Hogan as Ric Flair, Kevin Nash as Arn
Anderson
again, and Hogan as Ric Flair. This one was done backstage in a pre
taped
skit so I included it here instead of above.

7. The Lie, Cheat, and Steal Vignettes: Late 2003?
I couldn't remember exactly when these happened and I couldn't pick
one.
They were all equally hilarious. Eddie and Chavo as pool boys, playing
golf, posing as valets to steal cars, or stealing from a baby were all
great. Eddie went way before his time, but while he was here he sure
did
entertain.

6. Christian trying to lose weight to compete as a Light Heavyweight :
Summer 2000
This was when Christian was backstage trying to lose weight in order to
compete for the Light Heavyweight Championship. This involves him
throwing
up and at one point wearing a chicken suit. E and C were pretty funny
during the height of thier run.

5. Hall and Nash with camera in "Rome, Italy": August 1996
I have to give more props to the nWo. For those that haven't seen
this, it
was early in the nWo's run. Hall and Nash took a camera to a coliseum
in
(they claimed) Rome, Italy. They made fun of their future opponents
Sting
and Luger (with Nash calling Luger Mr. Ed at one point). They also
zoomed
the camera out into the distance, and there was the Denver Post, to
which
Nash commented, "What's the Denver Post doing here?" This was the
beginning
of the black and white video and the funny but still lethal attitude
that
made the nWo so great.

4. Kurt Angle "Interviews" the Rock: October 2000
This was right before the Rock's WWF Championship defense at No Mercy
against Kurt Angle. Angle has a sit down interview with the Rock, but
it is
obviously old clips of the Rock from his home video releases. J.R.
even
mentions how the Rock had different hair styles during the interview.
This
was done extremely well and was evidence as to why Kurt Angle was the
complete package.

3. Booker T and Golddust at the Movies: Spring 2002
Booker T and Golddust did a review on the Rock's movie The Scorpion
King in
this segment. I'm sure many of you have seen this, and if you haven't,
it
is on YouTube somewhere. Booker T in his wrestling gear with a sword
as
well as Booker telling Golddust he would be the Scorpion Queen if he
was in
the movie had me rolling on the floor with laughter.

2. Kane impersonates Hogan and the Rock: April 2002
I personally thought 2002 was a a funny year for skits and this was the
best
one of that year. Even though I hated the fact that Hogan left the nWo
so
early in their WWF run, this promo was still one of the funniest things
I've
ever seen. The Rock and Hogan are backstage discussing their match
against
Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and X-Pac. Kane shows up and proceeds to rip
off
all of the Rock and Hogan's lines in a hilarious manner. This was
totally
unexpected and had all of my friends and I laughing for days about it.

1. HBK and Triple H do the State of the DX address: December 1997
This is the segment in which Triple H and Shawn Michaels parodied the
US
government and Bill Clinton. Triple H talked about the words that
couldn't
be said on TV (and the Uncensored version is the best), while HBK did a
speech about the actions in the "oral office". The best line from a
wrestling skit goes to HBK. "I did not, I repeat, I did not sleep with
that
young intern. As a matter of fact, I was up all night!" Funny stuff
that I
still talk about with my wrestling friends to this day.

Wow, that was a lot longer that I thought it would be. Oh well, I
don't
expect you to post it, just to relive some classic wrestling skits as I
did.
Keep up the good work on the column.

nWo 4-Life,
Andrew

This is an awesome list by Andrew as some of this stuff I forgot about and the one I kicked myself right in the eye for not listing is the lie, cheat, steal vignettes. I can't believe I missed that one! Those were absolutely classic and it was the catalyst for Los Guerreros face turn and ultimately made Eddie into one of the biggest faces in the entire WWE. Man, I'm about to pop in my Eddie DVD and watch them right now. Absolutely great, VIVA LA RAZA!!

Next Maria calls me out on my placing of a certain skit on the list. A female that loves wrestling? Send in your dating applications fellas:

Oh LAWD, how could Austin/Booker T & the trip to the quickie mart only get honorable mention??
That was so funny I fell off the bed laughing. In fact, after reading it today I'm still laughing. In 30+ years of watching wrestling, I've NEVER seen anything else that funny.
Has anybody thought about putting together a DVD w/these skits??? I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

The Booker/Austin skit was pretty damn funny, especially Booker's facial reactions. Booker is one of the most entertaining men EVER in this business, hands down. I think we should start a petition to the E to get them to release a DVD with great skits/segments. That would be a best seller easily.

John gets into the REAL controversy behind DX invading Nitro:

I have to agree with you on most of these, but with your number one (DX invades Nitro) ... okay, it probably deserves to be on this list, too, and I'm probably docking it points out of spite for Triple H. (It takes his wife going into labor to get him out of the main event of the show? And I guess we know who the Women's champ will be in 2030, don't we? But I digress.) But you totally glossed over the real controversy of the skit: H going up to the counter and asking for "those free tickets" that he implied were available. They then cut to the arena sign advertising said free tickets. So what is the problem with this, you may ask yourself? The Norfolk Scope was sold out legitimately and had been for about a month. (The arena sign? A post-production insert.) This was, according to RD and Alvarez's book The Death of WCW, the primary legitimate issue of Time Warner's counter-suit to the WWF's trademark infringement suit, as well as possibly the only legitimate issue either side had, and very likely, the beginning of Eric Bischoff's descent into insanity, as he challenged Vince MacMahon to that fight not two weeks later, hotshotted Goldberg-Hogan (which should've been the main event of Starrcade '98 IMO) and began flushing millions down the toilet in his pursuit of the ultimate destruction of the WWF.
Okay, you're right, this is number one. But it doesn't have Jericho in it, so I'm admitting this begrudgingly.

Wow, good stuff here by John as I had no idea about this and I really bought into the implication that WCW was giving away free tickets. Just goes to show what you'll discover with a little research. Unfortunately I'm one of the laziest fucks in the world so I usually just wait for my friends to tell me interesting factoids and act like I knew it all along. That's how you fool them baby!

Mike serves up his list:

Dude, love the article and all, but I have got to ask you one question. How in the world was the Degeneration X parody of the Nation of Domination not on the list? There is no question that what you listed were some amazing skits, but that skit with HHH as The Crock, X-pac as Mizarc Henry, Road Dogg as B-Lo, and of course Justin Sensation doing Owen Hart... that skit just simply put Degeneration X on the map. To this day, I still laugh whenever I think about Degeneration X just because of that performance. This is clearly my number 1, as for the rest of my top 10, they kinda fall in line with yours.

2) The Hurricane invades Rocky's locker room - Yes, I do agree, that was a classic segment.

3) Mr. Socko is born - Admittingly, I never thought about it as much, but the history of the sock started here.

4) Austin and Kurt fight for Vince's love - I know there are very few things you remember and you just start cracking up. This was one of them. I just wish the two could sing s little better... or worse, that would have been funnier.

5) HBK as Hulk Hogan - Well brother, I could brother, tell you about brother... you get the point. It has been one of the very few recent segments that deserve consideration.

6) Rock and Stone Cold (Every single one) - Those two had too may classics, so I will lump it into one entry. Between the bridge, the eulogy into the moster truck, and especially the beer bath, these two had to constantly one up each other and it for some classic Raw moments.

7) Booker T walking down "Freak Avenue" - The BEST segment of 2006, hands down. Booker T ready to face the Boogeyman, scared out of his gord and talking about freaks. He approaches Paul the Pirate, foot fetish Snitsky, Eugene losing money to the Million Dollar Man, and lastly Opra-dust. Booker T sold the fear so well and Sharmell did what she normally does. It didn't matter that the match sucked, the skit sold it all.

8) Mankind coming to the WWE - I was s till a little young when these promos started and I know they scared the crap out of me. the WWE needs to look at these and realize that is how a build up should be done.

9) Jericho and Rock's diss off - I would normally put this higher, as it is Jericho and the Rock, but it doesn't look as good now thanks to Cena, Edge and HHH recently. Still an amazing segment to this day.

10) Steve Austin as Hulk Hogan - For every reason you stated.

Mike gets a pass for his first pick because a bunch of readers combined skits and segments which is perfectly fine and probably how I should of done it, but I was being greedy and wanted to stretch it out to two lists. The rest of Mike's list is great, especially the Booker one at WM22. Between Buccaneer Paul, foot licking Snisky, "Special" Eugene, and The Million Dollar's Man awesome laugh, this is easily the best skit of 2006 so far. BAAHAHAAHAHAHA(Million Dollar Man laugh).

Jobez gives me some great picks as usual:

What up Julian?
Good picks. While I don't agree with all of them, I do agree with most of them. But here are a few of my honorable mentions.
-The nWo spoofs Arn Anderson's retirement speech. If you remember this one, you'll remember how funny Kevin Nash was in re-enacting Arn's emotional retirement speech from the week before. Also featured were Konnan as Mongo McMichael, complete with football. Syxx as Ric Flair and Buff Bagwell as Curt Hennig. Much of the IWC pans this segment as a disrespectful burial of Arn Anderson. I think those people take things too seriously. This segment was funny as hell.
-DX spoofs the Corporation. This was about as funny as the spoofing of the Nation of Domination but I believe it's been forgotten for some reason. Road Dogg in his role as Vince and Billy Gunn as Shane McMahon were hilarious. "Son, how does my ass taste?" "Great, Dad!" Triple H also reprised his Rock role and it was as great as the first time. The guy who stole the show though was comedian Jason Sensation who did a DEAD ON impersonation of Shawn Michaels, who was the evil commissioner at the time. He came out holding a basketball but he kept dropping it, symbolizing how DX felt Shawn "dropped the ball" in losing the title to Steve Austin. The entire segment is a forgotten piece of WWE gold.
-Bret turns on the American fans. If you can track down this promo, I'd urge you to. It was from the night after Bret vs. Austin at WM13. Bret came out and delivered the single best promo of his career, leading to his last major angle in wrestling.
-The Harts reunite. Even though it's all a work, it was still emotional to see Bret Hart and a tearful Owen Hart embrace in the ring after the two had feuded for the previous four years. Very strong segment.

That's all I got. Thanks Julian

Very good stuff here by Jobez, DX's spoof of the Corporation is one that a bunch of people mentioned, but I honestly don't remember it. It's now my goal to find it because it sounds hilarious. The other three I have seen and they were all great, especially the Hart reunion because I always wanted to see Owen and Bret reunite so it was great to see that moment. See, I'm not such an emotionless bastard after all, I have a heart. It's just buried deep within my body underneath the thoughts of dog torture and midget throwing. I'm just kidding. I would never torture a dog.

Fixxer315 takes a huge piss on my list and then throws up on it and then kicks it in the ass and then fucks its whole family before taking a crap all over them. I asked him what the hell he calls that and he just shrugged and replied, "THE ARISTOCRATS!"(Sorry, I was watching the DVD today):

Hello,

Usually, your lists are pretty good, but I've got to take you to task on this top 10 segments, especially the top two.

There is no way in hell that the "This is Your Life" segment belongs anywhere near the top ten list. In fact, it might be in my bottom 10. While funny at times, it was waaaaaay too long for a segment that didn't even have a real point to it. The segment ran about 20-30 minutes and it NEVER seemed like it was going to end.

The Austin Beer Bash segment was pretty good, but I don't believe it belongs in the top ten either.

Here are a few that I would put in the top 10

Syxx/Xpac returns to Raw: The night after WMXIV, HHH said that HBK was out of DX, and that the stable would reform. He said that he had to turn to someone that he could trust, and who better than a fellow Kliq member. When he referred to the Kliq, I knew who he was talking about, and sure enough, the wrestler formally known as Syxx walked through the door. He then cuts a pretty sharp shoot interview, ripping on Hogan and Bischoff, and it was his attitude that really helped set the ground for DX 2.0. It also seemed as if he lit a fire under the stable.

Flair returns to Nitro: If you're at all a wrestling traditionalist, you can't help but love this segment. Flair had spent several months away from TV, having been fired/suspended by Bischoff. One lawsuit later and Flair was able to return, in his hometown of Charlotte no less. The audience made this segment so special, as Flair was in tears at the 3-5 minute ovation. Then he gets to rip into Bischoff, who comes out to confront him, setting the stage for the Flair/Bischoff fued. The only reason this segment wasn't number one in my book was because of how badly WCW botched that fued.

Outsiders take it up another notch: This is a companion piece to Hall's invasion of Nitro. At the GAB, Hall and Nash are interviewed by Bischoff, who asks them if they are working for the WWF and Bischoff confirms that WCW will face them in a six man match at the next PPV. When Bischoff refuses to name the WCW wrestlers, they powerbomb him through a stage. Incredible stuff.

Buleah's Pregnant: The lesbian segment was good TV, but this was the angle that turned the Dreamer/Raven fued on its ear. Buleah is being trashed by Stevie Richards in front of Raven. She then says that she is pregant. Raven assumes that its Stevie and tries to rip his head off. Buelah says that it isn't his, and after some berating, she yells that it is Tommy. Raven moves on her, but Dreamer comes in and waffles him with a sign, tearing the cardboard off to reveal an actual stop sign.

Anderson's Retirement: Although its luster was taken down somewhat by the dead-on NWO parody the following week, it is still a great segment. Anderson gives a moving speech about how he was an average wrestler being given great opportunities, but that he could not go any more. He then gives away his spot in the Horsemen to Curt Hennig. This was great because it severed several purposes, not the least of which was providing fodder for the NWO segment.

Snake turns on UT: This was a Funeral Parlor segment, and although I can't remember the details, I do remember an awesome bit where SNake slams the coffin on UT's hand, then destroys him with the chair. However, UT keeps coming after him, dragging the coffin with him.

Very good stuff here by Fixxer, I especially liked the inclusion of Arn's retirement and Flair's return to Nitro. Both were very emotional moments and two of the most remembered highlights in WCW's history. I still can't believe he doesn't like the "This Is Your Life" segment, though. I could watch that whole skit today and still laugh as hard as I did the first time I watched it.

And Finally, MrR1ght4u provides an OLD SCHOOL segment and we all know that OLD SCHOOL is the best school:

I know this isnt as memorable...but it got the job done

Randy savage was once the biggest heel during the 80's in the WWE...at the time he had feuded with hogan back when hogan held the belt...then beat santana and stole the IC championship...waged war against George Steel over his obsession of Liz...and then was Defeated by steamboats rage (Savage put Steamboat out for a few months)

after savages defeat at WM3 to Steamboat...it seemed like Savage was running out of steam. However...A few months later the Honkytonk man who was managed by Jimmy hart emerged on the scene and defeated Steamboat for the IC Belt....and started proclaiming himself as the greatest IC champion Ever.....Savage took exception to this and told jimmy hart to shut him up. setting up a string of matches against Honky...and one big segment...it was SNME....savage against Honky with The Hart Foundation in the corner. Honky had bested Savage during the match...but honky wasn't done...after the match....the Hart Foundation held Savage as honky berated him. elizabeth trying to save her man...stepped in front of honky getting ready to smash his guitar over savages head. Honky proving to be the bigger heel at the time...with one hand shoved elizabeth down and broke her dress. then smashed the guitar over savages head.

This would lead to a series of rematches and savages push to WM4.

this semented Honky as a legit heel. savage as a new babyface.


it was a great segment

Holy crapnuts, I remember seeing this segment as a kid and thinking that Honky was the biggest prick I'd ever seen. One great segment can elicit a lot of negative or positive feelings towards a certain wrestler and this was a great example of this as the crowd totally hated Honky after that and started to get into Savage big time and that would eventually lead to him being a main event star. Great stuff here, it brought me back.

Ok, that's all for the emails compadres. Thanks to all you guys that wrote in and provided feedback, I always appreciate it. Sorry if I didn't respond to your email, I've been swamped with work and I'm in the process of moving so it's been a rough few weeks. I promise to try to answer as many of you as I possibly can. Thanks again guys.

The Top Ten Reasons to go to a live WWE event

So I went to the Raw/Smackdown Supershow in Jersey last Monday. It was a pretty good show and I had a fun time, as I usually do when I go to a wrestling event. In case you've never been to a live WWE event, here's a couple reasons you should fork over some cash the next time they roll through your town.

10) Nothing beats the atmosphere of 20,000 wrestling fans all around you cheering or booing your favorite superstars. Honestly, it's a cool feeling.

9) The Divas are hotter in person than on TV. If that's possible. Luckily I was surrounded by little kids and sweaty, fat dudes otherwise I would of popped a boner when Kristal came out.

8) You get to start or join in some awesome chants. The most memorable one from the show I was at was "We Want Raw" during the horrendous Scottie 2 Hottie/Funaki vs. Stevens/Chase Smackdown match.

7) The entrances. Nothing's cooler than seeing Taker or Batista or DX come out to their signature entrances with smoke and fireworks ablazing.

6) Drunk white people. Nothing's funnier than drunk white people, I love them.

5) Seeing your favorite signature moves in person. I know I personally marked out for Umaga's THUMB POKE OF DOOM AND DEGRADATION.

4) Seeing Vince live is awesome, it's like seeing the Devil and you're not even dead.

3) You get to see the looks of anger and frustration on the face of little kids as grown ass men yell at them about how much John Cena sucks.

2) Nachos and Beer for $10.75. Can't beat that!

1) You get the honor of bowing down and worshiping King Booker. ALL HAIL KING BOOKER!!

The Top Ten Booker T Matches

Booker T has been one of the most charismatic and dynamic performers during the modern age of wrestling. He can be awesomely intense or absolutely silly and either way fans love him. No matter how many times it seems like his career was going to be buried, his talent shone through and got fans to either love him or hate him. The latest King Booker gimmick is arguably the best thing going on in the WWE today and Booker finally got what he's deserved during his entire WWE tenure by getting the World Heavyweight Champion. Let's celebrate the King and look at some of his best matches to date.

10) Booker T vs.Triple H (Wrestlemania 19)
Start sending the hate mail now. I actually really enjoyed this match and even though I wish that Book had gone over, it was a great showing by him on the grandest stage of all. I liked the psychology of the match with Trips working on the leg and Booker still being resilient and fighting back despite the fact he could barely stand on his leg. And you can't tell me that you didn't mark out when Book hit the Harlem Hangover right on Triple H's dome. Glorious!

9) Booker T vs. Kurt Angle (Judgment Day '05)
A lot of people crapped on this match, but I believe this is a match that gets better with age. A lot of people were automatically set to shit on the match because of the horrible storyline attached to it. Kurt Angle as a sexual predator? No thank you. The match was very good, despite the ending being fucked up and I think that once you look past the storyline and just concentrate on the match, you see it was a very good encounter.

8) Booker T vs. Saturn (Superbrawl VIII)
Keep in mind that just a few minutes prior, Book had a great match with Rick Martel and then he proceeded to have this match which was even BETTER than the previous match. Book had beaten Martel, but then Saturn jumped out of the crowd and attacked him and so there was an impromptu match for the TV title. After a great 15 minute encounter, Book was able to win with a side kick. This just went to show how Book could fight any kind of wrestler with any style and put on an entertaining match. Even it was back to back.

7) Booker T vs. The Rock (Summerslam '01)
This was Booker's first main event in the WWE and people sometimes downplay how good this match really was because it followed one of the best matches of 2001 in Kurt Angle vs. Stone Cold. This match was damn good as well even though Book did the job to give the WWE an advantage in the Alliance war by picking up the WCW title. I dug the interaction between Book and Rock and I felt their matches were always filled with excitement and energy, but what else would you expect from two of the most charismatic wrestlers in the history of wrestling.

6) Booker T vs. Chris Benoit (Armageddon '05)
This was perhaps their best match in their most recent best of 7 series. Booker came into this match with a 3-0 lead and there were rumors running rampant that Benoit might get swept because he was supposedly leaving the company. This match started off slow, but then picked up at the end until it was hanging-on-the-edge-of-your-seat exciting. The finish was great as it seemed as though Book was about to finish off Benoit with the Bookend, but Benoit countered into the crossface and got Book to point out. It was the best match on an otherwise lackluster card, but it was Armageddon so what else would you expect.

5) Booker T vs. Eddie Guererro vs. Undertaker vs. JBL (Armageddon '04)
The premise behind this match was that JBL had screwed all these men over so he had to face all of them in a fatal four way match. This match surpassed all my expectations and was supremely entertaining and even though Book ONCE AGAIN did the job, he was very entertaining in the match and there were certain spots where I thought he might actually win it. Great match here that once again was the highlight of an otherwise crappy card.

4) Booker T vs. Jeff Jarrett (Bash At The Beach 2000)
For months, Booker T was easily the most over man in WCW and yet seemingly never got his break. That all changed on this night after the infamous Hogan/Russo/Jarrett situation with the title. Russo appointed Booker to face Jarrett at the end of the night for the title even though he had already had a match(and a very good one) against Kanyon. After a hard fought and very good match, Booker hit the Bookend to win his first WCW title and the crowd went absolutely INSANE. It was just a great moment to see such a dedicated company man get the prize he certainly deserved.

3) Booker T vs. Scott Steiner (Nitro, 3/26/01)
This was on the final episode of Monday Night Nitro and this match was significant in that Booker won back the WCW title from Steiner and would bring it with him to WWE. The match itself was actually really good and it was only fitting for the most popular man in the company, Booker T, to be the company's last champion. This was a historical match as it was the last championship match in WCW history and it had to be a huge honor for Booker to be their final champion.

2) Booker T vs. Chris Benoit (Great American Bash '98)
This is arguably the best match of their original best of seven series as this whole match had a great pace. It started with chinlocks and a feeling out process and then it soon become nonstop action as both men were trying to put away each other to win the best of seven(well technically eight) series. Booker was able to win with a missile dropkick and even though the follow up match with Finlay would be completely unspectacular, this was a fitting end to the greatest series of matches most of us have ever seen in North America.

1) King Booker vs. Rey Mysterio (Great American Bash '06)
Sure this match isn't the best match in Booker's career in terms of wrestling quality, but it is easily the most important match of his career. Winning the WCW title in the wanning days of WCW was a cool thing, but it was kind of a mute point because WCW was a sinking ship. Booker was able to win the title in the very successful WWE which shows how much confidence the higher ups have in Booker. During his WWE tenure, there have been numerous occasions where all of us have felt that Book should have gotten the belt, but he never did and it seemed as though he never would. So to FINALLY see Book win the big one was a great moment. And the match was damn good, too. Now let's just hope he actually gets to keep the belt for a little while and doesn't get jobbed out to Batista at Summerslam.

Drive-By Pimpin'

Check out all these great columns by my 411 brethren:

-Andy Clark's "Shimmy"
-Ari's "Column Of Honor"
-Sean, Alex and David's "Triple Threat"
-Bayani's "Truth B Told"
-Weyer's "Shining The Spotlight"
-Byers' "Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People"
-Larry and Geoff's "3R's"
-Fact Or Fiction
-O'Dog's "Forgotten Goodness"
-Sat and Rajah's "High Road/Low Road"
-Phill Feltham's "Quick Talkdown"
-Sarnecky's "Piledriver Report"
-Slimmer's News Report
-Hidden Highlights
-Carapola's "That Was Then" and "The Week in Hardcore"
-The Fink's Payload
-The World According To Ron
-Clarke's "Ask 411"
-Meehan's "Meethinks"
-Sforcina's "Evolution Schematic"
-Prag's "In Defense Of…."
-Wrestlers of the Week
-Sullivan's "Crystal Ball"
-Randle's "Wrestling News Experience"
-Double M's Rasslin Report
-News To Start Your Weekend
-Dunn's Rawtopsy, ECW Breakdown, Smackdown Breakdown and TNA Breakdown
-Cook's "News From Cook's Corner"
-Summerslam Roundtable
-Mike LaFave's "Getting Over"

The Sign-Off

End of the line folks, please exit in an orderly fashion. But be sure to come back next week when the topic will be The Top Ten Summerslam Matches. It's time to celebrate the biggest party of the summer! If your idea of a party is 30 sweaty dudes and about 6 chicks. Sounds like a sausage fest to me.