Source: Winnipeg Sun
Robert Booker Tio Huffman is engaging, sometimes playful, over the phone. He’s a man’s man, a good guy.
As Booker T, he’s reached the pinnacle of the wrestling business, a multi-time champion, including heavyweight title reigns in both WCW and WWE. But even with such a resume, he’s unassuming, interrupting a PlayStation3 session to answer some questions on the phone.
For a guy who’s accomplished so much in wrestling, for a guy who was a drum major and breakdancer, he’s got so much more to do in life. Golf, he says, may be his true calling. Or maybe he’ll be a politician.
All very impressive for a guy who was unfairly, he says, vilified by WWE. And for a guy who, so many years ago, served 19 months in prison for armed robbery.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” he says. “But I’m living the American dream. I’m proof that you can turn your life around.
“I was never really a bad person. I just got caught up in something. When I got in trouble, I’d never even had a traffic ticket before and I was facing five to 99 years (in prison). I didn’t hurt anybody. I should have been put in a deferred program or boot camp. But I had myself to blame.”
And what about a suspension from WWE, which reacted after a report suggested he ordered human growth hormones from an internet pharmacy?
“I never tested positive. It was a joke,” he says. “I felt like I was hung out to dry. I wasn’t protected. There was a whole lot of miscommunication.
“I’ve done steroids. They’re something I had to do. I’ve had three knee surgeries and the doctor put me on steroids. I had to take certain things. But as far as ordering things from the black market, I didn’t do that. I look the same now as I did when I was 25. I’ve never been a freaky athlete. I’m an entertainer, not a bodybuilder.”
Booker T has now settled into TNA, where there’s certainly much less wear and tear on his body … and less time on the road.
“I feel great,” he says. “I don’t want to be out on the road 200-plus days a year.”
With so much to offer, he seems like a natural to wear the wrestling trunks and be doing Spineroonis well onto the other side of 50. But now 42, Booker T says the end to his career is in sight.
“My timeline was 40. I said I would retire when I was 40,” he says. “But when I got to 40, I still felt good. The website was blowing up, fans didn’t want me to retire.
“But it’s not far in the future, I don’t plan on wrestling past 45. Really, the sky’s the limit for me. I really don’t believe wrestling is my true calling. I want to be remembered for something good.
“I want to be a mayor.
“And I want to play golf on the PGA Seniors Tour when I turn 50. I shot a 76 a month ago. My handicap is 10, but I’ve only been playing for four years. I’ve got eight years to work on it. I need to work on my short game.”
WWE CANADIAN TOUR
WWE, with a western Canada tour in its plans for this fall, will swing through the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario in May. The tour opens May 2 (RAW) in Montreal, with stops in Hamilton May 3 (RAW); Moncton May 3 (ECW, Smackdown!); Fredericton (afternoon show) and Saint John (evening) May 4 (ECW, Smackdown!); Barrie May 4 (RAW); RAW live TV May 5 in Toronto; and ECW, Smackdown! live TV May 6 in London. Most notably, Ottawa gets skipped on the tour.
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