King Booker News

It appears as though that former WWE/WCW star Booker T is heading to TNA Wrestling.

According to sources within the company, Booker began talking with TNA over the summer, while he was still under contract to WWE. TNA hoped to debut him in the company alongside Chris Jericho on the first two-hour edition of Impact in October.

However, everyone knew that Jericho was leaning towards WWE, although he did have at least a few serious discussions with TNA officials.

It's now evident that Booker T will be Sting's mystery partner at tonight's TNA Genesis pay-per-view.

King Booker released the following statement, commenting on his release from WWE:

I would like to address any possible rumors or misinformation regarding our release from WWE. I had been unhappy for quite some time with the direction that the Company was going in. In fact, I asked for my release back in July for that very reason. However, after further contemplation, I decided to continue on with WWE because of my passion for this industry and my desire to entertain the fans.

Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that my unhappiness with my work environment was beginning to take a great toll on other aspects of my life. I knew that it was time to make some extremely tough decisions.

Therefore, in the interest of my mental, physical, and spiritual well being, I along with my wife, asked for our release from World Wrestling Entertainment for the second time within months. We were graciously granted our release and we have since amicably parted ways. While the business relationship between ourselves and the WWE has ended, we will continue to be involved in Professional Wrestling. We hope that our loyal fans will follow us as we make this transition.

Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts, and we will see you soon!

Previous WWE rumors have come true: the company has released King Booker and his real-life wife, Sharmell.

Here is the simple statement from WWE:

WWE has come to terms on the release of WWE Superstar Booker T and WWE Diva Sharmell as of October 27. We wish both Booker & Sharmell he best in all their future endeavors.

As previously reported, King Booker is deciding his fate in the WWE.

The wrestler was considering walking away from the company for a variety of reasons, which include him feeling as though he got snubbed when his Houston-based training center was not designated an official WWE training center, along with concerns over the changes in the WWE Wellness policy.

King Booker has removed the WWE logo from the corner of his website. He also removed the contact link for WWE Media requests.

King Booker did a radio show with 790 AM in Houston. Here's a quick recap:

- A caller asks The Queen if she would go for the WWE woman's title and she responded "I've been asked that question a lot lately and nothing would make me feel better than to hold the belt with my husband holding the world heavyweight belt"

- A caller asks if he'd bring any of the legends to PWA. King Booker says he'll put a poll on the website to see who they want to appear.

- A caller ask King Booker to talk about the Booker/Batista drama from last summer. King Booker said the whole thing was about respect and that since then he and Batista have shaken hands and moved on. He said with all that testosterone backstage, they do what men do. Fight, get over it, and move on.

- WWE's Layla El calls in discusses the WWE Diva Search and the Timbaland video shoot with Queen Sharmell. She thanks King Booker and Queen Sharmell for teaching her so much and plugs the PWA as the best wrestling school.

Following the "broken arm" injury storyline earlier this week that WWE used for Hardcore Holly's upcoming absence from ECW TV (it was reported back in February that Holly was in need of elbow surgery), the company now has an article up on WWE.com noting that King Booker suffered a quote "sprain and strained contusion of the neck" following the Tombstone he took from The Undertaker on Smackdown last night.

The WWE did this angle because King Booker has been dealing with knee issues for quite some time; he will now be undergoing surgery to repair the problems. As of now, Booker is expected to be out of action until late June.

• When Edge and superstar Shelton Benjamin were on CNN’s Showbiz Tonight promoting the WWE Tribute To The Troops special, the female host mentioned the mortar attack that occurred while the stars were in Iraq.

But things got awkward when she mentioned the mortar that landed only 300 yards from the base while the wrestlers were at Camp Victory. After they aired the footage of the attack the host said: "Now, we all know wrestling is fake...big shocker, but what goes on in Iraq is real ..."

Then, she asked Edge how he felt about traveling to Iraq and he responded that this was his first trip because the first time the WWE superstars went, he had suffered a broken neck in the fake industry.

• King Booker’s new independent Wrestling Promotion in Texas - Pro Wrestling Alliance - will hold its first live event at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena tomorrow.

The main event will include Charile Haas vs. Booker. Shelton Benjamin, MVP, Rene Dupree, Umaga, Sylvan, Sharmell, and Boogeyman are all scheduled to appear.

Recently, Ric Flair was profiled by The Baltimore Sun.

Now, The Houstin Chronicle has ran a story about hometown star, King Booker. Here it is:

They didn't have this category when Booker T. Huffman graduated from Jack Yates High School, but Huffman would have been voted ''Least Likely to Kick Anybody's Butt."

''I was a scrawny kid, barely 150 pounds, and I didn't play any sports. I was a drum major in the band. What I really wanted to do is be an entertainer," Huffman said.

He's entertaining millions of fans now, in addition to kicking some booty, as King Booker, a 250-pound muscle-bound, rule-breaking superstar in World Wrestling Entertainment.

Huffman mostly wrestled under the names Harlem Heat and Booker T during his 16-year career in WCW and WWE. Earlier this year he created the character King Booker, an English dandy (from Houston's Fifth Ward), complete with crown, cape, scepter - and very ridiculous British accent.

"The King Booker character was actually my wife, Sharmell's, idea," Huffman said. ''She was Miss Black America, so she's used to that world of wearing tiaras and crowns. This is my most successful character because it allows me to show off my acting ability."

King Booker has the slowest and funniest stage entrance in wrestling history. As he moves toward the ring, greeting his subjects with a royal wave and a fake tear in his eye, the announcer bellows, ''All hail King Booker!" over and over.And over and over.

''My record is seven minutes to get to the ring and 54 'All hail King Bookers.' The ring announcers hate having to do that," Huffman laughed. "But it's great because it gets the crowd into my character. Those boos are music to my ears."

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On the heels of a patriotic WWE RAW, the company has made a couple of announcements:

- Booker T/King Booker, who had hinted that retirement was in the near future, has signed a contract extension through 2009. Maybe someone will actually beat him for the title by then!

- WrestleMania tickets go on sale November 11 for next year’s show at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.