Booker and his brother Lane signed with WCW in the mid-1990s on the recommendation of WCW wrestler Sid Vicious. They were originally slated to debut as two wrestling slaves called The Ghetto Blasters. This gimmick was aborted, however, due to the racial insensitivity of the planned characterization. They debuted as the tag team Harlem Heat, with Booker renamed Kole and Lane renamed Kane. At their request, Kole and Kane were once again named Booker T and Stevie Ray. By the end of 1994, they were already Tag Team Wrestling Champions, having defeated Stars & Stripes (The Patriot and Marcus Alexander Bagwell) in December, en route to a five-month title reign. This would be their first of ten WCW World Tag Team Championship reigns together.
Over the next two years, Harlem Heat would continue to be at the top of the WCW Tag Team scene, defeating the Nasty Boys (Brian Knobs & Jerry Sags), Bunkhouse Buck and Dick Slater, Public Enemy (Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge), Sting and Lex Luger, the Steiner Brothers and the American Males (Scotty Riggs & Marcus Bagwell) to begin one tag team title reign after another.
After the loss of their seventh WCW World Tag Team Wrestling Championship, to the Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) on October 27, 1996, Stevie Ray was put out of action with an ankle injury and in the late 1990s, Huffman made the transition into singles action. Huffman won the WCW World Television Championship six times (a company record), winning it first from Disco Inferno and would feud over the title with Perry Saturn and Rick Martel culminating in a gauntlet match at SuperBrawl VIII. Another impressive aspect of the match was that Martel, the man that was originally supposed to win the match, went down early due to a knee injury, meaning the finish and the remainder of the match had to be called in the ring.
In the spring of 1998, Booker crossed paths with Chris Benoit. The two began a series against each other out of mutual respect for one another. However, as the months progressed and the TV title switched hands, tempers flared. Benoit cost Booker the title during a match against Fit Finlay. As spring became summer, it was decided that Booker and Benoit would engage in a "best-of-seven series", on Nitro, Thunder, WCW Saturday Night, and pay-per-views with the winner meeting Fit Finlay for the title. After seven great matches and interference from Bret Hart and a returning Stevie Ray, Booker T won the series and, on June 14th, would go on to regain the Television Championship. He was the first ever African American to hold the WCW World Television Championship and the only one to legitimately win the title (Stevie Ray also held and defended the title while Booker was injured).
Over the next two years, Harlem Heat would continue to be at the top of the WCW Tag Team scene, defeating the Nasty Boys (Brian Knobs & Jerry Sags), Bunkhouse Buck and Dick Slater, Public Enemy (Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge), Sting and Lex Luger, the Steiner Brothers and the American Males (Scotty Riggs & Marcus Bagwell) to begin one tag team title reign after another.
After the loss of their seventh WCW World Tag Team Wrestling Championship, to the Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) on October 27, 1996, Stevie Ray was put out of action with an ankle injury and in the late 1990s, Huffman made the transition into singles action. Huffman won the WCW World Television Championship six times (a company record), winning it first from Disco Inferno and would feud over the title with Perry Saturn and Rick Martel culminating in a gauntlet match at SuperBrawl VIII. Another impressive aspect of the match was that Martel, the man that was originally supposed to win the match, went down early due to a knee injury, meaning the finish and the remainder of the match had to be called in the ring.
In the spring of 1998, Booker crossed paths with Chris Benoit. The two began a series against each other out of mutual respect for one another. However, as the months progressed and the TV title switched hands, tempers flared. Benoit cost Booker the title during a match against Fit Finlay. As spring became summer, it was decided that Booker and Benoit would engage in a "best-of-seven series", on Nitro, Thunder, WCW Saturday Night, and pay-per-views with the winner meeting Fit Finlay for the title. After seven great matches and interference from Bret Hart and a returning Stevie Ray, Booker T won the series and, on June 14th, would go on to regain the Television Championship. He was the first ever African American to hold the WCW World Television Championship and the only one to legitimately win the title (Stevie Ray also held and defended the title while Booker was injured).
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