WWE: King Booker, part 7

Booker T did not wrestle again until after the "Best of Seven" series with Benoit was completed. Booker T was scheduled to face Chris Benoit in Match 5 of the Best of Seven Series at the SmackDown! tapings the following night. At the beginning of the show, General Manager Theodore Long said that Booker would have to forfeit. Both Booker and Benoit protested, with Benoit not wanting a cheap victory. Booker managed to persuade Long to allow him to choose a stand-in for the matches.

Booker selected Randy Orton, over an unhappy Orlando Jordan, as his stand-in. Benoit was able to beat Orton in two matches, due to interference from both Sharmell and Jordan, tying the series 3 matches apiece. However Randy Orton was able to defeat Benoit in the final match up to win the series and the title for Booker T, who would hold the title until No Way Out 2006 where Benoit won it back.

After losing the title, Booker T would be involved in a feud with The Boogeyman, who would sneak up and scare Booker T and his wife Sharmell over a few months. The feud culminated in a match during WrestleMania 22 on April 2, where both Booker T and Sharmell would face the Boogeyman in a handicap match and lose. The feud came to an end on the April 7 edition of Smackdown! where it was announced that Booker T and his wife had taken out a restraining order on the Boogeyman.

Booker T would next be entered into the King of the Ring tournament on SmackDown!, Booker would defeat his first round opponent Matt Hardy before advancing through to the finals due to a bye as his semi-final opponent, Kurt Angle, was unable to wrestle. The finals were held at Judgment Day 2006 where Booker T defeated Bobby Lashley with help from Finlay.

Upon winning the King of the Ring tournament, Booker T changed his ring name to King Booker. Huffman was not thrilled with the change to his wrestling character going from Booker T to King Booker due to all of the "kings" that had been in the wrestling business such as Jerry "the King" Lawler, "Macho King" Randy Savage, King Haku, and "King" Harley Race. But after negotiations, he agreed to the character change. As King Booker, he went on to form King Booker's Court, which included Queen Sharmell, William Regal, and Finlay.

Over time, King Booker began to act as if he were a real king (in the style of "Macho King" Randy Savage) of "The SmackDown Kingdom", including mannerisms and appearance of a typical English-style King. (This would be broken whenever he was riled up, which always drove him to making a tirade in the former Booker T style.) King Booker even went as far as having Lashley kiss his royal feet. Bobby Lashley would go on to defeat King Booker in a steel cage match to retain the United States Title.

King Booker won a #1 Contenders battle royal to win a World title shot at The Great American Bash 2006. King Booker would win the World Heavyweight Championship from Rey Mysterio at the event, after Chavo Guerrero hit Mysterio with a steel chair, winning his first World Title in WWE thus causing him to proclaim himself as the "King of the World."

Booker then entered a rivalry with Batista and lost by disqualification to him at SummerSlam, but defeated him at No Mercy 2006, the latter of which also included Finlay and Bobby Lashley. In spite of the break-up of his Court, the King defeated Batista on the October 20 edition on SmackDown, due to interference from WWE Champion John Cena and then ECW World Champion The Big Show. At Cyber Sunday , King Booker retained his World Heavyweight Championship after Kevin Federline interfered and hit John Cena with the World title belt. King Booker became the "Champion of Champions" in a match that marked the first time in which the World Champions from RAW, SmackDown, and ECW have fought each other. Booker lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Batista on November 26, 2006 at Survivor Series. After losing the World title, Booker then feuded alongside former royal court member Finlay against Batista and John Cena, which lead up to Armageddon where they lost.

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