9:24 p.m. ET: Lawler comes back and says, “Speaking for all the men in here, Trish we love you, and Ron we hate you.” The fans cheer and Lawler introduces Booker T as the next inductee.
9:27 p.m. ET: Lawler then announces that Booker T’s brother and one half of Harlem Heat, Stevie Ray, will be Booker’s presenter. The fans start a “Harlem Heat” chant.
9:29 p.m. ET: Stevie Ray says Booker is known in their family as “Junior.” He says that Booker would always follow him around as a kid and start trouble knowing that Stevie would be there to help him.
9:31 p.m. ET: Stevie says that things were rough after their mother died and Booker was eventually incarcerated. Stevie says he felt responsible for it, but they would talk about professional wrestling whenever Stevie visited him. After that they pursued a wrestling career. Ivan Putski noticed them and let them into his wrestling school.
9:34 p.m. ET: Stevie says he thought that he was good, but Booker was better than everyone in the class and had found his calling. Stevie got a tryout with Global Wrestling Federation and brought Booker with him. Eddie Gilbert said that he was looking for a tag team, and even though Stevie and Booker had never tagged before, they told Gilbert that they had. That was the beginning of Booker’s Hall of Fame journey.
9:40 p.m. ET: Booker thanks his brother for the introduction. He says that there is only one thing missing that would make the night perfect. The fans chant “Spin-a-roonie,” but Booker says that he wished his mother could be there.
9:41 p.m. ET: Booker says the first job Stevie got him after he got out of jail was as a security guard. He says he didn’t mention that he had a record, but they let him go six months later when they found out. His hard work allowed him to put his past behind him, though.
9:45 p.m. ET: Booker says that he and Stevie Ray got a call from Sid Vicious at WCW, who helped them get in with the company. Booker talks about his early days in WCW, including his first European tour in Germany. Foley lost his ear in a match against Big Van Vader and Booker thought to himself, “What the hell did I get myself into?”
9:48 p.m. ET: Booker thanks a number of people from WCW, including “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. He says that Dusty’s encouragement helped him many times throughout his career.
9:49 p.m. ET: Booker says that while Harlem Heat was going well, the addition of the late Sherri Martel was their “legitimizer.” He says that her female touch allowed Harlem Heat to reach new heights.
9:52 p.m. ET: He then talks about his first singles title win in WCW. Booker says that Rick Martel was supposed to win the Television Championship that night, but he forgot his gear, so Booker won the strap instead. That was the start of his incredibly successful singles career.
9:53 p.m. ET: Booker discusses winning the world title and says that all he ever wanted to do was reach the same level as Ron Simmons, who was the first African-American World champion.
9:55 p.m. ET: After WWE bought WCW, Booker joined the company. He says that he wanted to compete at the highest level, and that was the WWE. He recalls Linda McMahon telling him, “We finally got you.”
9:57 p.m. ET: Booker thanks a number of people, including Sting, The Undertaker and Jim Ross. Booker then mentions Michael Cole and claims that he only did so because he paid him.
9:59 p.m. ET: In closing, Booker thanks the fans and says that they made his career a success. He also gives a special thank you to his wife, Sharmell.
10:01 p.m. ET: Booker puts an exclamation point on his speech by saying, “Can you dig that, sucka?” Before he can leave the stage, Stevie Ray stops him, and Booker then gives the fans what they want with a “Spin-a-roonie.”
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