Booker T – “My job was to make John Cena a megastar”

In a recent episode of his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T talked about his best-of-five series with John Cena for the WWE United States Title, which began at SummerSlam 2004.

Below you can see some highlights from the podcast:

On his best-of-five series with John Cena for the US title: “I wanted to work with Cena. He was an up-and-coming guy at the time. And I think they wanted to do a best-of-seven series with Cena. And I didn't think seven matches would work, and they came up with a best-of-five match. And I was like, 'Yeah, okay, we can do that.'”

On the idea of ​​five instead of seven games: “I just didn’t want to try to recreate what I had [Chris] Benoit, just because I knew I couldn't do it again. I just couldn't. It was really that hard. Even when I tried with Benoit in WWE, I couldn't finish it. Just because I was injured, I pulled my groin. And Randy Orton had to finish that best-of-seven series with Benoit for me. And I just didn't think my body could do it. So I went with five.

“And for me, in these matches, it was almost as if 'Killer' Tim Brooks was with me. I want to teach John Cena the rules. I want to teach him the name of the game, the art of Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Phantom of the Opera. And man, we had a chance to do really good work. John Cena was the same guy I was back then. He just listened, man. I don't remember John suggesting anything other than, 'Shakespeare, let's go out and do it.' He was the guy that just wanted to learn. And I could see and sense that this was the next guy that the company was going to invest heavily in. And I was able to help John Cena — you know, my mom always told me it doesn't cost anything to be nice to people. So I just tried to help John Cena get to the next level. And what a student, man, what a student of the game.”

On whether there was pressure to start the series at SummerSlam 2004: “No, business as usual, man. I knew what my job was. My job was to go out there and make John Cena, this guy, a star, make him a megastar. And I had no qualms about doing it. In this business, it's like a revolving door. You either go in or you go out, one of the two. So to me, his time had come, you know, his time was now. Seriously, you know? So it was my time to try to put him in the best light. And I think I did that really well.”