Forgotten Pairings: Booker T and Big Boss Man

The tail end of the Attitude Era signified a lot of change for WWE, which also led to many new rivalries and pairings. Perhaps one of the most forgotten was the short-lived alliance between Booker T and Big Boss Man that saw them compete against the two biggest stars in the company, Stone Cold and The Rock.

After the Invasion storyline of 2001, Booker T found himself involved in a mini-feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin. They would feud over the Christmas and New Year period before WWE moved their focus and headed towards the Royal Rumble at the end of January. Their feud is remembered mostly for the supermarket brawl between the two; another part of the feud saw Booker T hide out in a church when Steve Austin was hunting him down once more. 

During the December 20, 2001 episode of SmackDown, Booker T was ordered by Ric Flair to face the Rattlesnake in a First Blood Match. With Austin zooming in on victory, the Big Boss Man would appear out of nowhere and smash a chair across the face of Austin; This would bust him open and cost him the match.  

Big Boss Man would act as Booker T’s bodyguard on the Christmas Eve edition of Raw when he would accompany the Harlem Heat member to the ring for his win over Maven.

During the December 27 edition of SmackDown, Booker T and the former Cobb County prison officer team up against Austin in a handicap match.

Backstage, Boss Man and Booker would get rallied up.

Boss Man: “Hey, do you think Austin was surprised when I turned his lights out with a steel chair the other night?

Booker T: “You know what? That was sweet!”

Boss Man: “Do you know what’s even sweeter than that? Vince McMahon’s a genius, booking you and me in a match against Stone Cold Steve Austin tonight. Because when it’s all said and done, he’s the one that’s going to be handicapped.”

Booker T: “You know what? Enough of this crap. Let’s go straight up dig this sucka.”

Despite being outnumbered, Austin would Stunner Booker and nearly puff off the victory until Boss Man broke up the pin. With Austin distracted by Boss Man, Booker would take advantage by executing a kick to the face for the victory.

The next episode of SmackDown saw Big Boss Man and Booker T interact with Vince McMahon backstage. In this segment, Booker would attempt to establish a new catchphrase, “Who?” to combat the “What?” chants Austin was receiving. As Booker left the room, both Boss Man and Vince seemed perplexed.

On January 7, 2002 episode of Raw, Booker T and Big Boss Man would tag for their final outing as a team.

Their biggest and last match as a team would be held at Madison Square Garden, on the same show as the legendary return of Triple H; They would face the team of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. It is in this match that you can truly see that The Big Bossman isn’t able to continue to compete with the stars of WWE today. He would receive the Stunner from the Rattlesnake and take the pinfall.

This would mark the conclusion of the makeshift alliance of Booker T and The Big Boss Man. The plan was obviously for the Bossman to be the fall guy for Booker as he would always be the one receiving the Stone Cold Stunner. He was also the added muscle behind Booker T. but Bossman would only have two more main television matches. On the road to the Royal Rumble, The Bossman unsuccessfully challenged Edge for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Boss Man would also enter the Royal Rumble as the third entrant but was eliminated first.  

The alliance between the two was only three weeks long and is one of the true forgotten moments and associations. It was also the last true run of the legendary career of the Big Boss Man.