Like many other Hall of Famers, Booker T had a lengthy career when all was said and done, wrestling full-time for 23 years between stints in WCW, WWE, and TNA. But there was a scenario in play where Booker may have gotten out far earlier, and missed out on having a WWE Hall of Fame career. But before getting to that during an appearance on “No-Contest Wrestling,” Booker talked about the secret to his longevity, which was that he avoided doing things he didn’t want to do, and stopped doing back bumps at a young age in order to protect his body.

The inspiration to protect himself came to Booker during an encounter with another WWE Hall of Famer while they were both working a WCW PPV. That was also that moment that led to Booker seriously considering hanging up the boots, as well as what his life would look like once his wrestling career was over.

“I started thinking about retiring when I was 30 years old,” Booker said. “I got in when I was 25, and I started thinking about retiring when I was 30, because I was at one of the Great American Bash’s, and I was sitting next to one of my heroes, Wahoo McDaniel. 

“He had came back for a match. And Chief was like in his 50s at that time, and he was having problems. He was struggling to get his boots on. And I was like ‘God man, I’ve got to figure out how to get out of this.’ Cause…I just start thinking, my mind just started flooding stuff. I started trying to figure out what was my plan, what was my gameplan?”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “No-Contest Wrestling” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription