Can you dig that, suckas!!???

Without question, Booker T is one of the greatest and most charismatic wrestlers of all time. His impeccable resume includes being an 11-time WCW Tag Team Champion as a member of Harlem Heat with his brother, Laslon “Lash" Steven Huffman, aka Stevie Ray, and a six-time World Champion. In the WWE, he won the World Heavyweight Championship and WWE United States Championship twice.

Currently, he’s the color commentator on WWE’s NXT brand and owner and founder of the independent promotion Reality of Wrestling (ROW).

Passing on his vast knowledge of the wrestling business, Booker is one of the coaches on the second season of WWE LFG. Airing on A&E, the reality competition series features up-and-coming wrestlers from WWE's developmental program “as they vie for a coveted NXT contract.” These aspiring "Future Greats" receive mentorship from WWE legends. Joining Booker as coaches are The Undertaker, Michelle McCool, Bubba Ray Dudley, and Shawn Michaels.

Booker spoke with BET.com about how he cultivated his “championship mentality,” the best advice he’s received in the wrestling business, and the keys to being successful in the industry.

Born in Plain Dealing, Louisiana, Booker T did not have aspirations to become a professional wrestler. Although he loved watching legends such as the Junkyard Dog, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer, stepping into the squared circle never crossed his mind. It wasn’t until Stevie Ray influenced him that he decided to give wrestling a shot.

“When I was 25 years old, I came home from prison, and my brother helped me get a job. Wrestling was something that he wanted to do since he was a kid, and he knew a guy who was opening a wrestling school, and he asked me if I wanted to try it, “ Booker said. “I tried it because the guy I was working for sponsored me to go for $3,000. In high school, I was a drum major.  I never played sports or anything, but when I got in the wrestling ring, it was like deja vu. It seemed like I had been there before.”

Booker also shared that before wrestling, he was struggling with a variety of personal obstacles. Looking back on those moments, while he couldn’t have imagined it then, wrestling saved his life.

“I was very athletic. It wasn't like I couldn't play sports, but life is tricky. I lost my parents when I was young, so I tell kids to try not to lose their focus,” he said. “I think that's what I did. I lost my focus in life, but God works in mysterious ways.”

When asked where he ranks the Harlem Heat as a tag team, he placed the legendary duo without hesitation as one of the best to ever do it. During their epic run in WCW, they were the gold standard of tag-team wrestling.

“With Harlem Heat, me and my brother made history. We made our mark in business, and to be placed in the WWE Hall of Fame, and we never wrestled there, and that speaks to our body of work,: Booker said.  “But I loved those times. They were near and dear to my heart. Sherri Martell, Booker T, and Stevie Ray were the best in their day.”

After several decades of captivating performances in the ring, Booker now shares his immense knowledge of the business with up-and-coming wrestlers trying to make it in the industry on WWE LFG. According to his self-description, he is the best coach that anyone can ask for. When it comes to his approach to coaching, Booker says he holds nothing back.

“I'm raw, man. I can't sugarcoat anything, and I'm very, very passionate. I tell these guys that everything with me is a test. I try to keep them on their toes at all times. I'm going to pat them on the back and tell them when they do a great job. But when they don't, I’ll let them know that as well,” Booker explained.  

“I'm a really good coach. I wish I had me as a coach when I was coming up. I was that kid who wanted someone to pat me on the back and tell me when I'm doing well, and when I needed to change something. Having mentors in this life is very valuable,” he continued.

During season one of WWE LFG, Booker recalled working with Jasper Troy, and after winning one of his matches, he showed the former champion just how much he appreciated his coaching with an outpouring of gratitude.

“Jasper Troy won season one. After his match with Oba Femi, he gave me the biggest hug, and he was all sweaty,” Booker laughed. “I could just feel all the passion in him. What I gave him was maybe nothing more than letting him know that he could do it. That's something that I think young people need more than anything in their lives.”

Regarded as a superior specimen in the ring, Booker brings the same intensity and laser focus to his various ventures outside of the ring. He says that one of the keys to his success in the business, which has spanned almost four decades, is his “championship mentality.”

“I remember Tiger Conway Jr telling me, ‘You've got to be a champion in the ring and out of the ring all the time.’ That was a piece of advice that I’ll always remember, and I took that throughout my whole wrestling career. None of my peers even saw me in a pair of jeans because I always dressed apart,” he recalled. “I always looked like a businessman and never like a wrestler. I always came to work because it was always a job for me. Having that championship mentality all the time is perhaps what propelled me to be a great champion.”

Unlike most of her peers, Booker was constantly anticipating what was coming next on the horizon. His longevity and versatility in the sports entertainment sector have been intentional from the very beginning.

“I thought wrestling would just be a bump in the road, thinking that I would retire at 30 because I wanted to be able to walk when I turned 50. A lot of guys didn't think that way. I started preparing for life after wrestling because preparation is the only luck we have,” Booker said. 

“I opened my wrestling school more than 20 years ago, and my wrestling promotion has been going for 14 years without missing a beat every month. This has been nothing more than a job to me, and it could consume you. I try to pass that along on WWE LFG.”

As season two of WWE LFG is underway, viewers could be looking at one of the next great stars in wrestling. Booker hopes that those who tune into the show will gain a deeper understanding of the inner workings of professional wrestling.

“I want viewers to see the realism and what these young kids have to endure. It’s not just the physical side of the business but the mental side. If you don't have the mental side, you're going to fall,” Booker explained. “I remember one of the Armstrong brothers telling me, ‘The one thing about you is that you never lost your focus. I appreciate that, because that's the one thing that I've always tried to keep.” 

“With these young kids, I'm trying to get them to focus on what this thing really could mean for their lives. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime situation,” he added. “This could be their lottery ticket out of poverty. So viewers get a lot of insight into what it takes to thrive in this business, as the show takes you on so many different levels, like a roller coaster.”