Booker T Huffman was born the youngest of eight children, in Houston Texas. By the time Booker was 13, both of his parents had died and he lived with his 16-year-old sister. He would move in with his older brother Lash "Stevie Ray" Huffman at age 17. In high school, Booker was a drum major.

By mid-1999, Booker had convinced his brother, Stevie Ray, to leave the nWo and reunite Harlem Heat. Harlem Heat defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Kanyon for the WCW World Tag Team titles at Road Wild. They lost the WCW World Tag Team titles to Barry and Kendall Windham on August 23, but Harlem Heat regained them about a month later at Fall Brawl. When The Filthy Animals were stripped of the WCW World Tag Team belts due to an injury suffered by Rey Mysterio Jr., the title was put up in a three-way dance at Halloween Havoc. Harlem Heat claimed their tenth WCW World Tag Team title defeating Hugh Morrus and Brian Knobs and Konnan and Kidman. By late 1999, a female bodybuilder named Midnight had joined Harlem Heat. Stevie neglected her help and started disputing with Booker over her.  Stevie Ray eventually challenged Midnight in a match that decided whether or not she would stay with Harlem Heat. After being defeated with a surprise small package, Stevie Ray turned on both Booker and Midnight to form Harlem Heat, Inc. with Big T, Kash, and J. Biggs. Stevie Ray and Big T dubbed themselves Harlem Heat 2000. Throughout this period, Huffman was referred to simply as Booker, as Harlem Heat 2000 won the rights to the name "T" in a match with Big T against Booker on February 20, 2000 at SuperBrawl X. Kidman and Booker T defeated Harlem Heat 2000 (Ray and Big T) at Uncensored 2000.  When Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff formed The New Blood, Huffman eventually completely changed his in-ring persona, helping lead Captain Rection's military-themed Misfits In Action stable as G.I. Bro, reprising his gimmicks from his days in the WWA. He defeated Shawn Stasiak at the Great American Bash in a Boot Camp match. He returned to the Booker T name on the June 19th Nitro, promoting Rection to the status of General and demanding the Misfits start standing up to the New Blood.

Did Stevie Ray ever change his name?