the match which would end in his being attacked, he received a call that his sister was "doing really bad" and that he should come immediately to her hospital in Florida. Johnson then met with Vince McMahon and told him he "had some things to deal with" and immediately left WWF and flew to Florida, where his sister died the following week. Johnson has stated subsequently that he did not tell WWF management the reason for his departure at the time because he "didn't like to burden people with his problems" and didn't want to give the impression that he was "telling them something for sympathy". In a July 2021 interview, Johnson for the first time also made claims that racism was another reason for his departure saying, "There was a family issue that needed my attention, but, on top of that, there were other things going on behind scenes that didn’t sit right with me. I started noting a lot of racism going on. It called me not wanting to be there, and back off". World Championship Wrestling (1999–2000) In late 1999, Norris signed a contract with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and debuted at Souled Out as a heel. He gained a massive amount of weight at this time, and was aptly named Big T. He interfered in a match between Harlem Heat tag team partners and real-life brothers, Booker T and Stevie Ray. He attacked Booker, causing Ray to be disqualified. Big T and Stevie formed the tag team Harlem Heat 2000. At SuperBrawl, he defeated Booker to earn the rights to the Harlem Heat name and the letter T. At Uncensored, he and Stevie lost to Booker and Billy Kidman. At Spring Stampede, they participated in a 5-team tag team tournament for the vacant World Tag Team Championship, where they lost to the eventual winners Shane Douglas and Buff Bagwell in the semi-finals of the tournament. He was released by WCW shortly afterwards due to ongoing weight issues. Independent circuit and retirement (2002–2003) Norris stayed away from wrestling after his release from WCW until he wrestled his return match for Arlington, Texas, based Professional Championship Wrestling in 2002 against Jared Steele. He wrestled his final match in 2003 in a tag team match for Maximum Pro Wrestling, teaming with Monty Brown in a losing effort against Sabu and Gangrel. Since retiring, Norris began working for Booker T