Brian Gewirtz, a former head writer for WWE, provided insight into the booking choice to have Triple H defeat Booker T at WrestleMania 19 in 2003 in order to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
Since the match, the decision has drawn criticism from fans who felt that, given the build-up, Booker T should have won the championship that evening. Some people believed that Triple H made racially offensive comments while acting out the storyline leading up to the match. Fans believed that the storyline was not given a chance to develop.
During his appearance on 1140 AM, Gewirtz said he actually agreed that, from the perspective of the storyline, the babyface and underdog defeating Triple H would’ve had a satisfying payoff.
However, Booker T did not go over because WWE did not want the title change to be overshadowed by other top matches such as Hulk Hogan vs. Vince McMahon, Steve Austin vs. The Rock, and Brock Lesnar winning the WWE Title in the main event against Kurt Angle.
Gewirtz said:
“I think that the mindset at the time was that it was the title match that was third or fourth last on the card and the moment would be lost in the totality of the show if we pulled the trigger and named a new champion. Now, I’m not saying that was the smart decision or one that I was necessarily in agreement with at the time, but I think that was the mindset.”
