Brian Gewirtz Explains Why Triple H Defeated Booker T At WWE WrestleMania

Former lead WWE writer Brian Gewirtz has provided some insight into the controversial decision to have Triple H retain his World Heavyweight Title at 2003's Wrestlemania XIX.

The Game famously beat Booker T to ensure he left Seattle's Safeco Field with the gold, despite the feud seeming to suggest the five-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion would eventually come out on top.

While promoting his new autobiography on 1140 AM, Gewirtz explained the thought process behind having The Cerebral Assassin win on the night, noting that he was in favour of having Booker prevail:

"This is one of those things where it was certainly considered. I can say I was definitely a proponent of it because from a storyline standpoint, Booker is the underdog of that match and Triple H is the big bad. After going through this whole build-up to it, it's a satisfying pay off to see the hero defeat the villain in that particular case".

So why did Triple H retain? According to Gewirtz:

"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".

Triple H and Booker T went on fourth from last that night, before Hulk Hogan vs. Mr. McMahon, The Rock against Steve Austin and Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar's WWE Title bout. Triple H would hold onto the title until dropping it to Goldberg at Unforgiven (almost six months later).

Booker would eventually win the World Heavyweight Title in 2006, when he beat Rey Mysterio at The Great American Bash.

H/T Wrestling Inc.