WrestleMania XIX still remains one of the best WrestleMania events in the history despite poor buy rates. Triple H defended his World Heavyweight Championship in this big event against former five times WCW World Heavyweight Champion Booker T.
This remains one of the most controversial feuds of that time mostly because of its racial angles. Booker T was also scheduled to win the World Heavyweight Championship at the event according to multiple reports, but The Game refused to drop the title to him and we had to wait for three more years to see Booker T winning the World title in WWE.
Former WWE Star Remembers Getting Squashed by Triple H Before WrestleMania XIX
The Cerebral Assassin had a strong build before heading towards his big title defense at WrestleMania XIX as he picked defended his title successfully against some top names like Kane and Scott Steiner. He also got a squash victory over Maven prior to the event.
Maven recently remembered this match on his YouTube channel and he also revealed that Levesque apologized to him for squashing him. Here is what he had to say about this match;
Triple H Defeated Booker T at WrestleMania XIX to Retain his World Heavyweight Champion
“Hunter would pull me aside and explain to me, and apologize in advance. He would say, ‘Listen, Maven, normally, I don’t like doing squash matches.’ By ‘squash matches,’ that’s just a term in our business for, ‘I’m going to get every ounce of the offense, and you’re gonna get nothing in.’
“The way you build a character, and the way you help yourself is by building your opponent up. If I go out and just squash someone, what have I done? Absolutely nothing. So Hunter explained to me earlier in the day, ‘I don’t like doing squash matches. I’m sorry I’m doing this squash match.
Triple H Squashed Maven Before His WrestleMania XIX Match
“Normally, I want you to get some offense in.’ On this night, leading to WrestleMania in a few weeks, Hunter was just trying to expand on his heel persona. He had a big match coming up with Booker, and he wanted as many people as possible to hate him, to want to see Booker get the better of him, and what better way to do that than to beat the hell out of the Tough Enough kid?”
Triple H was accused of many burials during the time, including Booker T, who was almost buried after this infamous match. But present day Triple H is a completely different person and in his latter career, he uplifted many talents. Presently, he is doing an excellent job as the Chief Content Officer of WWE since 2022.
H/T - eWrestlingNews
