Oldies are welcome – the current product is insipid and not worthy of discussion.

I’m probably in the minority, however I thought HHH over Booker was the right decision.

Goldberg’s debut was imminent, and it was rumoured that HHH/Goldberg would headline SummerSlam. HHH’s Reign of Terror as an unbeatable heel champion made him a more compelling opponent for the unstoppable Goldberg.

Booker could’ve been given a short-term championship reign, however this arguably weakens HHH because his Reign of Terror never occurs and therefore Goldberg’s eventual win means less. Booker could’ve remained champion and HHH/Goldberg could’ve been a non-championship feud, however people would instead complain that Booker played second-fiddle (ala Punk in 2012) and it wouldn’t benefit a championship that was only created in September 2002 to be reduced to a mid-card championship.

From what I recall, HHH took a lifetime to pin Booker at WrestleMania and that was unnecessary and hurt Booker’s credibility, however that’s my only gripe.

As for the first nail in the WCW vs. WWF coffin, you’re probably right, though I thought DDP stalking Taker’s wife and being annihilated at King of the Ring 2001 was laughable. I don’t know much about DDP, however I know he won a War Games match that included Hogan, Warrior, Piper, Hart, Sting, Nash and Luger and that was a monumental achievement given the star power of those names and the backstage power they posses, and to go from that playing a stalker in the WWF was a gigantic step down.

@NathanVersus said: From what I recall, HHH took a lifetime to pin Booker at WrestleMania and that was unnecessary and hurt Booker’s credibility, however that’s my only gripe.

I actually rewatched this card a few months ago, and when the finish came up I counted the time between the final Pedigree landing and HHH pinning Booker. I can't remember the exact time anymore but it was at least 20 seconds, and it was barely even a pin, Hunter just weakly threw an arm over him. It was so ridiculous. Then when you factor in that Booker hit HHH with multiple scissors kicks and the Harlem hangover (which he was only using on special occasions at that point) and HHH withstood all that and beat Booker with one Pedigree the whole match just becomes dumb. I honestly can't think of a high-profile championship match (not counting squashes) that made one of its participants look as bad as that match made Booker look.

Begrudgingly, I have to admit they made the right decision. As was mentioned, Goldberg was about to debut and it made more sense to have him be the one to bring an end to Hunter's "reign of terror" rather than do a bait-and-switch with Booker instead. It's not like a short run would have benefitted Booker any either.

Booker's "push" was only ever gonna be a short one at that point in time anyway, because it was born out of necessity. You see, Wrestlemania 19 was supposed to feature Goldberg vs The Rock and HHH vs Austin for the World Heavyweight Championship, but negotiations with Goldberg took longer than expected and he didn't sign by the time the build for WM began, so they rearranged the card and held off his debut until the night after... Thus, we got Austin/Rock III instead, and Booker T. was pulled from the midcard just long enough to give Hunter a credible enough challenger for WM.

Interesting, I've never come across that Austin/HHH or Goldberg/Rock scenario before. But they definetly fudged the whole Goldberg thing with Summerslam etc.

Yeah this is 20 days later but coincidentally someone just posted the finish of this match on Reddit, thought I'd pass it along here in case anyone wanted to see it again without having to log into the network or scroll through the whole match.

HHH/Booker T finish