5 disappointing WWE match endings

#2. Triple H vs Booker T - WrestleMania XIX

Booker T and a beardless Triple H at WrestleMania XIX

After World Championship Wrestling lost the Monday Night Wars to WWE in 2001, the five-time (five-time five-time five-time five-time) WCW World Champion Booker T was one of the few big-name stars from the company to come to WWE.

With names like Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Goldberg, and Sting all staying at home and collecting on their Time-Warner contracts, WWE needed whatever marquee talent from WCW they could get if they wanted their Invasion angle to mean anything.

When the dust (thankfully) finally settled on that storyline, Booker found himself in a position to try and replicate the singles success he had in WCW, but this time in WWE. And, at WrestleMania XIX, it looked as if he was going to get it. Which was good, because he was being put through some garbage leading up to the show.

At the time, the World Heavyweight Championship was being held by Triple H during an era in WWE history that fans playfully and cheerfully refer to as the "Reign of Terror." The Game had an iron grip on the championship, and fans were anxious to see someone, anyone, put him in his place.

Booker T won a 20-man battle royale on Raw - eliminating The Rock of all people - to gain a title match against Triple H at WWE WrestleMania. Trips would verbally run down Booker with comments about Booker's criminal past (that some felt leaned a little toward being racist) and how his five reigns as WCW Champion were a "joke." Or, as Braden Farrell of ProWrestlingStories.com put it:

Triple H retaining on paper, the act of him simply winning the match, isn’t what outraged fans. It was the way the feud was built up in connection with the result of the match. The promos by Triple H were incredibly racially motivated. The build-up was incredulous and was built up in such a way that anything other than a Booker T victory would be shameful.

Yeah, the fans were ready to see Booker T knock Triple H's block off.

The match itself was actually quite good, all things considered. All of that would be washed away, however, when Triple H landed the Petigree on Booker. Both men laid motionless on the mat... for thirty entire seconds. Then, The Game would crawl his way over to the challenger... and pin him for the win.

After all that build up, all the promos with the racist undertones, and with nearly the entire crowd on Booker T's side, Triple H won. If WWE were determined to send the crowd home happy that night, it's a good thing this match didn't close the show.