10 Times WWE Wrestlers Should Have Refused To Read The Script
2. Triple H - Nappy Hair (Raw, 3rd March 2003)
Booker T entered Raw following a 20 Man Battle Royal win, last eliminating The Rock, to earn a WrestleMania title match. However, his celebrations were cut short by then World Champion Triple H and Ric Flair.
Triple H resurrected his early Connecticut snob gimmick, looking down his famously sizable nose at Booker. His first dig was about Booker being “confused about [his] role in life”. From here it became one of WWE’s most controversial promos.
Triple H stated: “somebody like … you doesn’t get to be a World Champion […] people like you don’t deserve it, that’s reserved for people like me”. As if the racial implications weren’t evident and awkward enough, Triple H dismissed Booker, telling him “you’re here to be an entertainer […] Do a little dance for me, Book […] Don’t be embarrassed. You’re here to make people like me laugh”. Triple H also referenced “nappy hair” as one of the things about Booker that he found humorous.
Booker had little time to respond to the racism, and one of his lines was “some of the stuff you said, it may be true”, highlighting how real the problem was behind the camera as well as in front of it.