One Moment WWE Wants You To Forget From Every Year (1985 to 2026)

24. 2003 - The Reign Of Terror's Nadir

triple h summerslam 2003
WWE.com

Triple H's reputation as a super-worker had been in tatters for well over a year by the time he skived his way through SummerSlam 2003's Elimination Chamber main event, but his ability to hobble his nearest competition might have peaked at its climax. 

The WrestleMania XIX win over Booker T (you remember - racist champion Hunter cleanly defeats racially abused challenger Booker) was the real nadir of the run, but the 'Five Time, Five Time, Five Time, Five Time, Five Time WCW Champion's star power had realistically peaked slightly before WWE threatened to strap him up on 'The Grandest Stage'. He should have won because he should have won, but Booker probably wasn't going to be The Guy going forward. Meanwhile, in August '03, Bill Goldberg at long last was ready to be 'DA MAN' once again.

As injured as his three-quarter length athletic support tights made him look, the future COO took a Sweet Chin Music right as his pod opened in order to lay out as Goldberg ploughed through everybody else in the match. A phenomenal spectacle, it was the only time he'd been properly over since signing, and served as the sprint towards the doomed World Heavyweight Champion.

Then, HHH hit him with a sledgehammer and pinned him to set up a boring 14 minute singles match at Unforgiven that exposed him as the latest allegedly unsuitable replacement. Classic Game. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.