5 Best Wrestling Matches of 2003
By 2003, the landscape of pro wrestling changed significantly. In terms of popularity and critical acclaim, the best company in the world was Japan’s Pro Wrestling NOAH. There was a higher concentration of phenomenal matches in NOAH than in any other company that year, including WWE.
They had the perfect combination of established legends and rising stars, which allowed the company to become the biggest wrestling company in Japan, despite wrestling in general being behind MMA in terms of widespread popularity at the time.
In fact, not only did NOAH produce the best match of the year by a long shot, but the match in question is also in this author’s mind, the best wrestling match of the entire decade.
WWE wasn’t doing badly by any means, however. They had one of the deepest rosters ever and had a new group of rising stars coming up to carry the company forward. Guys like Brock Lesnar, John Cena and the debuting Goldberg were white hot in the company during 2003, and made for some of the most entertaining matches and moments throughout the year.
However, no single WWE superstar was better than Kurt Angle in 2003. He was on a tear, putting on MOTY-level contests on almost a weekly basis. Whether he was wrestling a fellow ring technician like Chris Benoit or taking on bigger opponents like The Undertaker or Brock Lesnar, Angle was the best thing WWE had that year, no doubt.
So which matches were the best this year? Read on…
5. Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar - WrestleMania XIX
Up until this match, most people viewed Brock as a big man who only did power moves. Then things changed.
Lesnar showed a side of himself that few people had ever seen before. He finally faced Kurt Angle, which meant we got to see Lesnar’s natural wrestling ability on display.
One cannot understate how badass Lesnar looked holding his own in a chain grappling match with Kurt Angle. It was a huge deal because it showed Lesnar really did have the amateur skills to back up all the hype around him.
But Lesnar doing technical reversals was only one small part of the story. The central point here is that Brock Lesnar really was a monster back then. He took a ridiculous amount of punishment from Kurt Angle, including four consecutive German Suplexes and one into the turnbuckle and one that had enough force that Lesnar landed on his stomach. He looked like a real superstar in this match, even as he dragged himself to the bottom rope with Angle holding onto his ankle for dear life.
Of course, Angle was a machine in his own right, dominating most of the match. Not only did his mat wrestling get loud applause from the crowd, but he also showed his own toughness by becoming the first person to ever kick out of the F-5.
Aside from the wrestlers, commentator Tazz did great work selling the realism of the submission holds in the match, making even the rest-holds feel important and meaningful.
Lastly, this match will be remembered for Lesnar’s botched Shooting Star Press. Yes, it was a mistake, but Lesnar was still able to finish the match despite suffering a severe concussion. That in itself makes him one of the toughest people to ever step foot in a wrestling ring.
The only unfortunate thing about this match is we don’t get to see this Brock Lesnar anymore. THIS Brock Lesnar was dynamic and exciting; today’s Brock Lesnar doesn’t seem to care about anything wrestling-related.