'He was going to take my place' - Chris Benoit almost replaced a WWE Legend in an iconic WrestleMania main event
The WWE WrestleMania 19 main event between Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle is mostly remembered for the Shooting Star Press that nearly ended the Beast Incarnate's career.
Apart from the botch, the match was a high-quality world title contest between two of the company's best in-ring workers. The match, however, could have ended up being completely different due to an untimely injury.
On the debut episode of 'The Kurt Angle Show' on AdFreeShows.com with Conrad Thompson, the Olympic gold medalist revealed that his neck issues nearly prevented him from competing at WrestleMania 19.
Kurt Angle returned from a WWE tour and got his neck checked, and he spoke to Vince McMahon after receiving the diagnosis. Angle told the WWE Boss that he might have to skip WWE WrestleMania.
"At first, you know, when I came back from South Africa, and I got the diagnosis from the doctor. I told Vince I'm going to need surgery, and you know, I'm going to have to skip WrestleMania. He said I'll call you back. I have an idea. Let me talk to the writers; I'll call you back."
Vince McMahon came up with a plan for Kurt Angle to drop the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar before the PPV. The idea was for Chris Benoit to replace Kurt Angle in the planned WrestleMania 19 match.
"So, he decided that we were going to have a match before WrestleMania on SmackDown, and I was going to drop the title to Brock, and I believe Brock was going to go to WrestleMania and face a new opponent for the main event. I think they were going to substitute Chris Benoit, I believe. So he was basically going to take my place."
It bothered me: Kurt Angle on what changed his mind about competing at WWE WrestleMania 19
The change of plans bothered Kurt Angle, and he went to his neighbor's house the next day, where he met a kid named Johnny, who was suffering from Down's Syndrome. The conversation with Angle changed his mind, and the Hall of Famer later informed Vince McMahon that he would postpone his neck surgery after WrestleMania 19.
"You know It bothered me, and the next day I went to my neighbor's house, and there's this really good kid named Johnny, and he has Down's Syndrome. Great kid. Just really nice and friendly and a big wrestling fan. He said, ' Kurt, I'm so sorry you are not going to be wrestling against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. And I said, 'Yeah, that's pretty upsetting Johnny.' He said, 'I wish you would.'"
It stuck with me, and I thought, I'm going to call Vince and choose to have surgery after WrestleMania. See if he goes for it. And I call Vince, and I said, 'Hey, why don't we have the match at WrestleMania and I'll have the surgery, I'll wait and put it off.'
Angle was informed that he would have to get himself approved by the doctor and that WWE had already advertised a SmackDown match with Brock Lesnar in which he was scheduled to lose the title before 'Mania.
As you may remember, WWE altered the booking and brought in Kurt Angle's brother Eric to do the classic switcheroo. The entire Angle worked, and Kurt Angle managed to get to WrestleMania as the WWE Champion.
If any quotes are used from this article, please credit 'The Kurt Angle Show' and give a H/T to SK Wrestling and link it back to this article.