"The toughest decision I ever made" - Kurt Angle on his most dangerous WWE match
Kurt Angle knows working the match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XIX with a broken neck wasn't the smartest idea.
Angle recently spoke to Forbes about his new podcast with Conrad Thompson and his professional wrestling career as a whole. When the subject of wrestling someone like Brock Lesnar came up, Angle spoke in depth about the time they met in 2003 when he had a "broken freaking neck."
"Especially when I had a broken neck. Yeah. That was the toughest decision I ever made because Brock's a beast and his power and strength is unparalleled. The only people I know that are as strong as him, but they aren’t as explosive, are Mark Henry and Big Show. But Brock is just explosive and his belly to belly suplexes are brutal. But, I wanted to do it."
Kurt Angle reflects on getting cleared for his WrestleMania match against Brock Lesnar
Kurt Angle discussed having to talk Vince McMahon into letting him wrestle the match and was able to get cleared by a doctor to do so, which sounds utterly insane in 2021.
"I actually talked to Vince into allowing me to wrestle at WrestleMania with my neck broken, and I got cleared by the doctor. That wouldn't happen today. But in 2003, you could get away with a little more stuff. But now there's just no way there's too much liability."
Kurt Angle is 100% correct. As precautions in professional wrestling have changed a great deal since 2003, there is no way this match would have taken place under the same circumstances today.
Luckily Angle survived the match and wasn't seriously injured. A bad suplex from Lesnar could have spelled disaster for the Olympic gold medalist.
Do you remember Kurt Angle's match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XIX? Who were you cheering for back then? Let us know by sounding off in the comments section below.