When Brock Lesnar was told to "stop doing that" by WWE legend before memorable moment
Brock Lesnar formed a friendship with Curt Hennig, aka Mr. Perfect, during his first spell with WWE in the early 2000s. Hennig once gave Lesnar some advice about his risky Shooting Star Press, but The Next Big Thing did not listen.
At WrestleMania 19, Lesnar hit the top-rope move during his main event match against Kurt Angle. He famously botched the forward-facing backflip and landed head-first on his opponent's side.
In 2022, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion revealed on The Michael Kay Show that Hennig previously told him to stop performing the Shooting Star Press:
"Mr. Perfect, Curt Hennig, bless his soul, he said, 'You don't need to do that, you know? Stop doing that,'" Lesnar said. "And, thankfully, I didn't break my neck or anything like that. But I shouldn't have done that move. I finished the move, I had a concussion. Or I finished the match, I had a concussion. But, thankfully, I didn't [suffer a broken neck], that was the worst of it." (H/T Wrestling Inc.)
Momento Wrestlemania: Brock Lesnar botcheando el Shooting Star Press. https://t.co/nMATyGDCkY
Moments later, Lesnar hit Angle with an F-5 to capture the WWE Championship at the end of a grueling 21-minute encounter.
Brock Lesnar admitted he was "foolish" at WrestleMania 19
WWE Superstars often try to create special moments at the company's biggest show of the year. Having performed the Shooting Star Press in WWE's Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) developmental system, Brock Lesnar was encouraged to use the move again at WrestleMania.
☠️Brock Lesnar Shooting Star Press 🌟☠️ https://t.co/Z0Wpo2SKRS
In hindsight, Lesnar knows he should not have listened to advice from others around him:
"That was foolish on my behalf. So you get people, producers, and people from higher up in the company that they always want this WrestleMania moment. And this would be fantastic and so I practiced it the night before. I was doing it in Ohio Valley Wrestling when I was being trained. So I'm a 310-pound man, six-foot-three, doing a front backflip off the top rope and landing on my opponent and winning matches."
Kurt Angle once said Lesnar was supposed to defeat him immediately after the Shooting Star Press. They were forced to come up with a new finish at short notice after the move went wrong.
What did you think of Brock Lesnar's Shooting Star Press? Let us know in the comments section below.