Photo Credit: WWE
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recalls wrestling Brock Lesnar with a broken neck at WrestleMania 19.
Angle, known for proudly claiming he won an Olympic gold medal with a broken freakin’ neck. He suffered multiple neck injuries throughout his professional wrestling career. In 2003, during a Handicap Match at WWE No Way Out against Chris Benoit and Brock Lesnar. Angle broke his neck after a mistimed Irish Whip.
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Despite the serious setback, Angle chose to push forward and competed against Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania 19. He underwent neck surgery the very next day. In a recent interview with Casino.org, Kurt Angle opened up about his unforgettable WrestleMania 19 main event against Brock Lesnar. When asked about his memories of the match and its build-up.
He looked back on the intense match and shared what it was like to step into the ring with a broken neck. “You had an Olympic Gold medalist against an NCAA Champion. The match didn’t disappoint, the only issue was that I broke my neck and had to have surgery beforehand.”
“I wasn’t supposed to wrestle at the event, but decided to do it at the last second. I asked my Doctor, ‘can I go out there and wrestle if I protect my neck, will I be OK?’ – he said that he couldn’t guarantee that, but I decided to go out there anyway.”
“You have to remember, back in 2003, you didn’t have to worry about any lawsuits. If you broke a neck today, there is no way a doctor would clear you to wrestle, they could be sued. There were no real lawsuits being held against doctors 22 years ago.”
Kurt Angle thought Brock Lesnar broke his neck after infamous botch
Reflecting on that intense night, Kurt Angle recalled not only delated his neck surgery but also feared that Brock Lesnar had suffered the same fate.
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“I put my surgery off until the day after WrestleMania, so I went in there with a broken neck and just tried to protect it as much as I could. The match was awesome, it was as good as it could have been. The only negative is that Brock missed a shooting star press, and I thought for a second that he’d broken his neck, too. My first thought was ‘shoot, man’ – I’m going to have to hold this title for another month, because Brock won’t win here! That was selfish of me, considering at this point, Brock could have broken his neck. Luckily he got up and finished the match, and the rest is history.”
During the match’s climax, Brock Lesnar attempted his now-infamous Shooting Star Press but landed awkwardly, suffering a severe concussion. Despite the injury, Lesnar managed to finish the match and defeated Kurt Angle to win the WWE Championship.
Related: Kurt Angle Explains Why Two Nights Of WrestleMania Is Better For the Fans
The post Kurt Angle Reflects on Putting Off Neck Surgery For Brock Lesnar Match at WrestleMania 19 appeared first on Wrestlezone.
