Chris King takes a look back at the historic  match between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XIX for the WWE Championship! 

While I anticipate attending my first-ever WrestleMania this year, I’ve started to rewatch all of the past matches at the Show of Shows. There have been a plethora of exciting matches in Mania history including, The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan, and HHH vs. The Undertaker in the End of an Era match.

One of the most memorable yet often forgotten matches in WrestleMania history is ‘The Beast Incarnate’ Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XIX. Two true amateur wrestlers with amazing backgrounds were battling it out in a terrific thirty-minute technical masterpiece.

On the inside this match looks great because of the names involved but, this could have honestly been the most mentally and physically challenging matches in Mania history. Angle was nursing a real neck injury and would require surgery. Imagine how much pressure Lesnar must have been feeling. It’s bad enough that the young up-and-comer was going up against arguably one of the greatest superstars in WWE history, but knowing that your opponent is legitimately injured damn!

Lesnar won the 2003 Royal Rumble to challenge Angle for the title, but during the months leading up to their match, there were many shenanigans. With ‘The Olympic Gold Medalist’ playing the mastermind heel, Lesnar was wanting to get his hands on the champion at all costs.

The Beast was forced the run the gauntlet but Angle outsmarted his challenger. Angle had even pulled a little twin-magic on Lesnar when he defended his title on an episode of SmackDown and utilized his real-life twin brother Eric to outsmart his challenger to retain his championship.

Both superstars were ready to bring out the absolute best in each other for the richest prize of the WWE in the main event of WrestleMania XIX. The overconfident and arrogant champion cut off Lesnar at every corner, while The Beast utilized his freakish strength to overpower Angle. After two devastating F-5 Lesnar had the title won but, what followed was a scary accident that almost put the match in serious jeopardy.

While Angle was laying on the mat, Lesnar delivered a mistimed Shooting Star Press off the top rope and missed his mark landing directly on his head. The challenger was legitimately knocked out and left the audience in shock. Thankfully, Lesnar was able to hit one final F-5 to secure the victory and become the WWE Champion.