Kurt Angle On How Stressful Brock Lesnar’s Wrestlemania XIX Botch Was

In an interview with CBS Sports, Kurt Angle spoke about Brock Lesnar’s botched shooting star press attempt at Wrestlemania XIX during their WWE title match. The botch resulted in Lesnar landing on his head and suffering a concussion, but they still finished the match. Here are highlights:

On why the finish wasn’t changed for Angle to win mid-match: “The whole reason why I helped Brock up and tried to assist him to win the match is that my neck was broken and I couldn’t carry the title any longer. I was going to have surgery the next day. So I was in a position where Brock might have broken his neck, he got knocked out, I didn’t know what to do because I couldn’t hold the title another night. I had to basically wake him up and get him moving and see if he was OK and make sure that he could complete the move. It was very stressful. Those 15 seconds were one of the most stressful situations that I’ve ever been in. But Brock being the beast that he is followed through, hit the F-5 and he won the world championship.”

On Lesnar’s success in wrestling: “It’s been pretty amazing. What Brock Lesnar has been able to do — not just in pro-wrestling or amateur wrestling, but MMA as well — Brock is a monster. The guy is so talented. Anything he touches turns to gold. The guy has all the ability in the world. To know that he is still main eventing WrestleMania 19 years later is pretty damn impressive.”

On Ronda Rousey not initially understanding the business: “I think that Ronda didn’t understand the business quite totally. The fans are going to react the way they want to react. There is really nothing you can do about it. You can navigate it to a certain extent, but you’re not going to know exactly what kind of responses you’re going to get. When you do, you have to accept those responses. I saw Ronda win the Rumble. She’s going to be main eventing WrestleMania with Charlotte Flair. She’s back on it. It’s pretty impressive considering she just had a baby a few months ago. The girl is a monster. She’s a thoroughbred. There’s only one Ronda Rousey and that’s for sure.”