9 Most Brutual Matches In WWE History 8

8. Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar – WrestleMania 19, March 2003

It would have been the best ending to a WrestleMania ever. Brock Lesnar, the next big thing in wrestling, defeating established champion Kurt Angle for the title…with a shooting star press!? A man of Lesnar’s stature should never be able to execute that move, a full backflip from the top rope onto an opponent below. It’s a feat only pulled off by the industry’s most nimble cruiserweights, yet Lesnar had proven he was capable, performing it in his younger days at the WWE’s developmental facility.

Except he couldn’t. Not two years later in front of 53,000 people at the biggest event in wrestling. The crowd gasped – first in awe, then in horror – as Brock took off from the top rope, rotated slightly, and landed sickeningly on his neck. Nobody would have been surprised if the match had been called off there and then; it was a miracle he was still breathing. The quick-thinking Angle improvised a pinfall attempt, which Lesnar somehow kicked out of.
Summoning the strength from somewhere as his face turned an unhealthy shade of red, Brock hoisted Kurt onto his shoulders, hit the F-5, and ended the match. It was still one of the most awe-inspiring main events ‘Mania had ever seen, but not quite for the reasons intended.