#4 WrestleMania XIX Plans
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It’s no secret that heading into WrestleMania XIX, Kurt Angle wasn’t in a good way. Less than two weeks after losing to Brock Lesnar in the PPV’s main event, he was forced to undergo neck surgery to address a number of ongoing injuries.
However, at one point, there were plans to scrap that WrestleMania match with Lesnar altogether and fast track Angle into surgery before the event on March 30.
At the time, Angle was WWE Champion, but he’d hurt his neck at No Way Out—just a month ahead of ‘Mania.
According to the AMA, a contingency plan was put in place to have the champ lose a 30-second match on SmackDown ahead of the show, which would have led to Lesnar vs. Chris Benoit at WrestleMania XIX.
Just a couple of days before that SmackDown match, though, Angle had a change of heart. After a friend of his had been devastated at the idea of Angle not wrestling Lesnar at ‘Mania, Kurt picked up the phone and told Vince McMahon, and in no uncertain terms, that “I can do this.”
Within a matter of weeks—broken neck and all—Angle headlined the PPV in yet another match-of-the-night showing.
