Brock Lesnar broke 11-time WWE champion's neck twice, the latter recalls
Brock Lesnar is considered to be one of the greatest in-ring workers of WWE. His accomplishments in both WWE and UFC have cemented his legacy as one of the greats. During his stint in the Stamford-based company, The Beast Incarnate had iconic rivalries with multiple legendary wrestlers, including 11-time champion Kurt Angle.
The Olympic gold medalist recently appeared on Chris Van Vliet's INSIGHT podcast and told the story of how The Beast broke his neck twice during his time in the WWE. Kurt is a six-time World Champion, a one-time Intercontinental Champion, a one-time Hardcore Champion, a one-time European Champion, a one-time US Champion, and a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion.
During the conversation, Kurt Angle discussed his professional wrestling career in both WWE and TNA. When asked about the most painful thing he'd done in a wrestling ring, he talked about the time when Brock Lesnar broke his neck by hitting him over his head with a steel chair.
Angle mentioned that Chris Benoit, who was also part of the match, told Brock Lesnar to swing the steel chair sideways to avoid hurting The Rabid Wolverine's neck. The 56-year-old forgot to tell the same thing to Lesnar, and this led to The Beast swinging the chair over the former's head, breaking Kurt's neck."
"He swung sideways on Benoit; hit him, which was a safe hit. Then he came over the top with everything he had; he brought it right on top of my head. Right then, I heard my neck crack, and my right arm completely went numb, I couldn't raise it; I couldn't use it," he said. [16:25-16:41]
Check out the episode below:
Kurt Angle on the first time Brock Lesnar broke his neck
During the same discussion, the Olympic gold medalist told Chris Van Vliet that he broke his neck twice in WWE.
The first time was during his match against Brock Lesnar when both of them hit the turnbuckle sideways, snapping his neck. Angle mentioned how after the incident he was not able to lift his left arm and that he suffered a different injury in his neck.
When asked if he blames Brock for breaking his neck twice, the former world champion praised The Beast instead of blaming the former UFC star. Angle said:
"Brock is an incredible worker; he has always been safe. It was actually my fault because I called both of those spots." [17:17-17:24]
Kurt also confirmed that he cannot wrestle anymore. This will likely disappoint fans who wanted the veteran to be John Cena's final opponent in The Franchise Player's Retirement Tour.
