Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar had countless battles against each other in 2003, including matches on SmackDown, at WrestleMania XIX, SummerSlam 2003 and several multi-man matches.
Their last encounter came in 2007, outside of WWE, when then-TNA wrestler Kurt Angle defeated Brock for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
On a recent episode of his weekly ‘The Kurt Angle Show’ podcast, our Olympic Hero spoke about his former opponent and revealed whether he considers Brock a better heel or a better babyface.
Here’s what Kurt said:
“Okay, if Brock had stuck with the NFL another year, he would’ve made the team. He probably would’ve been an all-pro for 8 years, that’s the kind of athlete he is.
He went to the UFC and became the UFC Champion. I think what he did was good for him, I really do. Me going to TNA; for some reason, bands look at it as a step-down.
UFC, you’re not looking at it as a step-down or the NFL.
I think that Brock, I think it helped him by going there. I think his legacy isn’t just gonna be a professional wrestler, it’s gonna be as a fighter too.
And you know, it’s gonna make his legacy even bigger… And not with a lot of experience either. I mean, he brought his wrestling with him, his amateur wrestling.
But you know, he didn’t have a lot of time to work on his standup fighting and his jiu-jitsu and everything like that. So I think that Brock showed the kind of athlete he truly was.
To go in there half-prepared and be able to be UFC Champion. That’s incredible.
Listen, I would pick Brock over that (Elimination) Chamber match with anybody else every single day. Brock and I had incredible chemistry, and we were both amateur wrestlers.
We could trade off amateur wrestling moves, pro wrestling moves. Brock was so easy and versatile to work with. I really had a lot of fun working with him because he understood my movements.
Because he had the same type of movements because we’re amateur wrestlers. So him and I had incredible chemistry.
I actually think Brock was better as a heel. He’s a big, giant individual, he’s explosive. He has this mean demeanor about him, and just his look.
You know, look at him. He looks like a German soldier, okay? He’s what (Adolf) Hitler was imagining that every human being should look like, this person right here, Brock Lesnar.
Tall, blond, blue eyes. This was exactly, he’s just a beast. He’s a freak of nature. And that’s Brock Lesnar.”
Brock Lesnar first joined the World Wrestling Federation in 2002 after WrestleMania X-8 and quickly made a name for himself, when he became the 2002 King of the Ring and then the youngest WWE Champion of all time, before winning the 2003 Royal Rumble match and regaining his championship in the main event of WrestleMania XIX.
‘The Next Big Thing’ got out of his WWE contract and left the company after WrestleMania XX in 2004, and then went on to win the UFC World Heavyweight Championship in 2010, but eventually returned to WWE in 2012 and has been working several dates a year as a part-timer / special attraction ever since.
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