Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle

[9.0] "(9.0) Man... I hate to say it, but I think we were one successful Shooting Star Press away from this being a five-star match. It was a botched finish, but it was still two of the most legendary powerhouse wrestlers of all time battling it out and giving us a really outstanding World Title match to cap off an awesome WrestleMania."

[9.0] "This match was one single shooting star away from perfect. The thinnest of margins. That being said, this was incredible. A technical masterpiece and a brutal in all the right moments. At this point, Kurt Angle is the perfect wrestler. Everything he does is crisp and looks like it is supposed to kill you. This was paced perfectly, worked *nearly* perfectly. I had forgotten how good Brock used to be. He was incredible here."

[9.0] "Such a technical match in the main event of Wrestlemania is unthinkable and probably unrepeatable. Only Angle and Lesnar could make it possible."

[9.0] "Great overall technical wrestling, Angle absolutely carried this match though. Exciting match, trading moves, trading submissions. The botched shooting star press was a rough watch, you could see it really took Lesnar out the match but props to him for continuing and finishing the match. A perfect match, perfect main event to end this great PPV. Easily the best Mania of all time."

[3.0] "[1. 50*] There was some slick technical wrestling and counters thrown in there and the selling of guys was nice but come on dude. They traded suplexes or did a minute-long submission hold for 15 minutes, then traded finishers. The botched Shooting Star Press was not a problem, they recovered from that well, but this match just reeks man."

[4.0] "For the life of me, I could not give you one reason why this match gets the praise it does. The whole encounter is remarkably sluggish and their timing is really bad. They don't have good chemistry at all. I know Angle is working with a broken neck and can forgive some of this, but make the match shorter if he isn't at 100%. It isn't like Brock was good enough to carry this. We have sluggish mat work to start. It might be okay if we didn't see Angle and Benoit deliver infinitely better mat work a month prior. Then the middle is filled with rest holds and throws. Finally, the ending is an early example of finisher spam before a botched Shooting Star Press. Even the crowd is absolutely worn out after Hogan/Vince and Austin/Rock back to back. They are only reacting to the big moments. And honestly...I think crowd got more support than Brock. The "you suck" chant for Angle was barely audible, and Brock only got the politest of pops when he came out. I genuinely think this is only a step above a bad match. It isn't a bad match, but it is not a good one. This might just take the cake for most overrated Wrestlemania main event of all time."

[9.0] "Great WrestleMania main event. The opening grappling is intense and technical, with neither man giving ground, and Angle eventually shifts the match by targeting Lesnar's injured ribs. Lesnar sells the injury well, and it limits the explosive offense that usually makes him terrifying. Angle becoming the first wrestler to kick out of the F-5 is a major moment. When Lesnar decides the F-5 isn't enough and attempts something bigger, the match creates both a WrestleMania moment and perhaps the most famous botch ever: the Shooting Star Press. Surreal. The botch is terrifying, but the emotional post-match still cements Lesnar as a top babyface. ****"

[8.0] "The physicality between these with there backgrounds in amateur wrestling made this better than expected. The matches these two would go on to have just ended up being better as time went on."

[9.0] "[4.5 Stars] The match is really good, but even in 2026, I'm still shocked that this match was the main event of Mania 19 and not the final Rock vs. Austin match."

[6.0] "That's sadly not a great match for me, but has interesting moments for sure, and the chemistry between Angle and Lesnar is something positive in the match, even considering that, in my opinion, this chemistry wasn't used to build something heated and physical, the clash of the 'real wrestlers' and visible, it's a very intriguing match, that's why it was the main event of WrestleMania, and you could clear see that they were trying to display their freestyle wrestling background. During most of the match the crowd wasn't very excited, but we had some nice things for sure, there were a lot of suplexes as expected, but things just never clicked for me, the whole package wasn't being very exciting and I wasn't feeling the amateur wrestling duel vibes. The ending stretch is where things could've picked up, but the shooting star press botch is really ugly and probably the only moment people remember from this match, it's undeniably a pretty famous spot and it's crazy that Lesnar went for it, but if he managed to win the match with that move, would've been beast, and maybe the rating would be higher, but that certainly left a feeling that the match was a mess. This had interesting moves and a curious concept, but didn't reach the next level for me - {**3/4}"

[9.0] "Something you just don't see in modern WWE, taking a young star and strapping a rocket to his ass and just letting him beat the big star on the biggest stage. Kurt Angle, like always, is just sheer perfection in the ring. At one point in the match, Kurt Angle gives Brock a German suplex, and it might be one of the greatest, most textbook suplexes he has ever given. Brock always just kicking out of the Angle slam, being the first person to ever do it, feels so natural. Then Brock gives a beautiful f5 and Angle becomes the first person to ever kick out of that, and the move looks so pretty, you actually would have believed that it would have put Angle away. Brock smiling after that second f5 before he gets up for the shooting star press really makes you wish he had landed that move. That might have been the only thing that prevented me from giving this match a perfect rating is that one botched spot, because it actually makes me want to throw up thinking how close he could have been to paralyzing himself. Brock was clearly the correct winner of this match. I love Kurt way more than I'll ever love Brock, but Brock was so hot and so awesome that he just needed that title to secure his push."

[8.0] "very good match here I do really enjoy the focus on athletic merit versus star power. Both hit insane suplexes and show off their technicality for an awesome match. ****"

[8.0] "A great intense match between these two. Without the botched finished this may have been a five star match luckily they would make up for it in the iron-man match and Summerslam match."

[8.0] "This might have been a 5-star match had Brock not botched the Shooting Star Press at the end. These two worked insanely well together and this was an exceptional match, but the botch ruined it for me."

[8.0] "A WrestleMania main event between an Olympic Gold Medalist and an NCAA Division I National Champion and future UFC Heavyweight Champion is an anomaly. Such a thing screams elite and puts this match-up in a league of its own when it comes to world-class athleticism and legitimacy. It's no Hogan, Rock or Austin as far as star power is concerned, but it truly has a genuine big match feel to it. However, it's not the clinic I expected. It builds up slowly but surely, but Angle's work on top is kinda boring and it doesn't feel like the crowd is invested. Don't get me wrong, it's a damn solid match with some great sequences late, but it's also a bit too ordinary coming from such extraordinary wrestlers, and they would go on to have way better matches than this. That infamously botched Shooting Star Press in itself doesn't hurt the match, the disrupting finish does. ***3/4"

"Ladies and gentlemen, what I just saw was a spectacle in itself, Angle vs. Lesnar. The chemistry between these two wrestlers is incredible. Of course, the only mistake was Lesnar's Shooting Star Press (it wasn't his fault), but it doesn't take away from the magic of this fight. They fought in the classic style, as expected from both of them. Angle gave it his all, and once again broke his freaking neck, and Lesnar also had a little problem with his neck after failing with the Shooting Star Press. But that's it, congratulations to both of them for the show they put on in that ring (we miss the old Lesnar)."

[9.0] "Outstanding wrestling match. Lesnar hit the Shooting Star Press before, but when he did it here Kurt was too far away. He wasn't even in the middle of the ring. He was towards the other side. Lesnar should have moved him over or gone up to the other turnbuckle to do it. He should have thought about it before he went up there. It was off by about four inches or so. If Lesnar hit that SSP perfectly for the finish then I'd have given it five stars. I'm just glad he was okay after it. The crowd wasn't into it at the very beginning because it was the last match in a four hour show, but the last ten minutes were fantastic. Not many guys can do the moves these two did. As much as I love Angle, I really came away impressed by Lesnar. When Angle gave him a German Suplex and Lesnar sold it by landing on his stomach I was shaking my head in amazement at how good of an athlete Lesnar was. The last seven minutes of the match were when they really cranked it up into another gear. I thought they got the perfect amount of time too."

[9.0] "This was a really good match. The finish was botched, but it's still a great match all things considered."

[9.0] "I give it a 9 not a 10 because of the botched finish but I feel that it still added to the match. These two had great chemistry together."

[9.0] "I mean other than the botched finish it was perfect and even the botched finish add something I think. I mean two of the greatest to ever d it su unsuprisingly great great match."

"Honestly? Match of the night right here. Michaels vs Jericho being a pretty close second. As scary as it was the botched shooting star press added so much more memorability to it but even without it, it's still a really great match and deserving of the main event. Oh full-time Brock Lesnar how much I miss you. 10/10"

[10.0] "Ladies and gentlemen, what I just saw was a spectacle in itself, Angle vs. Lesnar. The chemistry between these two wrestlers is incredible. Of course, the only mistake was Lesnar's Shooting Star Press (it wasn't his fault), but it doesn't take away from the magic of this fight. They fought in the classic style, as expected from both of them. Angle gave it his all, and once again broke his freaking neck, and Lesnar also had a little problem with his neck after failing with the Shooting Star Press. But that's it, congratulations to both of them for the show they put on in that ring (we miss the old Lesnar). 10/10 *****"

[10.0] "***** (10/10) If there was a match that legitimizes the athleticism and artistry to the sport of Pro-Wrestling, that match would be Angle/Lesnar at WrestleMania XIX. F**k all that nonsense people try to tell you about the botched shooting Star press that could have killed the Next Big Thing. The fact that it almost killed him gives the performance a level of realism that you always want when performing a match in professional wrestling. The fact that it almost killed him, too, was what made it a beautiful botch, enhancing the narrative and a case of circumstances taking hold of nature. Speaking of nature: the main-event to Mania XIX consisted of two freaks of it, a pair of technical marvels, wunderkind wizards that could go with anyone in the world, but on this March night, in Seattle, Washington, these two were the absolute best in the world."

[10.0] "This match was an absolute clinic, and is unironically one of my favorite matches of all time. Kurt Angle can put on a good wrestling match with a broom and Here Comes The Pain era Brock was crazy electric. Obviously the shooting star press takes a lot of the memories, and Rock/Stone Cold is more memorable, but this match is just a clinic. These two may have had the best chemistry possible."

[9.0] "Both guys had a good enough chemistry to deliver the feud and perform thier best in Mania main event. Rock vs. Austin is due to obvious reasons more memorable match, however Lesnar's infamous Shooting Star Press paradoxically helped this match to land in wrestling's history books."

[9.0] "This match of course started with lots of chain wrestling and amaueter wrestling as that is their strong suits. Brock has injured ribs and he sells them well in the match. There is many suplexes, with the best one being the insane German Suplex into the turnbuckle from Kurt, that looked brutal! An absolute banger, these two worked so well together."

[9.0] "Wrestling soulmates, Anytime Kurt & Brock matched up you just knew it was going to be a banger. Not my favorite match of the two but it's still incredible & if not for the botch towards the end I'd probably rate this even higher. Great match"

[7.0] "I was actually quite underwhelmed by this upon recent rewatch as part of WWE's fifty greatest WrestleMania matches series on their YouTube channel. I had a memory of this being a great, back-and-forth bombfest but it was disappointingly tedious for much of the middle portion of the match. I liked that they started with some chain wrestling to try and determine who was the best grappler given that Kurt and Brock were regularly billed as the two most legitimate athletes in WWE history. Kurt captured the early advantage by targeting Lesnar's ribs, and while I liked his intensity at times, his decision to execute a two-and-a-half minute body scissors-rear naked choke combination to Brock in a match at the end of a long show that the fans were already not that interested in was questionable at the very least. More than anything, this match suffered from a lack of heat from the crowd inside Safeco Field; they didn't seemed to much interested in Kurt's work on Brock already injured ribs, even if it made sense for the former to target them from a psychological perspective. The crowd didn't even seem to pop all that much for Angle kicking out of the F-5, which Michael Cole said was the first time anyone had kicked out of it. I did like Angle's suplexing of Brock toward the end, and Brock's backflip was genuinely spectacular. The psychology definitely got wonky toward the end as Angle started to simply go for his usual finishers, including the grapevine Ankle Lock which made no sense considering he had spent most of the match working over Brock's ribs. But, given the rather lacklustre crowd response up to that point, I necessarily fault them for pivoting toward a finisher-fest. Brock's shooting star press was definitely breath-taking, and would have made for a truly iconic finish had he managed to hit it. I have no idea why he seemed to think he could hit Angle given how far he was from the top left turnbuckle. They managed to recover in spite of the botch and Brock hit a third F-5 for the 1-2-3. A disappointing finish but understandable given the circumstances and likely time constraints they were under to get the match wrapped up ASAP. Overall, a good match that could have been great with a more engaged crowd and consistent psychology. ***1/2"

[9.0] "Kurt Angle is the best wrestler in the world. He is not my favourite wrestler, he isn't even my favourite wrestler active in 2003, but in this moment he is the best wrestler in the world. There is no space for debate. It is such a gulf in competition that you could debate if I'm talking about professional wrestling or Professional Wrestling, because there's an argument that it's him either way. The fact this is Kurt's only Wrestlemania main event is evidence of a deep rot in the wounds of the WWE. Kurt Angle main events once, Limp Bizkit performs twice. At least his only main event is a true classic, a clinic of suplexes and amateur grappling. Brock Lesnar breaks his fucking neck in this match, 10/10. The second match on this card where a rapist gets grievously injured, but this time it's against the best wrestler in the world. I believe that botches are beautiful, that they add to wrestling. I'm not a Chris Jericho style "there's no such thing as a botch" truther, that's boring. Wrestling is about struggle, it's about grit. Of course people fuck up. Michael Jordan missed free throws, Shaq sometimes couldn't penetrate a defence, Babe Ruth got struck out and Brock Lesnar breaks his neck. It's a sporting contest, people fail, they flail, they recover. Brock breaking his neck then winning is peak, and the match would be worse without it."

[9.0] "These two had unbelievably good chemistry and while I think this might be their third best match together, it's still fantastic. And I don't even mind the botch. As a matter of fact, I very rarely think a botch deters from a match and would let it affect my rating. As far as I'm concerned, people miss strikes/throws/etc in combat sports all the time so why would wrestling feel any different?"

[5.0] "I actually think the botched shooting star press really adds to the match, its a real fucked up spectacle. Other than that, this was a solid match overall. If I had to pick part of this match, its that Angle's rest hold around the middle of the match felt a bit too long but it wasn't that big of a deal since Lesnar sold it pretty well. Lesnar's selling here is really good and Angle is able to mesh with him pretty nicely to make this enjoyable. Their best match together."

[10.0] "Despite that one spot of Brock almost killing himself by landing on his head, this is an absolutely incredible match and WrestleMania main event with brilliant in ring work and chemistry between both Brock and Kurt who were both at their absolute prime."

[9.0] "9 I think the crowd was burned out after the last match. Nobody could follow Rock vs Austin and that really should've been the main event. Despite that these two had a great technical match. Man, I keep being surprised at how good Lesnar was. Why didn't we get this Lesnar back when he returned after his ufc stint?"

[8.0] "A fantastic way to end the Mania. I really liked how they started with the chain and mat wrestling knowing these two's backgrounds, plus it wasn't a bloodthirsty feud so it made sense. Their stuff looked smooth and they were connecting with everything, Lesnar's explosiveness was on a main display here and Angle's fluid work was unmatched. The finisher kickouts made sense and weren't overdone, plus the Shooting Star Press was hella impressive even if the landing looked a little scary. Also a great aftermath with both guys shaking hands since there wasn't really a huge grudge between them."

[8.0] "****1/4 - Tazz: Shooting star press landing right on his head, how is Lesnar not dead right now? Very good, perhaps a little slow for my taste but I do understand why people see this as a masterpiece. The fact that Lesnar didnt, as Tazz said, die, and was also able to deliver another F5 and finish the match is incredible."

[9.0] "Absolute hoss fight. The botch at the end maybe keeps this back from being a 10. Normally botches don't matter to me if they aren't in a key spot, but this one was. Other than that, it was an elite back and forth between two of the best pure wrestlers ever"

[9.0] "This was an awesome main event between two absolutely freakish athletes. The two can work incredibly together and this was amazing. This match had both some great spots and amazing technical wrestling. The only thing holding this match back is the botched Shooting Star Press, however, it was still very impressive for Brock to land on his neck like that and still finish the match."

[8.0] "doesnt peak high enough to be an all-timer, but still a super match. wrestling is often very fake (duh) but this felt very real. every movement in the opening chain exchanges made sense. i despise the stupid thing wrestlers do when they do some fast paced fake chain wrestling then stand there for applause. they dont do that here, except for one moment at the start, but it made sense and they didnt do that fake posing with arms up and stand there for no reason shit that people do, brock escaped a head scissors and went to the corner and angle stayed in his poised. obviously kurt didnt run for brock because brock is the powerhouse and can capitalise. i think this makes the average quality of the match go up since the starting portion is so engaging, even if the ending lacks a bit of pzazz in terms of engagement and how they string the closing spots together. ****1/4"

[9.0] "Just a good ol fashioned wrasslin match between two absolute studs. Kurt and Brock had great chemistry. This isnt even their best match either."

[9.0] "This was pure wrestling. They showed thei skinnls, an incomparable technique. It was so wrestling that sometimes people forgot about its quality. No runins, no blood, no extreme, just two men doing wrestling. The most remembred spot is the Shooting Star Press who nearly killed Lesnar, but that was a "positive" botch, it added more drama to the match. A classic."

[9.0] "A great WrestleMania main event. A very technical match with lots of good spots. Even the shooting star press didn't looked bad, it actually looked like Angle got out of the way."

[9.0] "a pure wrestling match with Kurt having a hurt neck. neither men held back in an absolute barn burner. it lives up to the legend its made. that shooting star press is still the craziest most unexpected shit. I knew about it and still it caught me off guard"

[9.0] "Outside of that one very scary moment, a very very good main event. Both looked great, Lesnar winning was a good decision despite my love for Kurt. 8.5/10"

[8.0] "A very solid technical wrestling match. Not perfect but by sheer work rate they managed to get a good match. Crowd by this point was pretty dead so they faced an uphill battle but they managed to get the crowd into the match. The botch at the end is obviously whats remembered the most but the match itself is good which is miraculous given how fucked Kurt was and how fucked Brock was after that botch. Solid but forgettable Mania main event. 4/5"

[8.0] "[4.25*] My expectations for this match were very high, physically and athletically Angle and Lesnar are two true freaks. The match is really good and marked by the iconic Shooting Star Press that despite the almost botch, it was really insane for Lesnar to do a move like this, the exchanges between them were cool and interesting and I also like the pacing and how Angle handled the match. a very good way. I understand that you really like this match and think it's a classic, for me it was "just" very good."

[10.0] "Absolut perfect tehcnical match. All the bumps looked so wild, even the botched shooting star press was absolutely wild, there was not a single second when this two didn't want to kill eachother."

[8.0] "The boys threw each other around and just straight up chose violence throughout much of this one. I agree with the pacing of the final 1/3 and crowd fatigue, as brought up in other people's comments and ratings... But it doesn't take me out of the match too much. Brock almost dies. Angle coaches him through. And we go home."

[7.0] "For a match featuring Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle, this one is a bit disappointing. The last fourth of the match is great, but a lot of the drags and is carried by the fact that it's these two guys on the biggest stage. Of course, this match is 20 years old at this point, so the fact it still feels like a spectacle is quite the achievement. 3.75, maybe 4 Stars."

[8.0] "Other comments say that the audience is tired out by the time this match begins, and they are right. The pace is great up until about the last third, when things start to drag a little. Great chain wrestling, throws, stuff you would expect out of both guys. Brock almost fights from underneath, as angle gives most of the offense in this bout. I try not to notice the botch at the end, but it probably sunk this from a 9 to an 8. These two make for a great matchup, and the match doesn't disappoint, but feel like both guys have more than a few matches better than this one."

[8.0] "It seems this match might suffer a bit from 2 things: First, a crowd that has been exhausted by an incredible card thus far. Second, the history of this match being THEE spot of this match... The shooting star press is probably the most memorable part of Wrestlemania XIX as a whole, which is kind of a bummer after what an incredible show this turned out to be. Technical wrestling to me just isn't that fun if there's not a crowd that's behind it. Bryan Danielson can wrestle matches where people hang on every thread by doing very little. Kurt and Brock I think have this same ability, but this crowd was just to tired to be into it the whole way through. A great match, a fantastic final stretch, a crowd I would prefer to look a little more lively."