It was the blockbuster fight that never was.
Brock Lesnar has taken on some of the biggest and baddest men on the planet, but there is one fight during his career that has been kept hidden for years.
It happened behind closed doors with only those in the WWE privy to the outcome, until now. Former senior WWE employee Bruce Prichard revealed all on his “Something to Wrestle With” podcast.
Lesnar clashed with fellow WWE superstar Kurt Angle in an impromptu fight hours before a WWE event in 2003.
Angle won gold as a freestyle wrestler at the 1996 Olympics, and with Lesnar a former NCAA college amateur wrestling champion, it was a dream matchup for many.
They’d fought several times in the choreographed world of the WWE, but many wanted to answer the question of who would win if the pair fought for real.
It would finally happen, thanks to the goading of both Lesnar and Angle’s WWE counterparts.
“This was a culmination of weeks, maybe even months of the boys backstage stirring the pot,” Prichard said. “Here you’ve got two world-class athletes, two amateurs at the top of their game, both legitimate tough guys. So the boys were sort of poking both guys with sharp sticks.
“Going to Lesnar, ‘Hey, Brock, Kurt said he’d take you no problem,’ and then going to Kurt and saying: ‘Wow, did you hear what Brock said about you? He said he’d take those Olympic gold medals and shove them up you’re a–.’
“Kurt and Brock didn’t say s–t to each other. There was no arguing, but the talent would get each of them riled up in their own way.”
The pair agreed to square off, with the entire WWE locker room surrounding them. Unfortunately the fight would last just eight seconds.
WWE chairman Vince McMahon angrily marched down to the ring to call a halt to the proceedings.
“As they started to lock up, Vince McMahon came out and saw what was happening in the ring and abruptly said, ‘Hey, god dammit, knock it off,’ and put a stop to it pretty damn quick,” Prichard said.
“There was no winner, no loser, it wasn’t any malice, it was just, ‘Let’s wrestle,’ and see who is going to spank who.
“Vince was not happy at the boys stirring it up and taking his two guys and making them shoot on each other [fight for real] — not good for business.”
It’s not the first time someone tried to take Lesnar on in the WWE.
Former WWE performer Mr. Perfect (Curt Hennig) reportedly wrestled with Brock Lesnar mid-flight on the infamous “plane ride from hell” in 2002. The incident led to Hennig’s firing.
Lesnar and Angle are the two most decorated athletes ever to grace the WWE ring, but the question of who would prevail if they clashed for real may now never be answered.
Angle just returned to the WWE and will be inducted in the promotion’s Hall of Fame in early April.
It’s not known if that will coincide with a return to the wrestling ring, but perhaps he can reignite his rivalry with Lesnar, the former UFC heavyweight champion.
This article originally appeared on News.com.au.
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