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Kurt Angle Recalls Breaking His Neck At WWE No Way Out 2003

Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle (Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage)
Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage

Kurt Angle discusses yet another time he broke his freakin’ neck.

Kurt Angle has never been shy when it comes to talking about the injuries he’s accumulated over the years. Angle loves to brag about how he won the Olympics with a broken freakin’ neck. However, throughout the course of his professional wrestling career, he would break his neck on many more occasions.

One such occasion was at WWE No Way Out 2003, when he competed in a Handicap Match alongside Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin against Chris Benoit and Brock Lesnar.

On the latest episode of The Kurt Angle Show podcast, the former World Heavyweight Champion recalled how an Irish Whip gone wrong resulted in him breaking four vertebrae in his neck.

“Unfortunately, in this match is when I broke my neck,” said Kurt. “Did you see earlier in the show where I had Brock in a chokehold? Well, we did that at the pay-per-view, and he ran across the ring and went to turn his back so I’d hit the turnbuckle, but we didn’t make it all the way around, and I hit sideways, and my neck whiplashed. My neck snapped, and I cracked four vertebrae in my neck. I was supposed to win at WrestleMania [19], but because I broke my neck, I had to give up the title.”

Kurt Angle further recalled his arm going numb after the incident.

“It was a pretty damn good match. I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t remember a lot because I was so concerned about my neck. My arm went numb, and I couldn’t raise my arm much. It ultimately blocked off my nerve. My nerve got blocked, and I couldn’t use my arm. I went to the gym the next day, and I couldn’t curl five pounds, man. My other arm, I was doing the regular weight. This arm, I couldn’t curl five pounds. It was that bad.”

Ultimately, Kurt would power through WrestleMania before getting neck surgery and returning to win the WWE Championship at Vengeance 2003.

SEE MORE: Kurt Angle Would Wrestle In Saudi Arabia For $3 Million, Good Knees Or Bad Knees

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a H/T and link back to Robert DeFelice of WrestleZone for the transcription.

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