WWE wanted to end WrestleMania XIX with a bang... and they nearly ended it with a major injury.
2003's WrestleMania event is almost exclusively known for two things now: Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestled his final match against the Rock, and Brock Lesnar nearly broke his neck on a botched shooting star press.
This shooting star press: (2 minutes in)
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Lesnar failed to complete the full rotation on the backflip, and he nearly landed on top of his head as he failed to hit Kurt Angle with the move entirely. Lesnar didn't appear to suffer any neck injuries, but he did sustain a concussion from the move.
Lesnar admitted years later that he wasn't comfortable doing the move at WrestleMania, even though he had successfully pulled it off before. In an interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Lesnar admits he was pressured into attempting the move before the show, saying he shouldn't have tried it at all.
After the botched move, Angle, Lesnar, and the announce team actually covered up for the mistake as best they could. Angle sold that he moved out of the way of the botched move, which announcers Tazz and Michael Cole immediately picked up on to explain what had happened. Instead of winning with the Shooting Star Press, Lesnar won by executing his third F-5 of the match.
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