The Story: That Kurt Angle beat Brock Lesnar in a friendly in-ring shoot before a TV taping in the early 2000s. The Evidence: Depending on who you ask, you're going to get a wildly different interpretation of events. What is known is that, after weeks of competitive back-and-forth between the two, Angle and Lesnar had a spontaneous shoot wrestling match in the ring before a TV taping. Angle's version of events (as detailed in his Ross Report podcast appearance) are as follows:
The match was tight. There's no doubt about it. There was only one takedown. I took Brock down, and that was it. That's when I put the fingers up, said two, and it's over. But we went a good 12 to 15 minutes. It was a good battle; Brock did outweigh me by about 70 pounds at the time. He was a big boy, but I knew that. It was a tight match. Did I beat him? Yeah, I edged him.
So Angle claims he just edged Lesnar after a close contest. Brock, on the other hand, has a different version of events. Speaking to Power Slam magazine in 2008, Lesnar offered a curt (again, no pun intended) response when asked about the amateur wrestling match:
Yeah. I pinned him in 30 seconds and it was over.
Somebody isn't quite telling the truth here... Is It True: When accepting a Lou Thesz Award in 2011, Jim Ross claimed that he didn't know who won the match but that he doubts that Angle could have taken Lesnar on that day. Interestingly, Ross (who organised the scuffle) said he was chewed out by Vince McMahon afterwards for his part in the 'incident'. Somebody won that match but it really comes down to whether you believe Angle or Lesnar. Brock seems the more sure of the two, that's for certain.
