10 Things You Need To Know About Past WWE Road To WrestleManias

2. The Contingency Plan For WrestleMania XIX

There was a lot of drama behind the scenes in the run-up to and on the day of WrestleMania XIX. Stone Cold Steve Austin quietly wrestled his final match on the event but almost didn't make it after ending up in the emergency room the night before (he had heart palpitations stemming from increased caffeine intake). Another big question going into the event was whether or not Kurt Angle would be able to compete. Angle was scheduled to wrestle Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship, a match that had been discussed for years. Angle had been having those familiar feelings of pain and numbness in his arms, an effect of his serious neck injuries. As the event got closer and Angle's neck got worse and worse, there was talk of replacing him in the match with The Undertaker. It was a logical replacement. There was a very real risk that Angle could be paralysed if he wrestled and The Undertaker and Lesnar still had unfinished business stemming from their autumn 2002 feud. Lesnar won the rumble by last eliminating The Undertaker, so it could easily be written into the storyline that he was the rightful number one contender, should Angle not make it. But Kurt, being the rock-hard wrestler that he is and not wanting to disappoint anyone, opted to do the match as scheduled. He got through it without being hurt worse than he already was but then it was another trip to surgery the next day. Angle's neck problems in late 2004/early 2005 also put his proposed dream match against Shawn Michaels in doubt.