The tension between Kurt Angle and Triple H was professional but heated in 2003. On the one show, you had Kurt Angle. On the other show, you had Triple H. Both were champions and both fancied themselves as the best wrestler in the world. It could only be true for one of them. That man was Kurt Angle. Triple H may have been on the premier show at Raw, but Angle was the clear best wrestler in this period. Week in and week out he was the must watch performer and made Smackdown more important than Raw. He headlined WrestleMania 19 in the show closing match against Brock Lesnar. Meanwhile, Hunter had to make do with a World Title defence on the mid-card. Hunter later called Angle a "paper champion", in an attempt to suggest that the Raw brand meant more. The underlying heat carried over to this year. Angle tried to get a job back with the WWE, even suggesting that it was a done deal. Triple H was said to be furious with the rumour. In fact, Hunter was the one who snubbed Angle's approach in a telephone conversation. When the Olympian then went to Vince, Triple H was livid.
