Every WWE Wrestler Of The Year For The 2000s

Key matches: Vs. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble), Brock Lesnar (WrestleMania XIX, SummerSlam & Smackdown Iron Man), The Undertaker (Smackdown, Sept 4), John Cena (No Mercy)

Angle followed up a red-hot 2002 by having an equally scorching 2003, despite missing a few months of action while he got his dodgy neck (temporarily) fixed. He kicked it off with what was arguably the best match of the whole year, besting perennial rival Chris Benoit in a 30-minute belter at the Royal Rumble.

From then until WrestleMania, Kurt's matches were few and far between as he experienced those familiar feelings of numbness in his arms. Our Olympic champion was having neck issues again and it wasn't known whether or not he'd make it to 'Mania and his highly-anticipated match with Brock Lesnar.

Gutting it out, Angle made it to the big dance and dropped the strap to Lesnar in their first one-on-one singles match. True to form, the match was great, even if Angle was risking paralysis just by bumping. After that, Angle had neck surgery that ket him on the shelf until the summer. When he returned, he won back his WWE Title in an underrated triple threat with Lesnar and Big Show at Vengeance.

Angle continued his feud with the newly heel Lesnar in the summer, having a good match at SummerSlam and then a cracking one-hour Iron Man match on Smackdown. After that, Angle tackled with John Cena, who was really catching on and on the cusp of becoming a major babyface. Angle's match with Cena at No Mercy was the first indication that the Doctor of Thuganomics had what it took to be a top-tier star.

Angle ended the year trying to mediate the dispute between the Guerreros and took things a bit easier in the ring. He'd earned the respite considering his efforts and sacrifices over the previous twelve months.