This is a continuation of Part 1 On December 5, 2002 Kurt was put in a Fatal Four Way Elimination match with Edge, former tag team partner Chris Benoit and the late great Eddie Guerrero, to declare the #1 contender to the reigning WWE champion The Big Show. Kurt ended up winning the match after finally eliminating Edge and was going to Armageddon to face the Big Show.

The Big Show and Paul Heyman had recently screwed over Brock Lesnar to win the title, and Kurt realized he wouldn't be able to overcome Show and Heyman. He approached (recently suspended) Brock Lesnar about being in his corner for his match at Armageddon, promising Brock the first title shot if he helped. Kurt entered Armageddon alone to try to overcome The Big Show alone. Eventually the ref took a bump, which led Brock to come down and F-5 Big Show, allowing Kurt to pick up the win and his 3rd WWE Championship! This was all another of Paul Heyman's plans to screw over Brock Lesnar however. Kurt revealed his allegiance to Heyman and said Brock would never get a title shot against him. Kurt was also given his own team of Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, known as Team Angle. The announcement of Kurt's plan however led to a vicious attack from Lesnar resulting in Kurt being F-5'd into the ring post!

Kurt was injured until Royal Rumble as a result. Chris Benoit had earned the right to face Kurt at the Rumble where they put on yet another wrestling clinic. This was, in my opinion, their best match together to this day and Kurt ended up getting a clean win with a Heel Hock. Meanwhile Lesnar had won the Royal Rumble and was getting a title shot at Wrestlemania. Before Wrestlemania however, a 3 on 3-man tag match was scheduled for No Way Out. Kurt Angle and Team Angle against Lesnar, Benoit and Edge. Edge was injured before the match making it a handicap match, which saw Charlie Haas tap to the Crippler-Crossface. After months of mind games and battles between Lesnar and Angle they finally squared off in the main event of Wrestlemania XIX. Kurt was told before the match, outside of storyline, that his neck was in serious danger and was recommended not to compete. Kurt chose to carry on and competed in a 5-star match. The match saw Kurt receive 3 F-5's and the now famous botched Shooting Star Press from Lesnar. Lesnar won the match and the two warriors hugged at the end of the match.

Kurt was out of action until June 5th, where he returned and got straight into a confrontation with The Big Show; he was also promised a title shot from Lesnar. Lesnar and Angle were shown as friends, but both men wanted the WWE Championship. A Triple Threat Match was set up for Vengeance with Brock Lesnar against Kurt and Big Show. This saw Brock Lesnar being pinned by Kurt and gave Kurt his 4th WWE Championship reign. Brock Lesnar wanted a rematch for the title but Mr. McMahon wouldn't allow it, instead he set up a cage match between himself and Lesnar with Angle as the referee. Lesnar was attacked before the match and Kurt was the key suspect. The match did happen and saw Lesnar faint in the ring and Kurt refused to count for McMahon's pin. Lesnar then popped up and attacked Kurt and allied himself with McMahon. This led to a Wrestlemania rematch at Summerslam, but this time Kurt came out on top, with Lesnar tapping to the Ankle Lock. On September 18, Angle and Lesnar squared off once again for the WWE Championship on Smackdown! in a 60 minute Iron Man Match. This match saw Lesnar get himself intentionally DQ'd to beat Angle with a chair. The match saw Lesnar winning 5-2 at 45 minutes. Angle tried to catch up and got to 5-4 at 56 minutes. Kurt put a final Ankle Lock on Lesnar in the last minute but Lesnar survived and Angle lost the title, his last WWE Championship reign to date was over.

Afterwards Angle entered a short feud with John Cena with a theme of respect. Angle picked up a win over Cena at No Mercy. He then turned his attention back to Lesnar. He was captain of his team against Lesnar's team for Survivor Series. Kurt along with Bradshaw, Chris Benoit, Hardcore Holly and newly turned face John Cena won the match against Lesnar, A-Train, Big Show, Matt Morgan and Nathan Jones. Kurt was eliminated relatively early in the match after an F-5 and went out of action for a month.

Kurt returned on the 1st of January and booked himself into the Royal Rumble match. He got involved with Los Guerreros, who were at each others throats. Kurt failed to sort their problems out and on a January edition of SmackDown! Eddie Guerrero teamed up with Kurt to take on Chavo and Chavo Classic. Kurt and Eddie had things going their way, but Eddie accidentally gave the Wrestling Machine a thumb to the eye. Temporarily blinded, Kurt hit Eddie with an Angle Slam. Kurt went onto the Royal Rumble to make it to the last 3 and was eliminated by The Big Show. After the Royal Rumble, there was a special SmackDown! Royal Rumble to determine the No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship. Angle entered at No. 1, but he was able to endure and make it to the final two. It was down to the Kurt and Eddie Guerrero. Latino Heat was able to get the better of Kurt, and he got a title shot at No Way Out. Kurt went to No Way Out and defeated John Cena and The Big Show in a Triple Threat Match and became the No.1 Contender. Eddie also won his match and became WWE Champion. Eddie defended his new WWE Championship against Chavo on the following Smackdown! and Kurt was the special referee. Eddie landed the Frog Splash, but Angle refused to make the count and Kurt snapped and brutally assaulted the WWE Champion. Angle left Guerrero a bloody mess in the middle of the ring. At Wrestlemania XX Kurt and Eddie put on a great match. The finish saw Eddie loosen his boot, and when Kurt applied the Ankle Lock, Eddie popped his boot off and rolled Kurt up for the win.

Kurt was not ready to forget about Eddie or the WWE Championship. A few weeks later Kurt was announced as the new General Manger of Smackdown!, replacing Paul Heyman. Kurt was choke slammed off the stage by Big Show a few weeks later, which gave Kurt a 'leg injury' and he was put in a wheel chair. Kurt acquired the services of Luther Reigns at this point. Kurt focused his attention on making Eddie's and John Cena's lives miserable. He stripped Cena of his U.S Championship, and reversed the decision of the Eddie Guerrero vs. JBL match at the Great American Bash, making JBL the new WWE champion. A few weeks later Eddie got a rematch against JBL in a cage match, which saw a masked man run down and cost Eddie the match. Eddie unmasked him and revealed Kurt. Mr. McMahon fired Kurt as General Manager and put him in a match with Eddie at Summerslam. Eddie tried to pull off the boot trick from Wrestlemania but Kurt didn't fall for it and won the match with the Ankle Lock on Eddie's unprotected foot. Kurt had continued his Summerslam 1-on-1 undefeated streak. Eddie challenged Kurt to another match to settle the score. They fought in a Best 2-out-of-3-Falls Match. The match saw Eddie lose the 1st fall after the referee saw a low blow, then Eddie rolled up Kurt for a pin in the 2nd fall and Kurt win with an Ankle Lock in the final fall after Luther Reigns interference. Kurt and Eddie squared off one more time the following week in a Lumberjack Match, which never saw a clear winner because of the Big Show's return.

Kurt Angle and the late, great Eddie Guerrero put of some excellent matches through their long feud and it is truly saddening to know we will never get those matches again, but the ones we did see will always stand out in my mind as true classics.

More in the final part...

by James Ahsan