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Former WWE photographer John Giamundo recently revealed that Brock Lesnar wanted his own copy of an image from his WrestleMania 19 match against Kurt Angle.
In 2003, Lesnar defeated Angle in the main event at WWE's biggest show of the year. In the closing stages of the match, The Beast Incarnate famously landed head-first after attempting an ambitious Shooting Star Press from the top rope.
Giamundo photographed the exact moment when Lesnar's face collided with the ring canvas. In an interview on the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast, he recalled how Lesnar reacted when WWE's magazine department wanted his permission to use the picture.
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"I said, 'Hey, do you mind? I got the shot of you hitting the mat,'" Giamundo said. "He's like, 'Can you make a copy of that for me? Yeah, I don't care if you use it. Can you make a print and have it sent to my house?' I told the office, 'Yeah, dude, he's cool with it. Make it 11 x 14, get his address from talent relations, he wants a copy.'" [1:06:18 – 1:06:34]
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Two decades on, Lesnar's Shooting Star Press botch remains one of the most memorable moments of his career. The former UFC star began using the move in WWE's Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) developmental system after his friend Shelton Benjamin practiced it in training.
How John Giamundo captured Brock Lesnar's Shooting Star Press landing
The incredible shot featured in WWE Unscripted, a book released in November 2003 full of large photographs and stories about wrestlers' real lives.
As John Giamundo had no idea Brock Lesnar would land so badly, he admits an element of luck was involved in capturing the image:
"Process the film, everything goes back to Stamford, and they're like, 'Oh my God, you gotta see this shot. You got his face hitting the mat. Looks like his eyes are bulging out of his head.' I looked at it. I was like, 'Holy cow, man.' That's more luck. You're just taking a shot." [1:05:43 – 1:05:58]
In the same interview, Giamundo revealed how WWE originally planned to book CM Punk before he walked out in 2014.
What did you make of Brock Lesnar's Shooting Star Press? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
