How my love for Kurt Angle grew and my three favorite matches.
Kurt Angle is arguably one of the greatest mat-wrestlers of all-time (I mean he is a legitimate Olympic Gold Medalist) on top of that though, he is truly one of the best wrestlers of all-time in regards to WWE and you are an absolute lunatic if you do not believe so.
His greatness will now be defined by his Hall of Fame induction. In 2017, Kurt Angle is to be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame and if anyone is worth that distinct honor it is Kurt Angle.
Growing up, Kurt Angle was not always my favorite wrestler but to be fair to my younger self I didn’t always appreciate the wrestling game for wrestling. Instead, I was absolutely floored by the antics of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker and more.
I remember distinctly the build to the Armageddon Hell In A Cell match that pitted six amazing Superstars together in the Cell. I was pumped for this match and no matter what, I did not want to see Kurt Angle escape with that title. But then he did. I was distraught because, well I wasn’t a fan of Kurt Angle.
That match happened in 2000 and luckily for a fan like myself, no matter my disappointment of the time, Kurt Angle still gave us (WWE fans) about five and half to six more years of his legitimate greatness.
In this time my appreciation for the art of story telling and in general, the art of wrestling matured. With that, my appreciation for Angle increased and my engagement in everything he did intensified. He became one of my favorite wrestlers and to this date, still is.
So, I know a lot of lists are out and about in the WWE Universe but I still feel that I want to give my list of favorite Kurt Angle matches. Of course this is debatable and only stems from my humble opinion. If you disagree, that is fine and do not worry, the six-man Hell In A Cell is not apart of this list.
3. Wrestle Mania XX Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle was great before this match but for me, this is was the match where I started to truly appreciate Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero for that matter.
This match was a classic wrestling affair with counter moves galore. Kurt Angle was a true machine and one of the greatest opponents for him at the time was Eddie Guerrero, truly one of the only wrestlers on the roster who could match Angles ability and stamina in the ring.
The Olympic hero played off of Guerrero’s personal demons (in real life) which helped to create a more intriguing story line. But even more entertaining than just a story line was the match it’s self.
Looking back at it now, this match is truly a dream match. Wrestling fans do not realize just how spoiled they are that this match had happened at WrestleMania.
The match was an amazing display of athleticism and technical ability capped by a great, slick ending.
Kurt Angle seemed to have had Guerrero’s number in the closing minutes of the match as he was putting Eddie in the Angle Lock which consists of twerking the ankle in a way it is not meant to. As the ankle swelled u and Eddie kicked Angle out of the ring for one final time, Guerrero decided to loosen his boot.
When Angle got back into the ring, filled with rage, he went straight for the ankle again. This time however, Guerrero was able to slip out of the ankle lock and to Angle’s surprise, roll up Angle for the pin and win.
My suggestion is to go relive this match right now.
2. SmackDown 213 September 18, 2003 Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle
In the third and final showdown between Brock Lesnar and champion Kurt Angle, the two men battle on free television in a 60-minute-iron man match and it was absolutely amazing.
For me, I knew Lesnar and Angle were making this list but I wasn’t sure which match was more enjoyable to me. The other match I considered was the WrestleMania match in which Lesnar damn near broke his neck. That match was perfect, but so was this Iron Man match.
The reason the Iron Man match moves ahead of the WrestleMania match is because it was a damn good iron man match and could easily be argued as the greatest one ever seen. The only the argument in this case is Shawn Michaels vs Brett Hart.
The two men battled in a physical affair that never truly slowed down. They went toe to toe for 60 minutes and for the most part it looked as if Kurt Angle had no chance. With about 15 minutes left in the match Lesnar was up five falls to two on Angle and he did it in a dirty way, he used a steel chair to gain advantage.
Sure, he lost a pin fall in the matter but it ultimately helped him to gain the advantage he needed to dominate the majority of the match over Angle.
Kurt Angle did mount a comeback though and in the climactic ending, with Angle down five pin falls to four, Angle locked in the Angle lock and had Lesnar on the brink of a tap out. It didn’t happen though and Kurt Angle fell to maybe his greatest opponent to date.
The match lives to be one of the greatest of Lesnars and Angles career and that is truly saying something. The master class affair is still worth your time so please find it and watch it.
1. WrestleMania 21 Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels is number one for a major reason, it is friggin’ Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels!
In what is an absolute dream match, fans were witness to one of the best matches Kurt Angle ever wrestled in all of his years with WWE and even more interesting, it is the only match he won on this list.
It tops the list because it has more to do with the show these two put on as opposed to the legends they truly are. It was the first time that Shawn Michaels was referred to as “Mr. WrestleMania” and Kurt Angle was well into his schtick as the wrestling machine.
The contrast in styles and ability to perform inside the ring was glorious in imagination alone and what fans witnessed was better than what we could ever imagine. To steal of the gimmick of Bobby Roode, it was “GLORIOUS.”
The two wrestled a great mat style match full of big moments from both men. A lot of the match was built around Shawn Michaels and how good he was as a mat wrestler. Although he should of never had to prove this given his Iron Man Match with Bret Hart years earlier.
For Kurt Angle, it was a match for him to prove that he is better than “Mr. WrestleMania” and he is especially better than him on the grandest of stages. It was technical, physical, gut-wrenching and above all masterful.
The extremely close falls enticed with both men epically hitting their perspective finishing moves presented prodigious theater. The result added to the spectacle as Kurt Angle engaged Michaels into the ankle lock refusing to ever let go. No matter the excruciating pain Michaels was in, he had refused to submit. The result was about a minute and a half of absolute agony for Michaels until he was finally forced to submit.
The ending capped off one of Michaels and Angles finest performances to date and my favorite Angle match of all-time.
Last Thought
It was a long road for Kurt Angle to get back into the WWE but I am very, very happy he is back. If their was ever one return I wanted even more than the likes of Sting or Goldberg, it was Kurt Angle. The man is an absolute legend in the business and can represent the company in so many different ways.
My hope is that this leads to more work within the reals of WWE and ultimately I think it will.
Welcome to the Hall of Fame Kurt Angle. It is much deserved.
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