Kurt Angle was lucky enough to have a long career in the professional wrestling ring, but his career came to an end when he lost a retirement match to Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35.
The former WWE Champion faced a wide variety of opponents during his time as an active competitor, and he competed in many matches that fans consider to be classics.
Chris Benoit was someone who Kurt Angle faced on quite a few occasions, and during a recent interview with Forbes the Hall of Famer picked their match at the 2003 Royal Rumble when he was asked about his favorite match.
My favorite match is versus Chris Benoit at the 2003 Royal Rumble for the World Heavyweight Championship, or WWE Championship. Chris was a mirror image of me with his intensity, his technique, and his persona. He stepped it up every time in the ring. We matched each other’s intensity, and it just worked extremely well. We had a lot of submission trade offs, and a lot of false finishes, and the match is really intriguing. After I won, Team Angle came out, we celebrated and I walked out of the ring. The fans stood and gave Chris a standing ovation for 15 minutes, and it was a ppv Vince McMahon let it go, and the fans appreciating Chris showed us how good that match was. Even Triple H came up to me afterwards, I was only in the business three years at the time, and he said, “ you just raised the bar.” I didn’t know how good the match was. I thought it was okay. Now when I watch it I’m like oh my gosh, this thing’s a masterpiece. To have someone like Triple H telling you that you raise the bar, that’s a huge compliment.”
What was your favorite Kurt Angle match? Sound off in the comments below.
