Kurt Angle hung up his wrestling boots at WrestleMania 35 and there is no doubt he goes down as one of the best in-ring workers of all-time.
Of course, the Pittsburgh native has all the pedigree in the world.
He was an Olympic gold medallist, a two-time NCAA Division 1 champion and had other countless amateur accolades – but that doesn’t automatically make you a great in professional wrestling.
You need personality, charisma and athleticism, too. Angle had those in abundance and he has already taken his rightful place in the WWE Hall of fame, doing so back in 2017.
Many would probably have him as their all-time great, but for Angle, he believes that mantle belongs to John Cena.
“One of my favourite feuds,” he said. “I consider Cena the greatest WWE Superstar of all time. John was consistent and dominant for 15+ years. Nobody has done it that long specifically in WWE.”
To place Cena above Stone Cold Steve Austin,The Rock, Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan especially is not easy to swallow, but Angle makes a good point at the level Cena was at and for how long – none of those other men can say they did that on the same schedule.
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As for as the best guys Angle faced in the ring, he says Kane and The Undertaker were two of the greatest ever.
“Kane and Undertaker were the two best in-ring performers I’ve ever wrestled,” he added. “It was easy to wrestle them and that doesn’t happen very often with a big guy.”
Angle’s career started in WWE in late 1999 and therefore he missed Bret Hart by about two years.
The Hitman would retire shortly after Angle’s debut anyway thanks to a kick from Goldberg, but the legendary Canadian grappler has always wished he faced Angle.
On his podcast, Hart said: “As for Kurt Angle, I think he is simply one of the best there is.
“He reminds me of Chris Benoit and that’s a compliment. If I worked with Kurt, I imagine our match would be similar to the ones I had with Benoit.”