10 Best Kurt Angle Matches Since He Left WWE

9. Angle Vs. Jay Lethal - No Surrender 2007

In 2007, TNA desperately needed to start making their own stars, and Kurt Angle did his best to help out. He began a feud with X-Division wrestler Jay Lethal, who to that point was a mid-card comedy act with his impressive Macho Man impression, but had little else going for him.

At No Surrender, Angle went into the show holding three titles, and had to compete in three matches. The finest of the three was the second match, which was against Lethal for the X-Division belt. Angle walked in overly cocky, and it ended up costing him. They had a relatively short 12-minute match, featuring the Olympian dominating the majority of the bout with Lethal hitting a few hope spots to keep the crowd engaged.

The finish saw Lethal reversing the Angle Slam, then reversing the ankle lock and flawlessly escaping to roll Angle up. The underdog won to a shocked crowd, and even Don West and Mike Tenay did a great job of selling the finish with their simple, and stunned reaction of “What?”

It’s a shame that Lethal didn’t get a big push after this, but that’s all on creative. Angle made the young wrestler look like a million bucks, which was above-and-beyond what was asked of him.