10 Legitimate Fighters Who Competed In WWE

Kurt Angle perhaps holds the mantle of being both the best legitimate fighter ever to walk through the doors of WWE's Stamford headquarters - minority sport or not, Olympic gold medals don't come easily to anyone - and the most successful at making the transition to the squared circle.

What's remarkable about this is that, in 1996, the current Raw general manager was a veritable pro-wrestling sceptic. He initially rejected Vince McMahon's advances, believing that pretend-fighting would be a waste of the talent he had spent the best part of two decades cultivating.

Ironically, part of the reason he flourished in the ring was because he started his WWE career as a blank slate. Comparisons to the likes of Bret Hart were inevitably made by others, but he wasn't trying to imitate anyone. His shtick, like all of the greats, was almost entirely original.

Any gaps in his understanding in the business were also plugged by his insatiable appetite for thrilling - and, at times, horrifying - the crowd. There are wrestlers who have led careers twice as long who haven't taken half the amount of risks Kurt Angle has.