10 Most Explosive Wrestlers Of All Time

4. Kurt Angle

AEW PAC
WWE

Kurt Angle referred to himself as a 'Wrestling Machine', and it rang true. It rang d*mn true.

Angle's explosiveness was informed by his intensity and, for his era, unparalleled athleticism. Angle was a superb technician, and he elevated that genre by bringing a propulsive quality to one usually driven by intricate limb work. Angle had little cause to focus his attacks; if he hadn't worked the leg into a state of agony, and his opponents were able to ascend the turnbuckle, he possessed the incredible, crowd-popping ability to sprint up to their position and throw them to oblivion with a top rope overhead belly-to-belly suplex.

Angle's sheer power allowed him to detonate his big bombs with a frightening level of force, so much so that, against the best, most emotive bumpers - Rey Mysterio and Shawn Michaels, in particular - he engineered super-dramatic moments of genuine, oh-sh*t peril.

At his best, Angle was the best; even now, where the existence of modern wrestling renders much of his era antiquated, his charged work bursts through the screen and would belong, in a utopia of a parallel universe, in the cauldron of the best NJPW G1 Climax battles.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!