10 Reasons Kurt Angle Deserves His WWE Hall Of Fame Induction
8. Nobody Learned Faster
On Nov. 14, 1999, Kurt Angle made his televised main roster debut at Survivor Series against Shawn Stasiak. 11 months later he became the WWF Champion. That's pretty incredible. As we’ve seen over the years, Vince McMahon often pushes his wrestlers at a glacial pace. It’s not often that he relies on someone that soon into their careers, unless they’re an exceptional talent.
Perhaps only Brock Lesnar can match Angle in getting so damn good so damn fast, but Lesnar was never as talented on the mic as Angle. The Olympic hero was as confident and as charismatic on promos than wrestlers who had been in the business for over a decade. He commanded the room whenever he spoke in a way that can't be taught.
He was originally slated to have a gimmick that focused on him performing amateur wrestling moves through his matches. Fans were encouraged to yell “boring!” The problem was he was way too entertaining for that. His offense, timing and psychology were years ahead of where they should have been for a rookie. This was a guy who grew up watching and training in “real” wrestling, and yet he took to the staged version faster than just about anyone ever had.
Go back and look at the careers of Hogan, Austin, Undertaker and The Rock. None of them were as good as Angle was so early in their careers. He may be the most natural talent the business has ever seen.