10 Things We Learned From Kurt Angle: Homecoming
3. He Had The Most Impressive Rookie Year In WWE History
In October 2000, Kurt Angle won the WWE Championship, beating The Rock at the No Mercy pay-per-view in a no DQ match with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley in his corner. This was an incredible rise for an individual who'd only debuted at Survivor Series in November 1999, just eleven months earlier. He was undefeated for his first two months, picked up the European Championship and Intercontinental Championship in February 2000 and had the top belt within a year. As well as all three main singles belts, he crowned these victories by winning the King Of The Ring tournament the same year.
This rise from developmental to World Champion was unheard of and has never been matched. Other wrestlers have won top belts as quickly but usually this has been creative's intention from their debut (such as Brock Lesnar). Angle went from the very bottom to the very top at a record breaking rate, prompting veterans like Stone Cold Steve Austin to comment that they'd never seen someone pick up the business so quickly.