10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Kurt Angle
5. Chris Benoit Was His Best Opponent
Kurt Angle partook in a number of outstanding in-ring rivalries throughout his first WWE run. His bouts with Shawn Michaels, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker were always outstanding, but in terms of volume, nobody comes close to Chris Benoit.
The duo's Royal Rumble 2003 bout might be the best of either man's WWE run, but their Unforgiven 2002 match isn't far behind. That's only a small sample of what they accomplished together, though. In total, Angle and Benoit wrestled 15 televised matches across three years, and while they weren't all classics, they always delivered the goods when put in a position to do so.
The problem here is that WWE's (totally understandable) decision to delete Benoit from history also removes a sizeable part of Angle's legacy. His back catalogue still looks strong without those clashes, but it's incomplete. Omitting them diminishes the true extent of Kurt's in-ring accomplishments, making it a lot harder to take WWE seriously when they celebrate his career, but while unfortunate, this is probably for the best. Regardless of what you think of their decision, it's easy to see why they still distance themselves from the Benoit tragedy.