10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (March 17)

5. Kurt Angle Forced Shawn Michaels To Do Some Soul-Searching

It's often said that the WWE career of Shawn Michaels can be split up into two distinct halves, and it's subjective which half people prefer; Michaels defied doctors who said he'd never wrestle again after suffering a back injury in 1998 to make an in-ring return in 2002, and he would continue to work at a world class level until retiring for good in 2010.

By 2005, the evergreen HBK was back in his stride and full of confidence, but even he was taken aback by the machine-like work rate of Kurt Angle before their match at WrestleMania 21.

Granting an interview to Sports Illustrated and happy to discuss his many 'Mania moments, the WWE Hall Of Famer confessed that Angle's stamina and passion forced him to have a rethink in the build towards their WrestleMania tussle; further, Shawn claimed that nobody had made him doubt how much 'gas he had in the tank' before Kurt came along.

Remarkably, Kurt Angle's energy pushed Michaels to train like never before. The legend had trained for isolated matches (such as his 'Iron Man' affair opposite Bret Hart at 'Mania XII), but he had never thought about training for one specific opponent before working with Angle.