10 WWE Legends Who Tapped Out To Kurt Angle

He came up against the best of the best - and he made them all submit.

Kurt Angle Shawn Michaels WrestleMania 21
WWE

Few people have taken to the wrestling business as quickly as Kurt Angle. From Olympic glory he entered the WWE with some trepidation, believing it was beneath someone with his bonafides. He was soon turned around, however, when he grasped the art and graft of the pro game, and from there, he was unstoppable.

He won championship belts and the hearts of crowds wherever he went with his intensity, mic skills, humour, and in-ring ability. Most of all, though, he made people tap out. There can’t be many wrestlers who have forced more of their opponents to submit than Angle did, usually with his patented ankle lock. Pretty much the only wrestlers who never tapped to the Olympian were the ones who didn't wrestle him.

Over a 20 plus year run, Angle took on the great and the good alike, putting on quality contests with incredible consistency, often stealing the show and having the match of the night. He overcame personal demons, enjoyed a Hall Of Fame career, and seems like a pretty upstanding guy.

He’s Kurt Angle, and he will make you tap out.

10. John Cena - No Mercy 2003

Kurt Angle Shawn Michaels WrestleMania 21
WWE

Cena made his debut against Kurt Angle in 2002 during the latter’s invitational challenge. Just a year later, he had progressed from a clean cut, fairly bland babyface to the doctor of Thuganomics, and found himself in the best match of the night with his old foe.

Angle is clearly a serious individual, but in the WWE he was game for whatever they threw at him, including but not limited to a rap battle with Cena. The younger man’s star is on the rise, and he is allowed to get some good offence on Kurt, but Angle is in his prime here. Cena’s ability to play the cowardly heel is underrated - he generates some terrific heat in his repeated attempts to bash Angle’s head in with a chain - and while he’d turn face not long after this encounter, he puts Angle over as the most gifted and resourceful of the locker room in a big way. The ankle lock comes out of nowhere, and once locked in, it’s game over.

Once Cena had established himself as the top dog, his days of tapping out were over, and like other huge stars before him, he has been accused of selfishness. With matches like this on his CV, though, you can’t say he hasn’t paid his dues.

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Yorkshire-based writer of screenplays, essays, and fiction. Big fan of having a laugh. Read more of my stuff @ www.twotownsover.com (if you want!)