10 WWE Legends Who Tapped Out To Kurt Angle

Kane is one of the longest serving wrestlers on WWE’s books, and as such has gone through all manner of character tweaks and redesigns, but he is consistently portrayed as an unstoppable monster, basically impervious to pain. Accordingly, he has only tapped out twice in his career, the first coming against Angle in 2001.

The psychology of the match builds brilliantly to the surprise finish, with Stone Cold Steve Austin interfering to bash away at Kane’s leg with a steel chair. Nevertheless, the crowd are clearly not expecting the Big Red Machine to submit, and are on their feet when Kane finally pounds on the mat in anguish. Angle had only recently added the ankle lock to his arsenal, but the commentary team already know how to sell it, belting out their concern that, as Angle would later threaten, the limb would snap if Kane didn’t tap. Again, Kurt improvises his way into the finish - he sets up many moves here that he’d use for the rest of his WWE career.

Kane was at the top of his game here, in a year in which he set the record for most eliminations at a Royal Rumble. Still, after some dirty work, Angle would get his win.