Every WWE Champion Of The 2000s Ranked From Worst To Best
2. Kurt Angle
You've gotta be doing something right if Vince McMahon gives you a world title within your first year in the promotion. Among company such as AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar is Kurt Angle, who personifies the phrase "like a fish to water", as the former Olympic gold medalist quickly adapted to sports entertainment and became one of the company's most valuable assets.
From geeky heel to wrestling machine, Kurt Angle could be any sort of champion you wanted, and he was, holding the WWE Championship four times. Against the likes of The Rock, Triple H, Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar, and Chris Benoit, Angle established himself as totally different from the WWE mold, mixing technical mat work with frightening athletic intensity. And as a character, Angle could do it all. He was Vince's cowering lackey, Stephanie's lovesick partner, Austin's jealous foil, America's last hope, a bitter veteran, and a cowboy at one point. He simply gave his all to anything that was given to him, and because of that, anything he did was instant gold.
We may never know how much more impact Angle could have made as a WWE Champion had he stuck around from 2006 to 2017, but what he did in the early 2000s more than justifies his place on this list.