How Good Was Kurt Angle Actually?

Three I’s, no Five Star Matches: how good WAS Kurt Angle?

by Michael Sidgwick
Kurt Angle
WWE

You might read the title and question the purpose of the article. It’s Kurt Angle: he was a multiple time WWE World Champion, who might have produced even better work for Total Non-Stop Action. He was a total entertainment machine. He was one of the consensus best professional wrestlers in modern history. Surely, this isn’t up for debate.

It’s Kurt Angle.

And yet, Angle’s name crops up at frequent intervals, and is a reliable staple of the never-ending discourse cycle. You’ll usually see it on X or Reddit or wherever most Fridays, when the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is published.

At time of writing - August 11, 2025 - Dave Meltzer has awarded 26 matches ***** or above in 2025. 33 weeks have passed this year. That’s not too far away from a five star match a week, which feels definitionally wrong. Aren’t they meant to be special, rare occasions?

The value of the star rating system is probably more debatable than ever before. Even those who hold affection for it, because it guided them on their deep-dive into wrestling history, can agree that the plot has been lost somewhat. Was Kevin Owens Vs. Sami Zayn from Elimination Chamber ‘25 the best match they ever had together? Was Gabe Kidd Vs. Yota Tsuji really better than the best Kurt Angle match?

Because a lot of you believe the the answer to these questions is “no”, Angle - probably the best recognised in-ring wrestler never to earn a fiver from Dave - is cited as evidence of his apparent bias against WWE*.

*The main event of WWE's latest PLE offering, SummerSlam, earned a ***** rating.

The irony, for the older folks here, is that many thought Meltzer overrated Angle - and to an extravagant degree - back in the 2000s, before the star rating system entered a state of irreversible inflation. Contrarian message board posters at the time deemed Angle a wrestler with a poor grasp of psychology who did way too much in his matches.

Dave actually loved Kurt Angle’s work - but not everybody did. How good was the Olympic Hero, actually?

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!