How Good Was Kurt Angle Actually?

Conclusion

Kurt Angle was incredible - even when he was dumb, it ruled, and actually made a weird sort of sense. He was a dumb maniac of a jock. Progressive limb work was never really meant to be his forte.

Angle was a master of all trades at his very best, and he boasts another incredible attribute not listed above. This is a rare and super-impressive one, too: Angle was unbelievable at elevating inferior opponents to his superb level. It was once said, to put over his brilliance in this regard, that Ric Flair could carry a broomstick to a great match. Angle was right there with him.

Angle gave Mr. Anderson an impossibly great match at Lockdown 2010. It was a legitimate Match of the Year contender, something verging on a miracle, at least 10 times better than anything else the former Mr. Kennedy ever did. At Bound For Glory 2008, Angle might have entered an even better individual performance. If Mr. Anderson was solid-to-unremarkable, even mediocre, Matt Morgan was actively not very good at all - and Angle still dragged him by his neck into a total thriller. Jeff Jarrett was a superb wrestler, so this is nowhere near the same thing, but he had one of the top five matches of his career against Angle at Genesis 2009. Abyss was limited but very effective in the right context; if he didn’t have his best match against AJ Styles at Lockdown 2005, he had it against Angle at Turning Point 2008.

Abyss has something in common with Shane McMahon, weirdly: Shane also had his most well-received bouts against Styles and Angle. Angle is the clear winner here: their legendarily violent King of the Ring 2001 war was the best-ever use of Shane McMahon in the ring. Shane was correctly portrayed as a barely-wrestler who only kept up with Angle in the match because he was too proud to accept the disturbing ass-kicking. Angle was so exceptional that he earned Marty Jannetty a new contract in 2005. 2005!

Angle was so intent on having awe-inspiring pro wrestling matches that he didn’t even care who was in the ring with him. He understood the showbiz aspect. His best work continues to flood social media in ‘Remember When’ posts, and invariably brightens your day for a precious moment.

Angle was phenomenal, actually.