"I felt it" - Hall of Famer comments on if Chris Jericho was jealous of his rise in WWE

Chris Jericho started wrestling in 1990, and the legend is amazingly still going strong more than 30 years later as AEW's Demo God.

Chris Jericho had to claw his way to the top of the WWE, and his rise was much slower than many of his legendary peers, including Kurt Angle.

The Olympic gold medalist joined WWE in 1998 and went on to have the best rookie year in the company's history. Kurt Angle quickly cemented his place in the upper half of the card, and he went past some well-known names along the way.

During the latest edition of The Kurt Angle Show on AdFreeShows.com, Kurt Angle was asked whether Chris Jericho had any professional jealousy towards him in the WWE during his unforeseen climb up the ranks.

Chris Jericho had already wrestled for almost a decade when Kurt Angle entered the business, and Y2J additionally had to endure a sluggish start to his WWE career.

Kurt Angle revealed that while Chris Jericho never addressed it vocally, he may have been frustrated seeing the Olympic wrestler get a big push despite being new to the company.

Kurt Angle was surprised over WWE's decision to elevate him before Chris Jericho as the latter had more years on the promotion's payroll:

"No, no, I felt it. It was, you know, it rang true. Chris never talked about it, but I'm sure he thought about that because there is no doubt. We both started around the same time, and you know he came in from WCW, and I started in WWE. Some of my first programs were with Chris Jericho, and it seemed like I elevated a lot quicker, and I was very, very, very new to the business. Chris had been wrestling for at least a decade. So, I was just surprised that they didn't elevate Chris as quickly as they elevated me, and you know, for whatever reason it was, maybe because it was he came in from WCW," Kurt Angle explained.

Kurt Angle on Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit's delayed surge to the top of WWE

Kurt Angle likened Chris Jericho's slow rise to Chris Benoit's WWE stint as the Rabid Wolverine also had to fight for a consistent spot in the main event picture:

"I don't know, but I felt the same way about Chris Benoit too. I thought they held off on Chris for a little bit. I thought they forgot about him for a little bit. I even talked to Chris about that. Those two guys, they had all the talent in the world, and I always thought that they would make it to the very top, and they did. It took them a little bit longer, and I'm not sure why," Kurt Angle added.

During the latest episode of Kurt Angle's podcast, which revolved around the 2001 Invasion storyline, the WWE Hall of Famer also revealed a fascinating story about how Chris Benoit tore up a WCW legend's 12-page match script and walked out of the arena.

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If any quotes are used from this article, please credit The Kurt Angle Show and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling.