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WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently looked back on his rookie year in WWE, which included a memorable match against Taz at the Royal Rumble 2000 PPV.
Kurt Angle was undefeated at the time, but this streak came to an end at the hands of the debuting Taz at the Royal Rumble. Taz and Angle had a brief match, and the Human Suplex Machine shockingly defeated the Olympic gold medalist.
The former WWE Champion recently spoke with Conrad Thompson for another episode of 'The Kurt Angle Show' on AdFreeShow.com. Angle discussed the notable match with Taz, and he recalled how the WWE newcomer was quite a popular name in the business at the time.
"Well, Taz. We decided that Taz would go over. It was his debut. Taz was a big name in wrestling, so he was one of those guys that, you know, hit main event level; as far as any wrestling company, Taz was really popular. He had a great run in ECW. Everybody knew who he was."
"It was me giving him a rub, an elevation win, and at the same time, it's me getting the rub from somebody that was a main eventer in a wrestling company that was very successful. The whole story was Taz would make me choke out. He would choke me out. It was an illegal choke, so; I was still undefeated. That's what I said in my own mind after the match, that you know when Taz made me choke out, I said, 'This is an illegal chokehold, so I'm still undefeated. I still haven't been beaten.' It was good heat."
Angle described one particular spot during the match in which Taz suplexed him and the Olympic hero almost landed on his head. The scary spot wasn't well-received backstage, and WWE officials reportedly even wanted to have a word with Taz the following day.
It was noted that Taz earned a reputation for being dangerous in the ring due to the spot, and it ultimately affected his legacy as a wrestler in WWE.
Kurt Angle describes how he felt about wrestling Taz
During the podcast, Kurt Angle was asked about these rumors, and the WWE Hall of Famer outright denied the claims of Taz being unsafe to work with.
"Taz was not dangerous. That was my idea. I told Taz to give me a German suplex and throw me really high in the air, and I would flip over to my stomach. I wanted to do a moonsault German suplex where I landed on my stomach. I thought it looked really vicious and brutal. So, that was all my call. I'm not sure why Taz didn't tell the office that I'm the one that chose the move. Taz was never dangerous with the suplexes. He was relatively safe. I never had a problem with him."
Angle admitted that it was his idea to do the suplex spot in the match. Angle wanted to flip over from the German suplex and land on his stomach because he felt this delivery looked more vicious. Angle added that Taz was never dangerous in the ring, and he stated that their matches went along smoothly.
For his part, Taz also took to Twitter to thank Kurt Angle for the clarification.
What do you think? Was Taz really a dangerous worker, or was he the victim of an unfortunate spot that was interpreted the wrong way?
If any quotes are used from this article, please credit 'The Kurt Angle Show' and give a H/T to Sportskeeda.
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