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However, none of the above mentioned superstars deserve that Moniker because there is only one Man who truly deserves it – Kurt Angle. Yes, you read that right! Kurt Angle is the man who has done it all! He is arguably the most all around wrestler in the world. He is also well versed with the amateur, Olympic style of wrestling. He is deemed by critics and personalities in the industry as one of the best technical wrestlers of all time.
His sheer strength and brute power has been displayed time and again against larger/heavier opponents. His picture perfect, high-elevation, fluidic moonsaults are the best example of how athletic he really is even at this age!
Being an All American in Wrestling, he is the only amateur wrestler to have competed in the Olympics and won a Gold Medal, not only for his country, but himself. He did it with a Broken Neck! And then came his minor slump in ECW which was followed by arguably the most promoted and well-worked strategy of all time in the entire wrestling industry.
He won the European and Intercontinental Championships (becoming the only ‘EuroContinental Champion’ in WWE History) to start with, after which he went on to become the King of the Ring. Then he went on to defeat the Rock at No Mercy 2000 to win his first WWE Championship. All these accolades in a matter of one year means that there was something really special about him that Vince McMahon would’ve wanted to see him get such a push.
He went on to have some of the greatest , and in some cases funniest, yet memorable feuds of all time with Chris Benoit, Edge, Brock Lesnar, Eddie Guerrero and Shawn Michaels. At the same time he would go on to win 3 more WWE championships, 1 World Heavyweight championship, a Tag team championship. His most memorable battles were with the technical specialists Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho.
He then went on to TNA Wrestling, winning the World Championship 5 times, and then went on to become the only superstar in that company to hold all the TNA titles simultaneously. He has also been an IWGP world champion. He has already been announced as the 2nd inductee in the TNA Hall of Fame despite still being an Active member in their Roster.
To top all the aforementioned reasons, Wrestling Observer Newsletter has declared him ‘Wrestler Of The Decade (2000s)’. But all these reasons, they are just the metaphorical cake and their icing. The real reason that he is the real ‘Best in the world’ is because in an interview with him, he had said that the beyond amazing match at No Way Out 2006 between him and the Undertaker was actually planned for the main event of Wrestlemania 22 and that he was supposed to end ‘The Streak’ back then.
But plans changed and it was done a month in advance as WWE wanted The Undertaker to continue his Legendary Streak. And he also claims that The Undertaker was willing to go under him and lose his first ever match at a Wrestlemania. If these claims are true, then nothing more needs to be said. For me, Kurt Angle is, was and always will be ‘The Best in the World’!
