Kurt Angle is one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time — it’s true, it’s damn true.
Angle spent his career in both WWE and TNA/IMPACT Wrestling, feuding with some of the biggest names in history. Here are Kurt Angle’s five best feuds from his respective runs in WWE and TNA Wrestling.
Brock Lesnar
Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar first squared off at a September 2002 live event, but the two engaged in a major feud that lasted the majority of the following year.
Angle and Lesnar’s first high-profile match took place at WrestleMania XIX. The match is known for Lesnar’s infamous Shooting Star Press, but the bout itself was a fantastic main event. Angle took some time off to let his neck heal and came back to regain the WWE Championship from Lesnar. The two also squared off in a memorable 60-minute Iron Man match on SmackDown in September 2003, which was their final televised singles match.
Angle and Lesnar’s final match with each other took place three years later for the Inoki Genome Federation in Japan.
Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit’s heinous actions outside of the ring have rightfully overshadowed his in-ring but there’s still no denying how big of an impact he had on Kurt Angle’s career. From a technical standpoint, Angle’s rivalry with Chris Benoit resulted in some of the best wrestling matches in WWE history.
Benoit and Angle first feuded when they were part of a two-title triple-threat match at WrestleMania 2000. Angle entered the match as a double champion, but left without either title as Benoit and Chris Jericho each picked up a pinfall to win the Intercontinental (Benoit) and European (Jericho) titles.
Benoit and Angle would ultimately team up later that one, but once against feuded leading into WrestleMania X-7. That match is widely regarded as a classic, but it was just the first of their impressive run of great PPV matches that year. Angle and Benoit also met in an Ultimate Submission match at Backlash, 2/3 Falls match at Insurrextion, and a Three Stages Of Hell match at Judgment Day.
Angle and Benoit continued their feud through 2002 and 2003, which was capped off by an excellent world title match at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view match.
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Samoa Joe
Kurt Angle’s arrival in TNA Wrestling was a big shock. The manner of his debut was as much of a surprise.
Angle confronted Samoa Joe and leveled him with “The Headbutt Heard Around The World”, setting the stage for their years-long feud. Angle handed Joe his first loss in TNA, ending his 19-month-long undefeated streak. Joe and Angle squared off dozens of times in TNA, including in the MMA-inspired steel cage match at Lockdown 2008.
Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle raised the profile of TNA Wrestling and added a level of prestige to the company’s world title picture. The pair rekindled their feud for a brief time in WWE in 2017, with Angle’s final match on RAW coming as a win over Joe.
AJ Styles
Kurt Angle found another great rival in TNA Wrestling in AJ Styles.
Angle’s matches with Styles were highly praised and rightfully so. The two shared the ring more than 100 times in various matches but the pairing never felt stagnant.
Their match at TNA Genesis 2010 is a standout battle, as is the Last Man Standing match at Hard Justice 2008. Angle and Styles brought out the best in each other. Angle rejuvenated his career in TNA, but their feud helped catapult Styles to another level too.
John Cena
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle was a hot feud from the beginning. Cena made his televised WWE debut against Kurt Angle on the June 25, 2002 episode of WWE SmackDown.
“Ruthless Aggression” was the theme that night, as a then-unknown Cena took Angle to the limit. This match (and the feud itself) played a huge role in setting up Cena to be a top Superstar in WWE. Cena and Angle fought more than 90 times over the years. Highlights can be found in a Survivor Series 2005 title bout and a First Blood match on RAW in January 2006.
Both men are two of the best WWE Superstars of all time, but it’s easy to argue they made each other better in working together.
