If you listen to Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels is on the shortlist for the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.
Kurt Angle recently appeared on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast to discuss his chemistry with Shawn Michaels ahead of their classic matchup at WrestleMania 21. Angle said that he knew Michaels was a special talent before they even locked
“The crazy thing is, the first time I wrestled him [Shawn Michaels] was WrestleMania 21 and the match was so incredible. This is how good Shawn is…we didn’t lock horns and we didn’t work on anything all week long. All Shawn wanted to do was bullsh-t while we were putting our match together. Don’t get me wrong, we put the match together,” Angle explained, “but we didn’t get into the ring and do any work. So, I never really touched Shawn before WrestleMania 21 and to have that type of chemistry, that quickly, and for those 30 minutes it was like ‘oh my gosh, I’m wrestling a guy that’s really special, like, this might be the greatest wrestler of all time’ and Shawn Michaels is. He proved that for so many years.”
“To go that long — Shawn’s been in the business, what? Since the mid-80s? To go that long and be that good? That’s a really difficult thing to do. When I came back to WWE in 2017, I wasn’t the same wrestler. I lost a step, I couldn’t stay with the boys the way I used to, and that’s what made me retire. I wasn’t able to do that, I wasn’t able to step up in my late-40s. These guys that were able to do it like Chris [Jericho] and Shawn, it just amazes me to be that good, no matter how old or young you are. It’s incredible.”
Jericho mentioned to Angle about working with Michaels at WrestleMania XIX, and how they also never locked up before but had instant chemistry.
Previously, Jericho went into detail about how he and Michaels came up with the finish for their WrestleMania XIX classic during his appearance on Steve Austin: The Broken Skull Sessions in April. Read more about how Jericho wrote it out in a sporting goods store at this link.
Kurt Angle also spoke with Jericho about some of the roles WWE offered him during his 2017 return, including another on-air role. Read Angle’s comments about why things didn’t work out at this link.
Related: Kurt Angle Says He Loved Doing Comedy Segments The Most
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