Kurt Angle Hails 'Incredible' Chemistry With Shawn Michaels
The pair’s first ever match together was an instant classic at WrestleMania 21
Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels are rightly regarded as two of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, and when they fought for the first time at WrestleMania 21, the anticipation leading up to the bout reached unprecedented heights.
Prior to their Mania match the two had only tussled briefly, starting at the 2005 Royal Rumble, and as Kurt Angle explained on Talk is Jericho, the two experienced instant chemistry when they got to Mania:
“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 bulls*** 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.”
H/T: WrestleZone
