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Kurt Angle On His Match With Shawn Michaels At WrestleMania 21, Why Michaels Is An All-Time Great

November 28, 2021 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Kurt Angle Raw Talk

Kurt Angle recently touched on his match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21 and why he believes Michaels is the greatest of all-time. Angle was a guest on Talk is Jericho and discussed the match, noting that they didn’t lock up in any way before they actually had the bout. You can see some highlights from the discussion and the full video below:

On his match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21: “The first time I wrestled him was WrestleMania 21. And we — the match was so incredible. This is how good Shawn is. We did not lock horns, we didn’t work on anything all week long. All Shawn wanted to do was bulls**t while we were putting our match together. Don’t get me wrong, we put the match together. But we didn’t get in the ring and do any work.

“So I never really touched Shawn before WrestleMania 21, and to have that type of chemistry that quickly. At that moment, for 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.”

On why he considers Michaels one of the greatest of all-time: “Shawn Michaels is [the greatest]. He proved that for so many years. And this guy [Jericho], he won’t retire so he’s gonna take over. [laughs] But you know, to go that long, Shawn’s been in the business since what, the mid ’80s? But to go that long, and be that good for so long — 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, couldn’t stay with the boys the way I used to. And that’s what made me retire, because I wasn’t able to do that. I wasn’t able to step up in my late 40s. These guys that are able to do it like Chris and Shawn, it just amazes me. To be that good for so long, no matter how young or old you are, it’s incredible.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Talk is Jericho with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.