Kurt Angle is one of the greatest in-ring wrestlers to ever work in WWE. The Olympic gold medal winner joined WWE in 1998 and picked up the business faster than almost anyone, becoming not only a great professional wrestler but a great character as well. Along the way, he had some of the best rivalries of the Attitude Era and the Ruthless Aggression Era.
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Angle moved on to TNA Impact Wrestling in the prime of his career and enjoyed amazing matches there as well, with feuds with Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and Nigel McGuinness highlighting his post-WWE career. Now retired, and in the WWE Hall of Fame, his in-ring career has ended. Here are 10 wrestlers many fans didn't know Kurt Angle faced in his career.
10 SHINSUKE NAKAMURA (NJPW, 2/17/08)
In 2008, Kurt Angle was working in New Japan Professional Wrestling. Not only was Angle in NJPW, but he was their champion. Angle held the IGF version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. At the time, Shinsuke Nakamura was the NJPW IWGP Heavyweight Champion, and on Feb. 17, 2008, the two fought to unify the titles. The match was at Sumo Hall, and Nakamura beat Angle to unify the two titles.
9 HIROSHI TANAHASHI (NJPW, 4/5/09)
At New Japan Pro Wrestling Resolution 2009, Kurt Angle took on another man who became an NJPW legend. The match was against Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The only real complaint with this dream match was that it was short compared to other iconic NJPW matches, checking in at around 15 minutes. However, things heated up at the end, and Tanahashi ended up winning the match with two High Fly Lows for the three count.
8 ZACK SABRE JR. (REVPRO, 6/12/16)
In 2016, before Kurt Angle finally returned to WWE for his farewell tour, retirement, and WWE Hall of Fame induction, he headed to the U.K. for some great matches against some of today's top young talent.
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Zack Sabre Jr. is considered one of the best technical wrestlers on the planet today, and WWE fans got to see him in the Cruiserweight Classic a few years back. Before that, Sabre fought Kurt Angle in RevPro and lost to the gold medalist in an ankle lock submission.
7 JOE HENDRY (WCPW, 10/6/16)
Another name that Kurt Angle faced in his stint in the U.K. was Joe Hendry. Now working for Ring of Honor, Hendry has listed Angle as one of the wrestlers he looked at when developing his career. In 2016, the two men had a chance to battle in a match for What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW). The match was at an event called Refuse to Lose, and Angle won with the ankle lock submission.
6 ALBERTO DEL RIO (WCPW, 2/12/17)
Another match that took place in What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) was one that was just missed in WWE. Kurt Angle left WWE in 2006 and did not return until 2017. Albert Del Rio debuted in WWE in 2008 and left in 2014. After both men were out of WWE, they faced off at True Destiny 2017. This was the last match that Angle wrestled for WCPW. It was Angle's ankle lock against Del Rio's arm breaker, and Angle came out on top.
5 TEDDY HART (HEAT, 6/20/99)
Kurt Angle joined WWE one year after Bret "The Hitman" Hart left. However, one year after Angle made his debut, he had a chance to wrestle a member of the Hart family that most people don't know about. Teddy Hart, the controversial Hart family member who most recently worked for Major League Wrestling, worked some dark matches in WWE. In 1999, Angle beat Hart in a dark match for Heat.
4 SGT. SLAUGHTER (SMACKDOWN, 3/2/2000)
By the time Kurt Angle was in WWE, Sgt. Slaughter was long retired and mostly worked when needed as an on-air character, most specifically when he worked as an authority figure during the rise of DX. However, in 2000, a 51-year-old Sgt. Slaughter came out of retirement to battle Kurt Angle.
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Kurt Angle got mad at Sgt. Slaughter backstage on an episode of SmackDown, so Slaughter challenged him to a match. Angle accepted, and the two fought, with Slaughter getting in a lot of offense and showing the Cobra Clutch was still a devastating move, but Angle pulled out the win.
3 CHYNA (SMACKDOWN, 2/17/2000)
In 2000, Chyna was competing for men's titles and had two different reigns as the Intercontinental Champion. She was a co-champion with Chris Jericho starting the year and then later won the title again that year at SummerSlam. In between, she proved to be a formidable opponent and even battled Kurt Angle on an episode of SmackDown. Angle lost by disqualification when he hit Chyna with his European title belt.
2 MR. MCMAHON (RAW, 12/18/2000)
Mr. McMahon has climbed into the ring to battle several significant stars in WWE, with WrestleMania matches against names like Hulk Hogan and Bret "The Hitman" Hart. When it comes to Kurt Angle, the two had another match, but this one was on Monday Night Raw. McMahon was feuding with his family at the time, and Angle was on his side. This caused general manager Mick Foley to book the allies to fight for Angle's WWE Championship. It ended in a no contest when they both attacked Foley.
1 DREW MCINTYRE (IMPACT, 1/12/16)
In 2016, Kurt Angle was working his final dates in TNA Impact Wrestling. His farewell tour was supposed to include dream matches for Angle, and on the Jan. 12 episode of Impact, he chose to wrestle Drew Galloway. The match ended with Angle hitting Galloway with the Angle Slam for the win. Angle soon returned to WWE, and then Galloway followed, changing his name back to Drew McIntyre and beating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship.
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