6-Time WWE Champion reveals he was not allowed to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania
Before The Streak ended, facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania was considered a massive deal for any superstar. During the latest episode of his podcast, Kurt Angle confirmed that Vince McMahon once rejected a proposal for him to wrestle The Deadman at WrestleMania 22.
In case you'd forgotten, The Undertaker and Kurt Angle tore the house down in the main event of No Way Out in February 2006. Angle defeated the 'Taker for the World Heavyweight Championship at the show; however, they originally wanted the match to happen a couple of months later at 'Mania.
Vince McMahon, though, had different ideas and didn't want the Undertaker's streak to be conquered at the time. The former creative head also wished to have Kurt Angle continue his world title reign, which would have meant going over The Undertaker at WrestleMania.
Due to the booking dilemma, Mr. McMahon did not allow Angle to have a dream WrestleMania clash with the Phenom. Here's the Olympic hero recalling details of the bout on The Kurt Angle Show:
"We both wanted it to be at WrestleMania. But Vince McMahon wouldn't allow that because he didn't want 'Taker to end his undefeated streak, at least not at that particular time... They just decided out of the blue to have a match with The Undertaker and me because we wanted one-on-one at WrestleMania, and Vince tried to make us happy by having it at No Way Out." [26:31 - 27:00]
One of the greatest matches of all time: Kurt Angle on his No Way Out classic against The Undertaker
The Kurt Angle Show this week was all about The Undertaker as the Olympic gold medalist spoke at length about their on-screen rivalry and backstage relationship.
Angle is among the few who have worked with the two popular incarnations of The Undertaker, The Deadman, and The American Badass. Kurt had no particular preference, as, by the time he met 'Taker at No Way Out in 2006, Angle was considered one of the best in-ring workers of all time.
The WWE Hall of Famers put on a 30-minute match that featured a series of compelling reversals and submission trade-offs, culminating in a hard-fought win for Kurt Angle. As you might have imagined, Angle was really proud of the match, which he felt was one of the greatest in wrestling history:
"There wasn't much of a difference. The one difference was I improved that much more. I became an in-ring general myself, and I became very good at what I did... I mean, I was experienced enough to know what I had to do, as far as a pro wrestler. And Undertaker had all the experience in the world. But we came together, and we started doing these submission trade-offs and these false finishes; we had one of the greatest matches of all time at No Way Out 2006." [25:28 - 26:30]
Do you agree with Kurt Angle about his match against Undertaker being amongst the greatest ever? Sound off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit The Kurt Angle Show and H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription.