Kurt Angle reveals that Ric Flair and 3 former WWE Champions are on his Mount Rushmore of Wrestling
Kurt Angle recently spoke to The Sun and was asked who would go on his Mount Rushmore of Wrestling. While discussing his options, Kurt Angle first revealed that it would not feature Brock Lesnar. This is due to the fact that despite his in-ring performance, that person should have an overall entertainer. Eventually, he listed Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and 2 others.
With regards to Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle said that Brock was a man of few words and a great athlete, but it takes more than that to be on Mount Rushmore. He said:
"With Brock, in most cases they would pass him up. I think it's because he's not a guy—he's a man of very few words. He goes in that ring and performs as good, if not better, than anyone in the world, but in sports entertainment you have got to have something behind that. So, if you are talking about Mount Rushmore then you are talking about the overall entertainment—how people get wowed and what they say to people, to the fans, and how they pertain themselves in their character."
As noted above, Kurt Angle listed Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair. When pressed to add to the list, he finally said that Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. He refused to add himself as he couldn't imagine himself being up there. He said:
"A guy like Shawn Michaels would be on the Mount Rushmore, Ric Flair would be on Mount Rushmore. I don't see Brock as an overall athlete that would be up there. But don't get me wrong, what he does in the ring, no-one does better."
"Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock," Angle revealed. "I would never put myself up there, it's just not who I am. I imagine some people do, but when I think about Mount Rushmore, I don't think of myself."
With regards to Angle's choice regarding his own stats, it's a tough call and he's right that many fans would list him as the top 4 all-time. His personal list of Flair, Michaels, Rock, and Stone Cold isn't that far off from that of most wrestling fans.