"I was scared to death" - Legendary 11-time WWE champion on Rey Mysterio match; explains why
A legendary WWE Superstar explained why he was "scared to death" when he faced Rey Mysterio in a match. Kurt Angle felt afraid before locking horns with Mysterio at SummerSlam 2002.
Mysterio made his WWE debut on July 25, 2002, against Chavo Guerrero on SmackDown. His first feud was against Angle, and they battled it out at SummerSlam in New York, with the Olympian coming out on top.
Speaking on the latest episode of WWE Playback on YouTube, Mysterio and Angle looked back and watched their 3-on-2 Handicap match at Saturday Night's Main Event in 2006. They teamed up with Randy Orton to take on Triple H and John Cena.
The two Hall of Famers discussed what it was like to work with Triple H before Angle opened up about the first time he faced Mysterio. He revealed that he was scared before the match because he had no prior experience working with a Luchador.
"Rey, I was scared to death when you and I first wrestled at SummerSlam 2001, I believe, 2002. I was scared to death because I never wrestled a Lucha wrestler before," Angle said. [6:14 - 6:26]
Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio would get involved next in the tag team scene on SmackDown for the rest of the year. Angle teamed up with Chris Benoit, while Mysterio was with Edge. Those four would be part of the SmackDown Six with Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero.
Kurt Angle was upset at Rey Mysterio before WrestleMania 22
In the same episode of WWE Playback, Kurt Angle told Rey Mysterio that he was angry at him before their Triple Threat match with Randy Orton at WrestleMania 22. Angle was not happy with Mysterio's entrance, which cut their match time shorter.
"What I was upset about was your damn entrance (laughs). Our match got cut, and your entrance had to be eight minutes long. And I was like, 'My gosh, we're not even gonna have a wrestling match.' But it actually turned out to be a great match. We had to pick it up. (The entrance) was freaking cool, but I was so mad. You went all the way up, I'm like, 'Is he gonna get out in the ring?'" Angle said. [2:45 - 3:19 in the video above]
Mysterio would pin Orton in their Triple Threat match to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Angle would be out of WWE four months later after requesting his release.