Kurt Angle recounts Hall of Famer's request to get him a job in WWE following WrestleMania match
Kurt Angle is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and his WWE stint was filled with matches that left fans awestruck.
The Olympic Gold Medalist's WrestleMania bout in California against Shawn Michaels in 2005 ranks high above on many greatest hits lists. Angle himself considers it one of his favorites, but perhaps what he remembers even more fondly is Hall of Famer Bobby "The Brain" Heenan praising his match against The Heartbreak Kid.
During the latest episode of The Kurt Angle Show podcast, The Wrestling Machine was asked to tell the story behind the legendary superstar's prank about wanting a job in the global juggernaut promotion:
"He called me and said, 'Hey, it's Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. I just wanted to tell you, you had a great match at WrestleMania,' I said, 'Thank you, Bobby,' and he said, 'Hey, can you get me a job in WWE?' *laughs* I was like, 'What the f**k, are you kidding me?' So he's holding that joke for like two-three minutes, and then he says, 'I'm just kidding. I just want to tell you, your match with Shawn Michaels, best match I've ever seen.'" [From 26:14 onwards]
The former WWE Champion further added that hearing Bobby Heenan say that Angle had the best match the latter had witnessed in the history of pro-wrestling meant a great deal to him.
What a fantastic photo.
Pat Patterson produced some all-time classic wrestling matches that we still talk about today. Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21 being one of my favourites. https://t.co/cDnFNpTuLb
You can read more about Shawn's take on wrestling Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 21 here.
The WWE legend once revealed what Shawn Michaels told him before their WrestleMania match
Kurt Angle believes Shawn Michaels is the greatest wrestler of all time, considering the duo did not get into the ring before their match on The Grandest Stage and, despite this, pulled off a spectacular bout.
Michaels apparently wanted to put over Angle dominantly because the latter was considered to contend for Batista's World Heavyweight Championship post-WrestleMania. So, it was HBK's idea to tap out to The Olympian, as detailed by the latter:
"Shawn [Michaels] came to me and said, 'We don’t have a finish for WrestleMania, but I think you should go over by tap out and this is why," Angle said. "I think you’re gonna do a program with Batista, and we need to make you look really strong.'" [H/T: Essentially Sports]
Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle
WrestleMania 21 https://t.co/WODjjBSPLg
The WWE Hall of Famer continued:
"I was like, wow. Shawn Michaels just basically said he’s gonna do a job for me. I was pleasantly surprised and didn’t know if he was serious. It showed me that it respected me, and he knew we would have an incredible match. It wouldn’t matter whether he won or lost."
Kurt Angle vs. Batista, unfortunately, did not pan out. Eventually, however, in a twist of fate, The Animal was forced to relinquish the Big Gold Belt owing to a torn triceps injury.
This led to The Wrestling Machine moving to SmackDown from the red brand and carrying the World Heavyweight Title through the WrestleMania season in 2006.
If you use the quote, please credit the original source and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.