WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle was the latest guest on Talk Is Jericho where the Olympic Hero spoke about his legendary feud against Shawn Michaels, which included their classic encounter at WrestleMania 21. Highlights from the interview are below.
Says the first time they wrestled was their classic encounter at Mania 21:
“The crazy thing is, the first time I wrestled him [Shawn Michaels] was WrestleMania 21 and the match was so incredible. This is how good Shawn is…we didn’t lock horns and we didn’t work on anything all week long. All Shawn wanted to do was bullsh-t while we were putting our match together. Don’t get me wrong, we put the match together, but we didn’t get into the ring and do any work. So, I never really touched Shawn before WrestleMania 21 and to have that type of chemistry, that quickly, and for those 30 minutes it was like ‘oh my gosh, I’m wrestling a guy that’s really special, like, this might be the greatest wrestler of all time’ and Shawn Michaels is. He proved that for so many years.”
How incredible it was for Shawn to be as athletic as he was during that time:
“To go that long — Shawn’s been in the business, what? Since the mid-80s? To go that long and be that good? That’s a really difficult thing to do. When I came back to WWE in 2017, I wasn’t the same wrestler. I lost a step, I couldn’t stay with the boys the way I used to, and that’s what made me retire. I wasn’t able to do that, I wasn’t able to step up in my late-40s. These guys that were able to do it like Chris [Jericho] and Shawn, it just amazes me to be that good, no matter how old or young you are. It’s incredible.”
(H/T and transcribed by WrestleZone)