In retrospect, Kurt’s story in wrestling is that, alongside guys like Bill Goldberg, Vader, and Brock Lesnar, he was one of the fastest rising stars in the history of the business. After debuting at the 1999 Survivor Series (not many stars debut on PPV), he became the first man to capture every single singles title in the company (technically Diesel did it first, but that was 2 belts to 4). This culminated with Kurt SHOCKINGLY defeating The Rock at No Mercy 2000 to become the WWF Champion. Kurt would go on to win a plethora of titles as well as the 2000 King of the Ring.

Kurt was really a jack of all trades. He was a legit “shooter” and everybody knew it and he could be one of the scariest dudes ever. But he also had tons of charisma and could do comedy as well. But the thing Kurt was best at, that earned the respect of both his piers and the fans, was his workrate. Kurt quickly learned how to have not only good matches, not only great ones, but EPIC matches. The list of great matches Kurt had just in his first year were stunning, but he really didn’t hit his stride until 2001, when he had damn-near classic contests with Triple H, The Rock, Stone Cold, and Chris Benoit, many of these were just on regular episodes of Raw. Kurt remained a solid main eventer in the WWF/WWE and capped his seemingly short, but effective Hall of Fame career with classic Wrestlemania encounters with Brock Lesnar, Eddie Guerrero, and Shawn Michaels. In 2006, after a somewhat bizarre and controversial series of stir-ups between Kurt and the WWE management, Kurt left the company to travel to TNA. His first month there, he faced off with the incredibly hot Samoa Joe and gave TNA their biggest PPV buyrate in company history. Kurt has remained in TNA since then and gone on to win numerous titles and feud with nearly everybody on the roster.

Kurt Angle’s historic TNA debut:

Many fans to this day are waiting for the day Angle parts ways with TNA so he can make his return to the WWE and end his career the right way. Angle has teased this for years but nothing has really come of it. Angle has also teased a UFC run and Olympic return among other things. With Kurt aging rapidly and suffering from a neck that will seemingly never heal, only time will tell if we’ll ever see him back home.

Defining Match Of The WrestleMania Era: Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit at Royal Rumble 2003

Kurt Angle has had more spectacular matches than nearly anybody in the modern era, but his greatest opponent would HAVE to be Chris Benoit. Angle and Benoit feuded on and off from 2001 to 2003, competing in all types of matches, including the first and only “30 Minute Ultimate Submission” match, a Cage match on Raw, a 3 Stages of Hell Ladder Match, and tons of singles matches. The one everybody points to as the career defining moment for both Kurt AND Chris was their epic encounter at the 2003 Royal Rumble for the WWE Title.

Part 1:

Part 2:

So why is Hulk Hogan, one of the two people most responsible for the success of WrestleMania and this current era, so far down this list at number 16? Well, I think it mostly has to do with his failure to let go and his current reputation. At one point, the biggest star in the business, he’s been humanized and not in a good way.

I’m going to argue for him being higher up on this list, while listing reasons why he’s not as well.

Argument for higher ranking:

• Main evented the first eight WrestleManias and is the biggest reason outside of celebrity promotion for why the first one went off without a hitch.

• With Andre The Giant, he was featured in the most watched match on US television (read more about it in Big D’s write-up of Ted DiBiase).
• Was the babyface in huge money making feuds with Paul Orndorff, Andre The Giant, Roddy Piper, and Macho Man Randy Savage.
• Drew on top longer than Rock, Triple H, and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
• Business mover who turned WCW business around initially in 1994.
• Reinvented himself as part of the nWo and helped WCW become the biggest wrestling company in the US for two years.
• With Rock, “stole the show” at WrestleMania X8, becoming the most talked about match on the show despite it not being the main event.
• Put over Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar late in his WWE return run.
• Had a great run under the mask as Mr. America. Okay, that one wasn’t really an argument for.

And now, arguments against him being ranked higher:

• Overshadowed Bret Hart and Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX by leaving the show with the WWE Championship after winning an impromptu match against the new champion Yokozuna.

• After helping WCW increase business with his arrival in 1994, used his power to bring in all his friends, including main eventing Starrcade in that year against best friend Brutus Beefcake (as The Butcher).
• After helping WCW overtake WWE as the top wrestling company in the US, was one of many people who were part of the reason for the downfall, which had a bigger impact around the business than their previous successes did.
• Left TNA hanging in 2003 even after shooting an angle with Jeff Jarrett.
• Even though matches with Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels were better than they had any right to be at back-to-back SummerSlams, left WWE with a bitter taste in his mouth, complaining about his payoffs.
• Failed in his attempt to get TNA to compete with WWE and the company isn’t in any better business shape with him then they were without him.

As you can tell, most of his failures came late in his ever-continuing career. If Hogan had left the business after his match with Rock at WrestleMania X8, he’s probably still in the top 3-5 of this list. Add in a very public divorce with his wife Linda, which seemed to be aided by his constant attempt to further his daughter Brooke’s singing career and reality TV show after reality TV show, and you have a guy who was seen as one the ultimate box office attractions become someone who is seen simply as a broken down wrestler trying to stay in the limelight.

Personally, I still think he deserves to be in the top 10 of our list, but I can’t complain when my fellow colleagues rank him much lower. Hulkamania should live forever. As long as he doesn’t kill it dead.

Defining Match Of The WrestleMania Era: Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage at WrestleMania V

It would be easy for me to pick his match against Rock at WrestleMania X8 as his defining match. But I really don’t think it is. I think his match vs. Andre The Giant at WrestleMania III is his most famous. But his match against Randy Savage at WrestleMania V was his best work when it came to building up an angle, putting Savage in a spot to shine, and ultimately giving the fans what they wanted by winning in the end. Randy Savage may have been even better here, but together, they were dynamic.

Even though I thought Flair/Foley was a fun match, I do agree there was a bit of sadness in watching these guys still throwing themselves onto tacks when their careers are already so legendary. It seemed beneath them.

Check out the video: