Shawn Michaels match deemed greatest of all time by former WWE Champion

During his days as an active in-ring competitor, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels was cited as the best professional wrestler. Over a decade after he retired, he still ranks among the top lists, albeit may have taken a backseat.

As a brand new year has commenced, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H reflected on the company's accomplishments the past year, making a solid argument that the era we live in today might just be the greatest of all time.

Speaking of which, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently brought up his match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21 during a Q&A session at Steel City Con. Angle has claimed that their first-ever encounter was special many times in the past. Longtime viewers of the product agrees with the sentiment as well. Now, The Wrestling Machine has labeled it as the greatest match of all time:

"I really believe, in my mind, it was the greatest match of all time. Shawn and I just clicked. And the crazy thing is, we never worked before that, we never had a match together. And, during the week, we were supposed to, like, get in the ring and practice moves and stuff. We didn't do any of that. We never even tied up. And to have that kind of chemistry with Shawn that shows how good Shawn was. I mean, everybody considers him the greatest superstar of all time, and I believe he is. He's that good because he's never had a bad match. He's had an incredible match with everybody, and that just shows you how good he is.” [H/T: WrestlingNewsCo]

Angle and Michaels later revisited their rivalry that same year. The Heartbreak Kid picked up the victory at Vengeance 2005. The feud ended as a trilogy, with their final encounter being a 30-minute Ironman match on the October 3rd edition of Monday Night RAW. The bout ended in a draw.

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Dave Meltzer acknowledges never giving a 5-star rating to any Kurt Angle match in WWE

The truth of the matter is, throughout his career as an in-ring competitor, Kurt Angle has put on some exceptional contests. Arguably, nothing compares to his seven-year run in WWE during the aughts.

In the recent past, Seth Rollins brought up the fact that renowned wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer. While he credited the latter as a historian, he also stated that match ratings are silly, pointing to Angle never receiving a 5-star match.

Meltzer touched on the topic when he appeared on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, claiming that it does not matter. Moreover, when it comes to The Olympic Gold Medalist, he had several great matches:

"Yeah but he's [Kurt Angle] had tons of four and three-quarters which is basically the same thing. [...] Anything over four is great. Could you say the Chris Benoit match at the Royal Rumble was a five-star match? It was pretty damn close! [...] Five stars to me, that's like elite level," Meltzer stated.

He further downplayed the importance of a 5-star match:

"Well, it shouldn't be, because if you're at four and three-quarters that means I'm thinking that you should be considered for Match of the Year."

Kurt Angle himself has singled out his match with the late WWE Superstar Chris Benoit at the Royal Rumble a personal favorite. The veteran turned 55 last month, and recently stated that he has no intentions of stepping in the ring for a match ever again.

Which match according to you can be considered the greatest of all time? Sound off in the comments section below!