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Kurt Angle signed with WWE in 1999 and quickly showed everyone what a gifted performer was. The former Olympic gold medallist was so good that he won his first world championship the year after his debut at 2000's No Mercy PPV from none other than The Rock.
On a recent episode of his podcast, WWE legend and current AEW commentator Jim Ross gave his thoughts on Kurt Angle's first WWE Championship victory. JR also put Angle over as a 'world class guy' and spoke about his talent and skill:
He’s a world-class guy. You don’t win gold medals through luck, you win it on skill and talent and determination. Kurt had a hell of a year.
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Jim Ross on Kurt Angle's first WWE Championship win
Kurt Angle beat The Rock to win his first WWE Championshiop at No Mercy 2000. Speaking about the match, JR said that Kurt Angle was ready to be world champion and also spoke about The Rock's professionalism in the matter:
We had built Kurt with all this momentum, with all these successes and the titles you had eluded to. He was on a roll. If you didn’t follow through with it and get him to the promised land, then you’ve gotta have a great reason why he’s not at the promised land. He’s gotta be injured or some storyline issues or something. He was ready, and if you don’t follow through with it and take him to the next step, you might miss an opportunity you can’t regenerate. He had the momentum, it was a good move, it shows the professionalism of Rock who didn’t have to lose. If Rock had not wanted to do the honors, he wouldn’t have been forced to do the honors. Rock saw it was the best thing for business, and he knew that his matches with Kurt were gonna be terrific. How could they not be? You have two legit athletes who both want to be as good as they can possibly be. They have a lot of the same DNA. I thought it was the right thing to do. H/T: 411Mania
Kurt Angle went on have a Hall of Fame career in WWE. He retired from the ring last year at WrestleMania 35 after, losing his last match to Baron Corbin.
You can listen to Jim Ross' podcast, Grillin JR, HERE.
