When it comes to former amateur wrestling greats, Brock Lesnar is the exception rather than the rule, as most have to decide if they want to concentrate on pro wrestling or MMA. Kurt Angle chose the former and had an amazing career, while Daniel Cormier picked the latter and won UFC championships in two divisions.
But there will always be “what if” questions about both men, who seriously considered the path they didn’t take. Angle talked about exactly that this week with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, discussing his various talks with Dana White and UFC over the years.
He also shared his thoughts on Cormier as a pro wrestler, noting that D.C. asked him if he should try his hand at MMA or WWE back in 2008. While Cormier obviously made a smart decision given his accomplishments inside the Octagon, Angle thinks he would have been an excellent pro wrestler as well had he gone that route — maybe even as good as Angle himself.
“He’s an entertainer, man,” Angle said to Raimondi. “He’s, what would you call it? Click bait. This guy, he says stuff and the media picks it up. I think he would’ve been entertaining. I think his wrestling would have been incredible. I think Daniel would’ve had a stellar career [in WWE], probably equal to mine, I believe.”
Considering Angle is a WWE Hall of Famer and widely considered among the finest to ever grace a pro wrestling ring, that’s high praise indeed. Cormier was also a great self-promoter in his fighting days and has become one of UFC’s lead analysts, so the microphone work necessary for a top WWE star would likely not have been too foreign for him either.
To date, we’ve only seen Cormier as a special referee and never in an actual pro wrestling match, and at age 44, the chance to make a foray into WWE is probably past. Still, it’s fun to think there’s an alternate universe out there somewhere that features Angle as a mainstay in the Octagon and Cormier winning WWE gold, where it’s D.C. telling the world how good Kurt could have been had he chose differently.