Tag: Kurt Angle

The Saints’ Twitter account used the Kurt Angle meme to remind the NFL about their infamous NFC title game no-call

The Saints had a Super Bowl trip cancelled because of this call!

Just about half a decade ago, the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams were embroiled in an instant classic NFC title game. But then a non-pass interference call on Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman epitomized a controversial ending that may have robbed New Orleans of a Super Bowl trip.

With the two franchises set to face off on Thursday Night Football this week, the NFL decided to promote the matchup with highlights from that conference championship game.

There was just one problem: the league neglected to feature that no-call that likely decided the final result.

This did not go unnoticed by the Saints’ Twitter account, which hilariously used the Kurt Angle meme to highlight the massive omission:

That no-call was one of the most significant moments in the Saints’ and Rams’ respective histories

So of course the team that saw the wrong end of it wasn’t just going to let the league forget about it. Kudos to the Saints for showing an excellent internet sense of humor about the omission.

Vince McMahon once told Kurt Angle ‘I plan to live until I’m 120’

It could still be decades until we see WWE without Vince McMahon, according to … Vince McMahon.

Not long ago, the Vince McMahon era in WWE seemed over. He retired in July 2022 amid probes into alleged misconduct but returned in January 2023 to start the process of potentially selling WWE. That evolved into a merger with UFC to become one entity, TKO Group Holdings, earlier this month.

Since the merger was first announced earlier this year, McMahon has publicly and privately been present with WWE. He gave an interview earlier this year with CNBC, appeared at the New York Stock Exchange the day the merger became official, and according to PW Insider, spoke at the staff meeting after layoffs hit WWE. For now, he has put any doubts about stepping away to rest.

No one lives forever, and at 78 years old, at some point, one would think McMahon permanently steps away from WWE, right? Not so fast.

Kurt Angle revealed on the Joe Rogan Experience that McMahon had told him in a conversation in 2017 that if anyone wants him out of WWE, “They’re going to have to pry it from my cold dead hands.” To take it another step forward, the man who has pioneered sports entertainment for the last four decades said he plans to live until he’s 120, which is … a long time (h/t Fightful for transcription).

“I love the guy. He’s always treated me right. I never had a problem with Vince. I’m glad he got the money he got. I never thought he would sell the company. I thought you would have to pry it from his cold dead hands. I thought he would keep the company forever. He put his heart and soul into it. No one works harder than he does. He’s a machine. You know what he told me when I came back to WWE? He said, ‘I’m going to have this company for a lot longer than you think, Mr. Angle. I’m 73 right now. My mom lived to be 101. I plan on living until I’m 120. I’m never letting the company go. I’m always going to work here. They’re going to have to pry it from my cold dead hands.’ That’s what keeps him going. That’s why I’m a little, not nervous, but what’s he going to do now? His life is wrestling.”

Angle’s conversation happened before recent circumstances, and while McMahon no longer reigns supreme in WWE, he’s still there and a figure with the company. Unless he gets pushed out of his position, bet on McMahon being around WWE for a long, long time.

Kurt Angle thinks UFC legend Daniel Cormier would have had a ‘stellar’ WWE career

Saying Daniel Cormier could have found WWE success “equal to mine” is high praise from Kurt Angle.

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.

20 best WWE finishers of all time: The best finishing moves ever

Finishing moves come and go in WWE, but these 20 are the best we’ve ever seen.

There’s something undeniably thrilling about the best WWE finishers. Just the anticipation for an especially great finishing move is a lot of fun, the palpable feeling that ripples through the crowd when a match is about to reach its dramatic conclusion.

And those occasions where a wrestler unexpectedly kicks out of a top finisher — provided they don’t happen too often — produce some of the loudest crowd reactions in the business.

Thanks to its position as the No. 1 pro wrestling company in the world for decades (even during times it didn’t want to admit it), WWE has seen more than its fair share of amazing finishing moves. But we wanted to dive in and find the ones that were truly the best, the crème de la crème of match-ending maneuvers.

To do that, we consulted a number of lists of this type that are already out there, including the WWE’s own rankings of the 50 best finishing moves of all time. Like our list of the top WWE PPVs ever, that makes this list pseudo-crowdsourced and not just our own opinions — though we slid some up or down where we felt it was warranted.

So what makes a truly great finishing move? The answer varies from fan to fan, but we considered the following:

  • Recognizability/cultural impact – Is a finisher so famous that even casual or non-wrestling fans know what it is or who does it?
  • Believability – If pro wrestling wasn’t scripted, does the move look like it would really end a fight?
  • Uniqueness – Does the move stand out on its own, or does a certain performer elevate it by adding more atmosphere to it?
  • Sellability – Does it offer the person on the receiving end the opportunity to play it up even more?
  • Legacy – Has it passed the test of time, even if others don’t use it as a finisher?

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dive in and check out what we found to be a bit of a consensus on the 20 best WWE finishers of all time, starting at 20 and working down to No. 1.

Kurt Angle thinks Finn Balor deserves more from WWE

A WWE Hall of Famer said he wouldn’t blame Finn Balor for leaving if the company doesn’t give him a title run soon.

Count Kurt Angle as someone who wants WWE to do more with Finn Balor.

Since his reign as WWE Universal Champion in 2016, which an injury halted after just one day, Balor has yet to win a main roster top title. He tried for the World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam, but did not succeed either time.

On his podcast The Kurt Angle Show, the Olympic gold medalist said that while he doesn’t want to see Balor leave WWE, he would not blame the Judgment Day member if he departed for not being put over with a world title (h/t Fightful for transcription).

“Well, you know what, it would have been nice if they would have given him this World Title. I think he’s really over, incredibly athletic. He has a lot of charisma. This kid, you know, if WWE doesn’t end up doing something with him, that’s dramatic, I wouldn’t blame him if he went off and went somewhere else,” Angle said. “I don’t want to see him do that because I love the WWE, and I think he’s a good fit for them, but they need to start putting this kid over. He deserves it.”

Balor’s most notable main roster work since winning the Universal Championship seven years ago has been his involvement in Judgment Day. His world championship matches with Rollins put the Prince on the brink of something big, and although it may still happen one day, as he continues his almost decade-long WWE career, the chances of him winning a major title become slimmer. Younger talents will rise to the occasion, and other stars will emerge on Raw for main event opportunities, including the Men’s Money in the Bank winner Damian Priest, whose title run is inevitable.

Chances will dry up eventually for Balor, and if he doesn’t get his soon, then it may never happen with this company.

Kurt Angle once dreamed of joining WWE’s D-Generation X faction

Kurt Angle with DX was a fun part of Raw XXX, but if he had his way, it would have been for real at some point.

Kurt Angle once wanted to join one of WWE’s most popular acts.

Once upon a time, D-Generation X reigned supreme in the Attitude Era, led by Triple H and Shawn Michaels. The group evolved in the late 1990s to add new members and alter the way WWE programming looked.

Millions of fans caught the attention of this, and as expected, it captured the imagination of fellow WWE talent, including Angle. On the Kurt Angle Show, the Olympic Gold Medalist said he had aspirations to join the legendary faction, which he called “one of the biggest and best factions” he’s seen (h/t Wrestling Inc for transcription).

“You know what, [DX and the NWO] are the biggest and best factions I’ve ever seen,” he said. “When I started watching wrestling in 1998, they were big. NWO was big in WCW. DX was huge in WWE. And I wanted to be a member of DX.”

“The whole ‘Suck It!’ thing really caught on,” Angle said. “It’s crazy because kids were doing it, you know? My son Cody at six years old is like, ‘Suck it!’ and I’m like, ‘Don’t do that again.'”

While Angle never aligned with DX at its peak, he became an honorary member of the group at Raw XXX earlier this year.

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Despite not joining major stables in WWE, Angle became part of memorable ones in TNA, including the Main Event Mafia, with Sting, Kevin Nash, Booker T and other top stars involved.

Finding more than enough success in WWE, Angle joining DX, NWO, or another headlining stable during the white-hot era of professional wrestling makes for an interesting “what if.” Had he done so, it could have changed the way we look at his career, for better or worse, and altered his trajectory as one of the top stars of his era.

Kurt Angle wanted to join Chris Jericho’s band while in WWE

Kurt Angle, Fozzy drummer? It’s something the WWE Hall of Famer says he wished he would have pursued.

Kurt Angle has cemented his legacy as a wrestling legend, from headlining WWE shows and winning championships to winning a gold medal in the Olympics and having a stint in TNA. With all of his accomplishments, he is thought of as one of the top pro wrestlers of his time.

However, Angle apparently had outside career interests during his time with WWE, that he wanted to incorporate with another star of his era.

On his podcast, the Kurt Angle Show, Angle revealed that he once dreamed of joining Chris Jericho’s band Fozzy, as a drummer while in WWE, but he never asked Jericho because his desired role was taken (h/t Fightful for transcription).

“I had this dream. I knew Chris Jericho was the lead singer for his band. We were in WWE and every day I wanted to go up to him and just say, ‘Hey, can I be part of your band? We can do an album, and WWE can record it, and we could be big rock stars.’ I thought, ‘You know what? I’m a drummer. I’m really good. So I think Chris would would take me in.’ But the problem is he already had a drummer, so I never asked him. I wish I would have. There could have been two drummers in his band. You never know,” Angle said.

An ambitious goal, this is not the first time Angle has said he wants a non-wrestling role in the entertainment industry, as he has tried “many times” to appear in a Marvel Studios movie. Obviously, no luck so far, despite Seth Rollins recently filming a role in the next Captain America film.

Otherwise, what if Angle and Jericho formed a band? That would have created quite the scene and potentially produced some interesting music. However, maybe it’s better that we never found out, as both did just fine without each other on their respective paths.

Kurt Angle thinks Roman Reigns will leave WWE for Hollywood within next 5 years

Is Roman Reigns going to conquer Hollywood soon the way he’s ruled over WWE? One WWE Hall of Famer thinks so.

Roman Reigns has crossed 1,000 days as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, starting with his run as Universal Champion and continuing it with his WWE Championship victory at WrestleMania 38 to unify the titles. This is the longest reign in modern-day WWE history, and it shows no signs of ending.

While he is undoubtedly the top guy in WWE, Reigns’ schedule has lightened in the last few years. Other marquee names have worked fewer dates the deeper in their careers, with Hollywood calling as one of the reasons. Reigns has not dabbled much in movies, but one pro wrestling legend thinks he will take the leap to the big screen in the near term.

On the Kurt Angle Show, the WWE Hall of Famer said he thinks Reigns’ foray into a larger spotlight is near, and enough of a reason for him to leave the company sooner than later (h/t Wrestling Inc. for transcription).

“Roman Reigns is not going to be in the company in the next five years. That kid is going to be a huge movie star,” Angle said. “It’s going to happen. It is. There’s no doubt. He’s got an incredible look, he’s talented, he’s smart. The kid’s going to be a movie star.”

Reigns’ most prominent movie role happened alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the Fast and Furious franchise spinoff, “Hobbs and Shaw.” But he’s been quiet on the Hollywood front since then. Obviously, working WWE shows while being the company’s champion will restrict that, but once he drops the titles, perhaps that will change and he takes even more of a part-time wrestling role.

Maybe Reigns will become the next big action star once he leaves the wrestling business. Perhaps he will follow in John Cena’s footsteps and dabble in a bit of everything on the small and big screen. Maybe he will decide to do nothing at all and retire to a quieter life outside WWE. Nonetheless, Reigns is a big name with the potential to do something great away from the wrestling ring if he chooses.

20 best WWE matches of all time: Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels, John Cena and more

Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker and Kurt Angle are among the WWE superstars with multiple matches on this list.

Rankings of the best anything are always tricky, definitely subjective, and absolutely a lot of fun. When it comes to the best WWE matches of all time, however, there’s also another factor: There’s just so many of them.

Consider lists of the best movie or TV series. Yes, there are a ton of each over the years. But in any given year, there are maybe dozens of movies to consider, and great TV shows tend to last for several years, even in the modern streaming age.

WWE goes nonstop every tear, putting matches on Raw and SmackDown weekly and holding bigger premium live event cards monthly. That’s hundreds of new matches annually, and while some are unquestionably more significant than others, each one is a separate performance with its own unique context.

Just narrowing that list of potential candidates down could be a Herculean effort, but we found a way to reduce the work and make the resulting list pseudo-scientific at the same time. We came up with a formula that incorporates both Cagematch ratings and the Wrestling Observer’s star ratings to give each of the greatest WWE matches ever their own score.

The end product has a satisfying cross-section in terms of both types of matches and chronology, as it includes bouts from 1994 up through this year. Certain names appear multiple times — you’d expect nothing less from the likes of Shawn Michaels, for instance — but there’s also nice variety in terms of who made the cut overall.

And while we certainly have our own opinions about where certain matches should fall in the top 20, we decided to let the rankings remain where the numbers said they should fall. After all, debating lists like this is part of what makes being a pro wrestling fan so much fun. Where possible, we’ve included the full video of the match so you can relive them as you go.

Without further ado, here are the best WWE matches of all time, working from 20 up to No. 1.

Kurt Angle thinks The Rock can still have a long WrestleMania match

Ring shape is its own beast, but you know The Rock is always in shape.

Despite his departure as a full-time WWE wrestler nearly two decades ago, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson never entirely left the place that brought him fame. From the occasional return match when he first left to a surprise promo every year or two, the Brahma Bull remains connected to the squared circle.

The Rock’s most prominent appearances have been at WrestleMania, including back-to-back main event matches with John Cena in 2012 and 2013. His last bout technically happened at WrestleMania 32 in 2016, but in an extraordinarily brief match with Erick Rowan.

A return to the ring was speculated for WrestleMania 39 against Roman Reigns, but it was ruled out early. Don’t count on WrestleMania 40 either. If he ever returns for another match, though, Kurt Angle, on The Kurt Angle Show podcast, said the star of “Black Adam” could still put on a “30-minute match” at WrestleMania (h/t Fightful for transcription).

“He really trains hard, and he has been able to keep his body young and active. When you watch him train, he does a lot of not just weight training and stuff, he does a lot of plyometrics and stuff like that. I believe that he could still wrestle. I believe if he wants to do it, he could put in a good 30-minute match at WrestleMania. I don’t doubt that for a second. He’s able to take care of his body as much as he has lately. I don’t see it being a problem for him.”

The Wrestling Observer reported earlier this year that The Rock wouldn’t get in shape in time for WrestleMania, which Brian Gerwitz, SVP of Development at Seven Bucks Productions, shot down on The Ringer’s Bill Simmons’ podcast.

Over the years, The Rock has consistently posted workout content on social media, making it clear he is in excellent shape. Wrestling a 30-minute match, however, may be a different challenge, especially since he hasn’t had a proper match in a decade. Nevertheless, in the “never say never” business, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him return for another match in a few years.