WWE
The WrestleMania 21 match between Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle most certainly ranks as not only one of the best in the event’s history but also in the storied careers of both men.
With both men’s legacies already solidified by that point, the win was more for bragging rights than anything and that honor would fall to the Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle.
However, this could have easily not been the case, as revealed by Angle himself on The Kurt Angle Show podcast, WWE CEO Vince McMahon actually left the decision on who would come out on top entirely to both Angle and Michaels themselves, a rare decision from the famously hands-on chairman.
Angle spoke of McMahon’s surprising decision as well as his thoughts on Michaels putting him over on the grand stage:
”Listen, there’s no doubt in my mind that if Shawn was going to lose at WrestleMania to me, I’m gonna have to pay it back. There’s no doubt about it. Yes, that’s how it works. And I don’t blame him. I was willing to do that, because he did me a huge favour.
“Actually, Vince didn’t have a winner for WrestleMania. He had us work it out between ourselves. And Shawn said, ‘Listen, I’ll put you over’. Because I know, this is what he said, and I totally forgot this. He said, ‘You know what, you’re gonna end up doing a program with Cena afterward, and what you need is a good win right now’.”
As mentioned by Angle, the win would set him up for an eventual WWE Championship feud with John Cena, however, Angle would be unsuccessful in dethroning Cena.
Interestingly Angle paying back HBK for his win at WrestleMania would come before Angle’s program with Cena, as Michaels defeated Angle at Vengeance in June 2005.
Just a year after that match Angle would depart WWE for TNA, staying with the promotion for the next decade of his career.
Despite spending a longer period of his career in TNA than WWE, Angle would recently reflect on the struggles of competing with WWE during that time, to read the full story follow this link here.
The card for WWE Night of Champions 2023 on Saturday, May 27 is as follows:
World Heavyweight Championship – Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins vs. AJ Styles
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship – Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (c) vs. Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa
Raw Women’s Championship – Bianca Belair (c) vs. Asuka
SmackDown Women’s Championship – Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Natalya
Intercontinental Championship – Gunther (c) vs. Mustafa Ali
Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus
Transcript via InsideTheRopes
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