Kurt Angle won an Olympic gold medal before he ever stepped foot into a WWE ring. He then went on to become a multi-time world champion and in two weeks will enter the WWE Hall of Fame. This week, the WWE revealed that John Cena, a 16-time world champion himself, will induct Kurt Angle into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Kurt Angle and John Cena
When John Cena first started to wrestle for the WWE, he was part of their developmental system, which at that time was in Louisville. He made his debut at around the same time as Randy Orton, Shelton Benjamin, and Brock Lesnar.
However, John Cena made his debut on SmackDown when Kurt Angle was working an angle where he called out anyone to wrestle him and John Cena made his debut by answering the challenge. Cena got in a lot of offense and Angle said later that he knew from the start that John was a special kind of wrestler and should have an impressive WWE career. He wasn't kidding because, other than "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, no one has held as many world titles over their career than John Cena. It all started with a match against Kurt Angle and now Cena gets to be the man to induct the gold medal winning former world champion into the WWE Hall of Fame.
The legacy of Kurt Angle in the WWE
Kurt Angle was a huge star in the WWE during the Attitude Era, feuding with everyone from Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock to The Undertaker.
He beat them all as well. In the WWE, Angle won the WCW title once, the world title once, and the WWE title four times, for a total of six world title reigns. He also held the tag titles, U.S. title, Intercontinental title, European title, hardcore title, and even won the King of the Ring. He moved on to TNA Impact Wrestling, where he won their world title six times for an unofficial 12 world title reigns.
Angle also won the IWGP Championship, the same belt held by Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles. The WWE Hall of Fame was long overdue and the WWE has chosen the perfect man to induct him. John Cena may not have won his debut match against Kurt Angle, but he launched a career that made him one of the best of all time.
