Kurt Angle Names Best Match Of His Career

Kurt Angle cemented himself as one of the best professional wrestlers of all time during his long career, with excellent matches against the likes of Shawn Michaels, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Jeff Jarrett, AJ Styles, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar.

While those matches were widely praised, The Wrestling Machine believes his best match took place at Royal Rumble 2003 when he defended the WWE Championship against Chris Benoit.

Both men grappled back and forth during the 19-minute encounter, exchanging submissions, and Angle ultimately managed to pick up the win after applying the Ankle Lock, forcing Benoit to tap out.

Speaking on Talk Is Jericho, Angle revealed he initially didn't think the match with Benoit was very good but he soon realised that it was the top match of his career.

"The crazy thing is, when I did it and I completed it, I didn't think it was that good. But I watched it back and I was like, 'Wow, this is my match. This is the top match of my career.' It was 2003 at the Royal Rumble against Chris Benoit. If you didn't see that match, go back and watch it. Chris Benoit, without a doubt, is the best in-ring performer I've ever been in the ring with. From an in-ring perspective, not across the board like charisma and everything else," Angle said.

"Chris Benoit in the ring was the absolute best. The submission tradeoff, the false finishes, the story we told. I felt like I was wrestling myself. He was so intense. He matched my intensity. Sometimes I couldn't match his, that's how intense he was. I loved that, feeling tired."

Benoit and Angle had feuded in the months prior to the pay-per-view in a story of professional one-upmanship, even managing to briefly hold the WWE Tag Team Championship together.

H/T to Wrestling Inc.