The Shimmy 5.01.06: The Kurt Angle Report Card (Part One)

Posted by Andy Clark on 05.01.2006

The Shimmy makes it's Monday debut and takes a look at the PPV performances of the only Olympic Gold Medalist in WWE history!

Welcome to the debut edition of the Monday Morning Shimmy! Yeah, things may not look any different here on Monday, but trust me, there are secrets baked right into the crust. So as any of you that read the title know, we will be embarking on yet another report card experiment. After the somewhat success of the John Cena Report Card a few weeks back, I had planned on bringing back the Report Card eventually, probably with Rey Mysterio. However, with the big move to Monday and the information that Kurt Angle is hurt yet again, I figured it may be a good time to take a look at your Olympic hero. Unlike the John Cena Report Card this isn't designed to convince you that Kurt Angle is a good wrestler; I imagine you already know that. This is meant to be as an overall appreciation of Kurt Angle's work, to see just how many great PPV matches Kurt Angle has had and what a variety of opponents he has faced. Let the grading begin!

Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Stasiak (Survivor Series 1999)

I wasn't nearly as enamored with Kurt Angle when he debuted as some. I didn't get the star quality in him as some of the "experts" claimed. Sure he was good on the mic, but mostly I figured he'd be a good IC Champion. As for the match it wasn't anything special other than for historic purposes.

My Grade: C

Kurt Angle vs. Steve Blackman (Armageddon 1999)

This was similar to the last match but Blackman was a better fit for Angle's style.

My Grade: C+

Kurt Angle vs. Tazz (Royal Rumble 2000)

This match was pretty much just set up to make Tazz look good, and it served its purpose. At the time I figured Tazz would have joined Angle, Jericho, and Benoit as the guys the company would push, but alas.

My Grade: B-

Intercontinental Title Match: Chris Jericho vs. Kurt Angle (No Way Out 2000)

This was where Angle really started to show that star quality. This was a good match between two up-and-comers and it got Angle his first IC Title.

My Grade: B-

Intercontinental & European Title, 2 Fall Triple Threat Match: Kurt Angle vs. Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit (WrestleMania 2000)
I think many people suffered from a case of high expectations on this match, myself included. I remember not thinking it was that great of a match when I first watched it, but upon a second viewing I really liked it. This was a good showing of all three men's talents and had a unique match stipulation.

My Grade: B

Kurt Angle vs. Big Show (Backlash 2000)

This match seemed to knock Angle down a peg. Many people thought that Big Show would be a stepping stone for the Angle push, but ultimately it would be "the Showster" picking up the win.

My Grade: C+

Six Man Tag Team Match: Kurt Angle, Edge & Christian vs. Rikishi & Too Cool (Judgment Day 2000)

This was a very fun match, but again, Angle seemed to be in a holding pattern at the moment.

My Grade: B-

King of the Ring Quarter-Final Match: Kurt Angle vs. Chris Jericho (King of the Ring 2000)

Angle and Jericho meet again and this time it was in the King of the Ring tournament. This tournament was very deep with many potential winners (even though most people called Angle winning) and the winner of this match stood the best chance at winning the whole thing. Stephanie McMahon distracted a bit from the actual match but it lead toward the great Love Triangle storyline that summer.

My Grade: B

King of the Ring Semi-Final Match: Kurt Angle vs. Crash (King of the Ring 2000)

Crash was at his peak in popularity at this point, and I think it was awesome he made it this far. He put together a nice little match with Angle here, but the outcome was pretty obvious.

My Grade: B-

2000 King of the Ring Finals: Kurt Angle vs. Rikishi (King of the Ring 2000)

King Rikishi? Really? Despite there not being much intrigue to the match, it fell in line with his mini-feud with Rikishi from a month before and the match delivered on a decent level.

My Grade: B-

Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker (Fully Loaded 2000)

This match was listed as part of a Triple Main Event and unfortunately it didn't live up to the hype. Fortunately they would more than make up for this in their later matches.

My Grade: C-

WWE Title, Triple Threat Match: The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Kurt Angle (SummerSlam 2000)

This is an interesting case as the booking of the match seemed to change due to the concussion that Angle suffered mid-match. The match itself was very good and Angle even came back to the ring, concussion and all, to finish the match.

My Grade: A

No Holds Barred Match: Kurt Angle vs. Triple H; Guest Referee: Mick Foley (Unforgiven 2000)

The story behind this match was great. The actual match and blow off to this feud? Not so much.

My Grade: C

WWE Title, No DQ Match: The Rock vs. Kurt Angle (No Mercy 2000)

Would you figured that Angle's first WWE Title win would be in a No DQ Match thanks to interference by Rikishi? Angle and Rock always had a good chemistry but this was probably one of their more overlooked matches.

My Grade: B-

WWE Title Match: Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker (Survivor Series 2000)

Zzzzzzz…..

My Grade: C-

WWE Title, Armageddon Hell in a Cell Match: Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker vs. Rikishi vs. The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H (Armageddon 2000)

Angle's title reign finally gets something to talk about!

My Grade: A+

WWE Title Match: Kurt Angle vs. Triple H (Royal Rumble 2001)

This was probably their best match but the heel-heel dynamic really made this match seem awkward I think.

My Grade: B

WWE Title Match: Kurt Angle vs. The Rock (No Way Out 2001)

This is a fantastic match with the only drawback being the ref screw up at the end.

My Grade: A

Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (WrestleMania X-Seven)

Wow. These two have had some great matches and this one was no different. The screwjob finish left a bad taste in some people's mouths but the match was still quite the solid effort.

My Grade: A-

30-Minute Ultimate Submission Match: Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (Backlash 2001)

Again, I believe that there was a case of high expectations in this match which lead to many being disappointed in it. Still, Angle and Benoit never have a bad match and the streak continues here.

My Grade: B-

3 Stages of Hell Match for Gold Medals (Pinfall Only, Submission, Ladder): Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle (Judgment Day 2001)

This match is overlooked since Benoit went on to wrestle later in the night, but this served as the blow off match to the Angle-Benoit 2001 feud. If there is a knock on this match it is that it was pretty rushed for a three fall match.

My Grade: B-

King of the Ring Semi-Final Match: Kurt Angle vs. Christian (King of the Ring 2001)

This was an OK match that was pretty much marred by some of the outside storylines.

My Grade: B-

2001 King of the Ring Finals: Kurt Angle vs. Edge (King of the Ring 2001)

Edge and Angle work together well and this match is a testament to that. Unfortunately the interference by Shane McMahon ruined the flow to this match even though the ending was pretty predictable.

My Grade: B

Street Fight: Kurt Angle vs. Shane McMahon (King of the Ring 2001)

This is a fantastically brutal match. Despite already having two matches in the evening Angle really brings it here. Shane bumps around like crazy for Angle and the match is better for it.

My Grade: A+

Inaugural Brawl: Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Undertaker & Kane vs. Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, Rhyno & Dudley Boyz (InVasion)

I am one of few that absolutely loved this match. In my mind the Invasion storyline was the only point where a face Angle was acceptable ( I LOATHE Angle as a face). This match was fun and fast-paced and was a great way that to start off a feud that was vastly underrated.

My Grade: A

WWE Title Match: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle (SummerSlam 2001)

This was a great match that unfortunately is overlooked because of the crappy finish but in my opinion this is the best match that Angle and Austin had. If anything this had the biggest build and I think they should have pulled the trigger on the title change here.

My Grade: A+

WWE Title Match: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle (Unforgiven 2001)

This was no doubt a good match but most people seem to like it more just because Angle won the belt. The celebration afterward was a cool moment, but Austin's hand was UNDER THE ROPE when he tapped. Not cool.

My Grade: A

WWE Title, Triple Threat Match: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam (No Mercy 2001)

At this point the emphasis was really more on Rob Van Dam and the Angle-Austin story was just a backstory. This was a pretty good match but ultimately sort of forgettable.

My Grade: B-

Winner Take All, Ten Man Tag Team Elimination Match: Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T & Shane McMahon vs. The Rock, Chris Jericho, Undertaker, Kane & Big Show (Survivor Series 2001)

This was a great classic Survivor Series match that surprisingly gets overlooked. The focus of the match was really Austin-Rock and even Jericho-Rock but Angle was the one that ended up deciding the contest when he turned on the Alliance and proved his allegiance to the then WWF.

My Grade: A

WWE Title Match: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle (Vengeance 2001)

At this point they were just stretching with matchups between Angle and Austin and while many really liked this match I just wasn't feeling it.

My Grade: B

2002 Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble 2002)

In an effort of full disclosure, I hated the entire period from the end of the Invasion until the Draft Extension. This Royal Rumble was incredibly lame (with the only exception being Maven) and Angle made it to the final two. Yay.

My Grade: C

No. 1 Contender's Match: Triple H vs. Kurt Angle; Guest Referee: Stephanie McMahon (No Way Out 2002)

You'd think these two men would match up well (as it is if they fought today I bet they would), but this was another case of Angle and Triple H not delivering. Stephanie as the ref was pretty bad too.

My Grade: C-

Kurt Angle vs. Kane (WrestleMania X8)

Ok, they got on the card, great for them. This match actually wasn't that bad but if anybody remembers why they were fighting then you deserve a cookie.

My Grade: B-

Kurt Angle vs. Edge (Backlash 2002)

Finally Angle gets an actual feud. This was an incredible match and helped set up the SmackDown Six for later that year.

My Grade: A+

Hair vs. Hair Match: Kurt Angle vs. Edge (Judgment Day 2002)

I didn't think this match was as quite as good as their Backlash match but it was close. Who knew Angle's hair would never grow back?

My Grade: A

Kurt Angle vs. Hulk Hogan (King of the Ring 2002)

This was a fun match that I just rewatched. God was Angle's wig stupid though. Hogan could still go at this point (or at least as much as he ever could) and they put together a surprisingly entertaining match.

My Grade: B+

WWE Title, Triple Threat Match: Undertaker vs. The Rock vs. Kurt Angle (Vengeance 2002)

This is one of the matches I like to point to whenever people say that Triple Threats aren't any good. This was a fantastic match (and Angle and Undertaker had just had a phenomenal singles match on SmackDown a few weeks earlier) and at this point Angle really was proving his worth as one of the best wrestlers in the world.

My Grade: A+

Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio (SummerSlam 2002)

Rey Rey is another person that always manages to have a great match with Kurt Angle and this was their first one-on-one confrontation. Rey proved that he could hang with the big boys and Angle proved that he could work with a variety of opponents.

My Grade: A-

Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (Unforgiven 2002)

He's baaaack. Angle and Benoit hook up one more time and everyone was glad they did. Angle and Triple H couldn't pull off the heel-heel PPV match but Angle and Benoit certainly could. This was a great match to start off a series of great matches between them on both PPV and on SmackDown.

My Grade: A

WWE Tag Team Title, Tournament Finals (vacant): Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio (No Mercy 2002)

I wasn't too please with this match when it was first announced as it seemed counterproductive to have a tag team tournament final with four singles competitors, but man was I wrong. These four men, along with Los Guerreros, really helped stoke the fire in the SmackDown tag team division and I think that this match was one of the all-time greatest matches ever.

My Grade: A+

WWE Tag Team Title, Triple Threat Elimination Match: Edge & Rey Mysterio vs. Los Guerreros vs. Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit (Survivor Series 2002)

I think the elimination stipulation actually hurt this match here. It was a solid match to be sure, but it could have been much better if it were one fall to a finish. Angle actually didn't play a major role in this match but still contributed to his SmackDown Six compadres.

My Grade: B+

WWE Title Match: Big Show vs. Kurt Angle (Armageddon 2002)

Kurt Angle wins the belt one more time and does it in surprising fashion over Big Show. Big Show was on a particularly motivated run at this point and it showed in this match. This is also where the seeds for the Kurt Angle-Brock Lesnar feud were sown.

My Grade: B+

That does it for the first half of Kurt Angle's career. Hit me up with some feedback and be sure to check back next week for 2003-2006.

Ch-Check It Out

This week I watched back the 2002 King of the Ring PPV. The first match on the card was a great Semi-Final Match between Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho. At the time I wasn't really paying much attention to the match but I do remember the aftermath. Apparently some internet pundits claimed that it wasn't a very good match and Chris Jericho went off on his website, even temporarily swearing off the internet. After watching the match I understand Jericho's frustration. This was great, fast paced match between two really hot superstars. Everyone knew RVD was going over but these two competitors really made that come in to question. If you get the chance do Chris Jericho a favor and check it out.

A Reason For Bullet Points- Double PPV Edition- Lockdown & Backlash!

OK, so I bought my second TNA PPV last weekend and for the most part I enjoyed it. I didn't think there were any blow away matches but it was an entertaining show.

Why is everyone so surprised that Alex Shelley is working with Team USA now? He was only friends with Team Canada, so he should be a team player when they face Mexico and Canada.

The finish to the Xscape Match was way too cute.

I really enjoyed Joe-Sabu, but it seemed like it ended right when things started heating up. I'm so glad that Joe is pinning people after the Muscle Buster instead of using that stupid ass choke. And people complain about the Masterlock.

I'm a big Raven fan, but man did he look bad. I hope that that is just an effect of his sickness and that he is better instead of him still be sick and coming back too soon.

Christian Cage delivered big time. I had my doubts about him but Captain Charisma proved that he is World Champion material for sure.

The AJ Styles spot at the end was cool, but it wasn't as amazing as some have said. The fall itself wasn't even that far. I'm actually more impressed with him climbing the ladder to begin with, especially the way that thing was rocking. Big time gut, AJ.

Andy Enjoyment Index:

1) Cage-Abyss
2) Daniels-Senshi
3) Joe-Sabu
4) Anthem Match
5) Lethal Lockdown
6) World X Cup Preview
7) Xscape Match
-----------------------------------------
8) Arm Wrestling Contest

Backlash was an interesting PPV. I'd say half of it was really good and half of it was pretty bad.

Carlito wins! Awesome.

I have a feeling the finish to the Women's Title Match wasn't supposed to go down like that.

RVD-Benjamin was a great match. Have you ever seen RVD flip over after hitting the Five Star?

I'm glad to see the announcers are just as confused as to why we can hear Kane's voices as I am.

God's entrance was funny but it would have been cooler had there been a white light over in Michaels' corner for the match.

It's a good thing this show wasn't in the Northeast or with some other smarky crowd. They'd probably boo God just to be "defiant."

Do you know that in the past year Shawn Michaels had teamed with Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, John Cena, and God? One of those things is not like the other. The sad thing is that most people would probably say it's Cena.

That High Spirits through the table was SICK.

John Cena keeps his streak of entertaining Triple Threat Matches in tact, and with a rather surprising win no less. For a second there I thought maybe Triple H would pass out in the STFU.

Andy Enjoyment Index:

1) RVD-Benjamin
2) Triple Threat
3) Carlito-Masters
4) Divine Tag
------------------------------------
5) Women's Title
6) Flair-Umaga
7) Big Show-Kane

A Reason For Bullet Points- The Rest

OK, my only thought on Impact this week was that that main event segment was incredibly stupid. What made it worse is that I wasn't sure if Bagwell and Luger were supposed to be credible threats or not. Sting and Mike Tenay sold it as if they were a big deal but Don West and Jeff Jarrett were all like "I could have fought him?"

Well wishes go out to Hardcore Holly who has some very serious medical issues with his arm at the moment. I've never really liked Holly professionally, but nobody deserves to go through the kind of pain he's in now, so here's hoping for a safe and speedy recovery.

Andy! Andy! At Last You Have Some Feedback!

Let's start this week's mailbag with another correction on who has "talent on loan from God" as Zack Macomber writes:

We must recall that Alex Shelly steals things that he does from other people. He stole that moniker from the The Symbol of Excellence, The Technical Excellence From a Time Forgotten, The Professor of Precision, The Greenwich City Grappler (or Samurai), The Raja of Resilience, The Border City Baron, and the often imitated but never duplicated, Man With Talent on Loan From God, Conrad Kennedy III.

Just thought I needed to clear things up.

Thanks for the addition, Zack! I'm not at all familiar with CK3 but I heard he's wrestling at ROH shows now so maybe I'll see some of him.

Next is John McInnis on the real reason Cena gets booed:

I can't believe not one person I have read has said what in my opinion are the real reasons John Cena arouses such hatred (from myself included.) There are two reasons.

First of all I should say one of my best friends bumped into him in a mall when he was first starting out in wwe in 2002 and he was a nice guy. Also being very white myself, from a small community, and only 3 years younger than him i can relate to him. I saw his childhood on that before they were superstars dvd and I really like him. He's down to earth, comes from a background similar to mine, and he likes video games. What's not to love? Torrie Wilson says he is being booed because the fans are jealous of his good looks, now thats true to a certain extent, but that is also a counter productive statement.

Fans go to wrestling shows to forget their troubles and take a break from the real world. A lot of fans (lets be honest) are out of shape guys in their mid twenties who are not the most successful people with women. Now certainly not all but it is a very significant percentage. They are watching the show to take a break from being reminded of their own inadequacies, they are PAYING MONEY to take a break. They love Batista because while I am sure he is a lady killer he is a huge giant that they don't see everyday. They see John Cena everyday. He is the frat boy that says stupid things and gets girls who your average wrestling fan is jealous of. He is only 6 feet tall and is very handsome. He wears a hat backwards and thinks he's black. We all know that guy! He was made to be a heel in today's wrestling climate.

Doesn't Vince always say "the fans are never wrong?" So why are they still pushing him down our throats? I have no doubt it is because of the amount of shirts he sells to ten year olds which brings us to the second reason the fans are booing Cena out of the building.

His cookie cutter babyface attitude and cookie cutter babyface raps are geared to 12 year olds. Vince is marketing his number one superstar to 12 year olds and is ignoring the 18-34 male demographic. But that demographic knows it can change things by booing him
(eventually he HAS to turn hee) so of course they are going to boo him because they feel the very existence of his character on top is the same thing as vince flipping of their opinion and saying "I don't care what you want." We are the people that saw stone cold
steve austin and now we see a rated pg version of stone cold, OF COURSE WE ARE GOING TO HATE HIM!

Cena has the chance to be the biggest heel the wwe has had since bret hart turned his back on America. He represents everything the 18-34 demographic hates and he is a poser. But vince those 12 year old are not going to be his fans much longer. Case and point:

I went to a nitro in New Orleans in 99 and Master P made an appearence reminding me of how much I was growing to hate wcw. He was feuding with curt henning and the rednecks (who were awesome and would have been fantastic babyfaces.) Master P threw a cake in curt henning's face while hopping around like a jackass yelling, " I THOUGHT I TOLD YA! YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE NO LIMIT SOLDIERS!!!" Now a 10 year old young child was sitting two seats away from my group. The kid was screaming about how cool master P was and how that was so awesome. I screamed "That's right you don't mess with the no limit soldiers you'll get cake thrown in your face!" The 10 year old who just a second ago was screaming about how cool master p was looked down at the floor and sat down. (I didn't mean to spoil his fun, but MASTER P?? LORD) I don't think he yelled anything else until Eddie g came out (it was his comeback match) and he saw us yelling for him.

What does that have to do with john cena? It has everything to do with John Cena. As I said vince is marketing him to 12 year oldS and ignoring the rest of us. Well yes they think he's cool but they only think he's cool as long as 20 year oldS aren't rolling their
eyes and making fun of him. In every area cena goes to a few kids will be influenced by the older people's hatred of him. Kids are drawn to symbols of which people say, "he offends me," or "he is an asshole!" They are not drawn to symbols (cena) of which people
say "what a joke he is, he wants to be liked way too much."

You make very good points and I think this is the best reasoning for why people hate Cena that I have heard. Thanks for the e-mail!

Manor Admin hits a number of topics:

Just wanted to say I really liked that last article on Hardy/Christian. I have been saying for a while that even though Hardy isn't getting the push; he's infront of bigger crowds, higher profile and making more money than he would be in TNA. I think the IWC has a slightly scewed view on what a wrestlers priority is.

I think Christian is probably happier in TNA, but I also believe Hardy may be happier where he is now than he would have been in TNA. I'm glad someone else out there shares my view.

and if your interested, my issue with John Cena is that he uses the same 5 moves at the end of every match. I know loads of guys do this, but his 5 moves bug me. Its dull, repetative and predictable. its not that he's a bad worker as such. I hate his shorts too, he looks like a tool.

I think Benoit/ Eddie was too short, for all the hype it got, it lasted less than 10 minutes. I think it leaves people feeling cold if they hype a PPV match hard and then deliver a TV match. Same thing they did with the SD main event at WM these last couple of years. The more hype a match gets the longer the wrestling expects it to last.

Ah, someone who shares my point of view on Matt and Christian, great to hear. Your point on Eddie-Benoit is valid but I think our next e-mail from Chris Rollz states the case best:

There's 2 things that kept this match from being what it should have been...

#1. Eddie Guerrero playing the WWE character who had just completed his heel turn. Jericho was Lionheat, and the crowd ate it up. Rey Rey was '619' Mysterio, instead of Rey Misterio Jr, and the crowd shitted on him.
Some of the workers underestimated the desire to see workers as they were, instead of how they are. It was, after all, a nostalgia show, not a WWE-event.

#2. The presence of Smackdown and Raw superstars hurt this match. Had this match been the opener, and had they been given 19-27 minutes... it would have come off twice as good as it did. For most of the night, Angle, JBL and company added to the PPV and the crowd's heat. The Heyman promo, the RVD promo, Tanaka/Awesome, and the final confrontation with Austin wouldn't have been so enjoyable without the invaders... however, during the Eddie/Benoit match, the crowd was preoccupied with the invaders,
instead of building heat for the match in the ring... When watching any match, crowd
participation is a key component in the match, and for the performers in the
ring, what is the incentive to push the envelope and bring out the 'a' game if the crowd is busy chanting at Edge and JBL? You could see on Benoit's and Eddie's face when the crowd got occupied with the invaders, the emotion just left thier faces... thier passion died. The invaders added to the show for virtually every other match except this one...

Benoit / Guerrero, Malenko / Guerrero, Malenko&Benoit/Guerrero&?????
Whenever those classics went down in ECW in the past, they took place in front of a very respectful, focused, Japanese-esque, smarky crowd who were there to see THAT match. Thier reactions, polite applause, and knowledge of chain wrestling, psychology and the fact that they knew they were adding to the match added so much to those matches... and the participants knew it and played off of it.

It was apparent from the beginning that the crowd wasn't into it, and by proxy, Benoit and Guerrero weren't into it. Imagine... you're Chris Benoit or Eddie Guerrero... all the history you have in ECW, all the classic matches you've had. You're finally going to work against Benoit/Guerrero for the first time in an ECW setting, after YEARS of having Heyman and the rest of the world tell you how great an ECW match between the two of you would be... So you walk out into the ring, and the crowd basically turns
thier back on you. Add that to the fact that Guerrero wasn't happy with the booked finish, and Benoit wasn't happy with Guerrero working WWE heel style as opposed to the two working ECW style.. and you have the formula for a letdown.

Get at me.

After thinking about it you are absolutely right. I think the crowd being distracted for the match was the main issue and I can't help but think Benoit and Eddie were both hurt by that.

Hugs & Plugs

There's too many new people and I'm too short on time to do a lot of plugs but I would like to give a shout out to my boys over at The Triple Threat. The Spirit Squad to my Vince McMahon, I'm glad to see them make it to the big time.

Well that does it for the first ever Monday edition of The Shimmy, be sure to be back here next week for Part 2 of the Kurt Angle Report Card. As always don't die. Clark…out.