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Kurt Angle vs The Rock remains one of the best rivalries from the Attitude Era of WWE. Angle was promoted as a main event star soon after he made his main roster debut in 1999, and in less than a year's time, Angle had been established as one of the top main event stars of WWE, despite there were stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Undertaker.
One of the biggest names that helped Angle become a top star was The Rock, who was already an established name of the Attitude Era and, of course, one of the biggest stars of the promotion. It all began at Summerslam, where The Rock defended the WWE Championship in a triple threat match where Angle and Triple H were involved.
Kurt Angle thanks The Rock
This rivalry continued for months, and the duo had a series of matches. It is still considered one of the best rivalries of the Attitude Era. Kurt Angle recently remembered this rivalry after 25 long years, and he thanked The Rock for helping him become a main event star. Speaking with Sports Illustrated recently, he said the following;
Kurt Angle vs The Rock was one of the best rivalries throughout the Attitude Era
“Rock and I had such a blast. The cool thing about him is that he was really giving. I was an Olympic gold medalist; it wasn’t like I was a nobody coming into WWE. But when you go in there with an ego, you’re gonna get in trouble very quickly. So I never had that ego, and I always felt that these stars that I was gonna wrestle, like The Rock and Stone Cold.
They never faced each other after the Attitude Era ended
"I put them at a higher level above me, but Dwayne always brought me up to that level and said, ‘Hey, you’re with us. You’re up here with us. You’re not down there with the rest. You’re up here with us.’ So he was always very generous with the way he wrestled. He was my first World Championship match, where I won the World Championship. He didn’t have to say yes, but he did. So I’m just very grateful. I think the rock has done so much for my career.”
Kurt Angle won the WWE World Championship for the first time at the No Mercy event of 2001 by defeating The Rock. The rivalry continued until the Invasion angle, and together they had multiple matches. One of the most important matches of their rivalry was from No Way Out 2001, where The Rock defeated Angle to win the WWE Championship.
