JBL said that the arrival of one WWE Hall of Famer marked a point when even an already stacked locker-room stopped and took note.
On an episode of Something to Wrestle, JBL reflected on how Kurt Angle’s Olympic background and sheer talent created both excitement and uncertainty in the ranks.
“With Kurt, you knew he was good,” JBL said. “This guy’s the best wrestler on the planet. I mean, this guy’s not good; this guy’s alien level.”
He added that while the talent was unmistakable, the wrestling business world still required a learning curve:
“He hadn’t worked the territories. He hadn’t worked this education-background system to learn the business. Plus he didn’t even know the business.”
JBL elaborated on just how rare he believed Angle’s arrival to be.
“Kurt is the most amazing story I think I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen a guy come in when business was that hot… That guy is not once in a lifetime. That guy is once in about a 10,000-year performer.”
Despite the initial trepidation, JBL made it clear that Angle immediately began to carve his own path and fill a space where none was needed because WWE already had an “incredible, talented roster” at the time. His arrival didn’t just add to the mix; it reshaped expectations.
How Many Matches Did JBL And Kurt Angle Have In WWE?
JBL and Kurt Angle faced each other in several televised singles and multi-man matches during their overlapping years on WWE programming, with the bulk of their encounters taking place in 2005. Their most high-profile meetings came in 2005 on SmackDown, where Angle was part of the chase for the WWE Championship during JBL’s long title reign.
They also clashed in tag bouts and tournament matches, including the 2003 Survivor Series, various SmackDown matches, and house-show loops during the mid-2000s. While they were never long-term rivals, their occasional match-ups often reflected their positions as top-tier talent vying for the same main-event space.
