Kurt Angle is one of the greatest pro wrestlers to ever step into the squared circle, and now he’s enjoying some well-deserved time away from the ring after a long and illustrious career in multiple promotions. His time in TNA as Perc Angle is still considered the pinnacle that any professional wrestler has ever reached, following a stellar career with WWE.
He returned to WWE in the late 2010s, both in the ring and as a general manager, after being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and now he is enjoying some time away from the ring. He has been hosting a show where he shares opinions and recently talked about a wrestler lost in time Tajiri.
Angle labels Tajiri the “most underrated wrestler of all time”
Tajiri, a former WWE wrestler hailing from Japan, made his mark in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1998 to 2001. He was then a part of WWE and was featured prominently from 2001 to 2008, also making a return in 2016-17. WWE has had a lot of Japanese talent coming over with the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Akira Tozawa, and Iyo Sky to name a few but Tajiri was one of the first Japanese wrestlers to make his mark on WWE.
Kurt Angle recently revealed that he considers himself one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time and reminisced about his rivalry with Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio. He has been hosting a show, and during a watch-along, the WWE Hall of Famer talked about Tajiri and his run in WWE, while watching the October 31, 2002 episode of WWE SmackDown where Tajiri was part of a Halloween party segment on the show.
Angle thinks highly of the former WWE star, who worked for the company from 2001 through 2006, and he was quoted as saying, “Most underrated wrestler of all time. Okay. This kid oozes charisma, okay? He didn’t speak English, but you could understand him. And you knew by his face what he meant. He was just this kid.”
Kurt was full of praise for his in-ring skills as he added, “This is why he did a lot of stuff, like the Halloween party. He was a character at the party because they knew that he could make people laugh. That’s how Tajiri is. He’s very entertaining. WWE brought the entertainment out of him. Yeah. As far as his wrestling, he was incredible in the ring. I mean, his Japanese style was amazing, but his charisma was unbelievable.”
WWE HOFer’s experience in Kurt Angle segment
Kurt Angle is known for his association with milk after an iconic moment on the August 21st, 2001 edition of RAW. He was feuding with The Alliance and Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was the WWF Champion at that time. During a celebration, Kurt Angle arrived with a milk truck to douse The Alliance with milk. “Milk-O-Mania” ran wild during that segment, as Jim Ross famously called it.
Kurt Angle doused many wrestlers with milk, including Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam, to name a few. Rob Van Dam, a WWE Hall of Famer, was also in the ring, and he doesn’t have fond memories of that milk-spraying segment. He revealed on his podcast, “When we’re talking about Kurt Angle’s comedy, the fans loved it. But, for me, the last thing I wanted to do was be in the ring getting sprayed with a hose full of milk. It wasn’t fun for me.”
How Rob Van Dam Really Felt About Being Sprayed With Milk By Kurt Angle In WWE (via @WrestlingInc) https://t.co/XymXp4GO7Q
— WrestleNova 🔥 (@WrestleNova) October 28, 2023
The Hall of Famer and current AEW wrestler added, “Looking at the big picture now, I can see why it was entertaining — all these big wrestlers slipping and falling. But for me, I was just like, ‘Oh my god, this is why I didn’t want to come to WWE.’ That’s exactly how I felt at the time.”
Was Baron Corbin the right person to retire Kurt Angle? Discuss in the comments.
