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I mention this because of the situation that currently surrounds Kurt Angle. Kurt Angle debuted in 1998 and has so far had a career that has spanned eight years as of the fall of 2006. During those eight years, Angle has won a total of six World Heavyweight Championships and is currently “released†from his WWE contract so that he can recuperate from his many injuries and put and end to his necessity for pain medication. There has been no indication, from Kurt or anyone else, that Kurt is considering retirement, but if he does, the debates will begin over whether Kurt is Gale Sayers or Terrell Davis.
Gale Sayers was without peers when he played football. Jim Brown had recently retired and Gale Sayers redefined the running back position in the NFL. Terrell Davis had the misfortune of playing in the league during the Barry Sanders era. Barry Sanders was the best back in the league and Terrell Davis was generally considered the next best. The difference between the two is the fact that Davis has championships and Sanders does not.
Kurt Angle is widely regarded as the best all-around performer in professional wrestling today. His interview skills are the equal to anyone else in the business and I have often said that Kurt Angle is the one guy who can get a good match out of anyone. In my “Wrestling’s Starting Lineup†column, I referred to Kurt Angle as “the biggest bat in the lineupâ€ÂÂÂ. That is how much I admire the man’s abilities and there are many other wrestling journalists who feel the same. The question is whether or not, if his career is in fact over, he has done enough to gain induction into a Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame.
In the early years of the WWE Hall of Fame, the inductees (except for the members of the celebrity wing) were honored nearly 30 years or more after they made their wrestling debuts. Lately, the most recent inductees are being honored some 20 years after their debut, and if not for injury or death, would still be wrestling. It has been less than 10 years since Angle debuted and, even if WWE waits five years after he leaves the business, it would only be 13 years from his debut date, and this might not be viewed as a long enough career to merit Hall of Fame consideration.
The Hall of Fame is (supposed to be) for the best of the best, and there is no doubt that Kurt Angle is among the best of the best. However, he has not put in the years that most people who have the power to induct nominees generally consider. Eddie Guerrero has the shortest career of any of the WWE Hall-of-Famers, but he was inducted 19 years after his debut.
On the other hand, which wrestlers have done more in their first six years than Kurt Angle? Triple H didn’t win his first world title until year seven and HBK didn’t win his first until year 12. Even the 22-time world champion Ric Flair took ten years to win his first world title. The only person whose credentials could rival Angle’s is The Rock, who also won six world titles in his first six years, but he took three years to win the first while Angle won his first during his rookie year. In addition to this, Angle has the distinction of being the only wrestler to win both the Raw & Smack Down brand World Titles, The United States Title, the Intercontinental Title, The European Title and the Hardcore Title, and all within his first six years. If the Rock, with his two IC titles, his five tag titles with three different partners and his seven world titles is an automatic Hall-of-Famer, then so is Kurt.
I have no doubt that Kurt Angle belongs in the WWE Hall of Fame, but I also feel that Terrell Davis belongs in the NFL Hall of Fame. His style has changed the business and forced the other wrestlers to step their games up if they are in the main event of a show where Angle also has a match, just as Gale Sayers’ style of running changed the NFL. Kurt Angle is often a cut above the rest of the business, and no matter if he did it in six years of twenty, what he has done has never and will never be matched and for these reasons, He would belong in any Hall of Fame that exists…provided that Kurt retires, which I hope (as a selfish fan) that he doesn’t.
Send comments, complaints or questions to me @ ericej@netzero.net
Eric E. Jenkins is an author who has written a semi-biographical book covering the last 20 years in professional wrestling through the eyes of a fan entitled “Reflections of a Professional wrestling Fan: My 30 Years ‘In’ the Businessâ€ÂÂÂ. He is currently writing “Dead Too Soonâ€ÂÂÂ, a book chronicling the careers of and paying tribute to many of the wrestling stars who passed away very young.
