The Kurt Angle Show - WrestleMania 21 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

This week on the Kurt Angle Show, we’re going Hollywood! Because we’re talking about Wrestlemania Goes Hollywood - or more specifically, Wrestlemania 21. It happened on April 3, 2005 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles before a sellout crowd of 20,193. The show grossed more than $2.1 million in ticket sales. An estimated 1,090,000 bought the pay-per-view - about 70,000 more than were reported to have bought the year before.

And at the top of the list of reasons why this show did so well...Kurt Angle...versus...Shawn Michaels.

(Who pushed for the Kurt Angle/Shawn Michaels match? Was it one of you or someone in creative or Vince?)

(When did you find out you were going to be programmed with Shawn at Mania? What were your feelings?)

But before we get to the show, we have to find out how we got here.

News and Notes

Most of the news and notes we’re covering today are going to be related to the build of this epic rivalry. But there was a specific story we wanted to touch on here from the Observer.

Kurt Angle and Danny Hodge, who are already dual Hall of Famers in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for amateur wrestling and the Observer Hall of Fame, were named on 3/18 as two of the 15 greatest college wrestlers in history as part of the 75th NCAA tournament. A poll of wrestling experts named the 45 greatest college wrestlers in history, and the final all-time team would be voted on by college wrestling fans online. While Hodge, along with the likes of Dan Gable, Yojiro Uetake, Carlton Haselrig and Carl Sanderson (whom even GabLe generally considered the greatest, has acknowledged as being the greatest college wrestler ever because of his 159-0 record), were automatic picks, there is little question that Angle's notoriety from being a current pro wrestling superstar put him on the list. By no means was Angle a joke as a choice, but there were others not chosen who had better collegiate records.

(Two questions here. 1) What did it mean to you to be honored in this category and 2) Did you look at it thinking your celebrity status influenced it?)

Note: Kurt gave an interview around this period to Byte This about the Daniel Puder incident. We are saving that for another show down the road. I don’t want you to think I missed it. But, Puder was in the process of pissing a lot of folks off backstage during this period and got the shit beat out of him at the Royal Rumble because of it.

The Build

At the Royal Rumble, two months before WrestleMania, you’re on SmackDown! You’re in the main event, a triple threat match with champion JBL and the Big Show but you didn’t win that. So, you come up with a plan B. You bullied Nunzio into giving you his Royal Rumble spot. You enter the Rumble at number 20  and proceed to clean house for about 30 seconds  - but then, you meet Shawn Michaels, who is on Raw. HBK eliminates you from the match. And you’re not happy. You get back into the ring and brutalize Shawn, eventually eliminating him.

(With you both on separate shows, was this the logical way to get a feud started between you both?)

As someone wrote online, you opened the can of worms the next night on Raw, saying that your issue with Michaels went back all the way to 1996, a pivotal year for you both. You talked about how you won an Olympic Gold Medal (with a broken freaking neck), but that same year, everyone was talking about Shawn Michaels winning a classic Iron Man Match at that year's Wrestlemania.

He talked about how it ate him up that Michaels was considered the best of their generation and he wasn't.

(This is some great stuff. But you’ve told us that before you came into the company, you didn’t always view pro wrestling on the level as amateur wrestling. Could there have maybe been a little truth behind your words, here?)

The next month at No Way Out, Angle lost a number one contenders match to John Cena, losing a spot in the SmackDown! main event at WrestleMania. As Meltzer put it, if not for the performance of Kurt Angle, who may not have many show saving performances left in him, it probably would have been a worst show of the year candidate.

The next night on Raw, Michaels told SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long to inform you that he had challenged you to a match at WrestleMania.

On Feb 28, Michaels defeated Edge in a street fight on Raw. It was a great match. But, after the win, you attacked Shawn in your street clothes. Shawn was bloody and before long you were totally covered in his blood. It was a helluva visual and actually, the WWE Network made replays of it in the weeks after black-and-white.

(Did you ruin your own personal clothes here!? I’ve heard Hulk Hogan’s PumMagic gets blood out, by the way.)

The next week on Smackdown was the Kurt Angle Invitational. A guy comes out in a hoodie and you assumed it was Shawn - but it wasn’t. Shawn was dressed up as a camera guy behind you. Shawn gets some revenge that night.

On Raw, Shawn opens the show and Kurt comes on the titantron. You said this Thursday on Smackdown, everything Shawn has accomplished in his career, Kurt Angle will do in four weeks.

Well, on March 10, the Kurt Angle Invitational was a special ladder match - just like Shawn’s at Wrestlemania X. You said that a lot of people called it the greatest match ever but you weren’t one of those people. A local guy comes out and you slapped the shit out of him! This was your first ever ladder match. Of course, you won it.

(The gold medal was the object hanging above the ring. Was this your real gold medal or a replica? It had the green strap but, I recall you writing in your book that you stopped using the real gold medal early on into your career.)

At the end, you bring up how Shawn Michaels made his debut in 1989 with his tag-team partner, “The strength, the backbone,” of the Rockers, Marty Janetty. Genius. You said Janetty taught Michaels everything that he knew. And next week, he will teach Shawn one more lesson: how to tap out to Kurt Angle.

But before then, Raw would happen. And Marty Janetty showed up on Raw, invited by Shawn! He said if Marty was coming back, he had to do it on Raw. And we get a Rockers match! It’s a chill bump moment. Marty looked good in the ring, too. He picks up the win with the Rocker Dropper. That’ll break your neck!

(Did the big reaction and Janetty’s performance on Raw influence why he had such a competitive match with you?)

You open Smackdown and say it was a nice try by Shawn, but there’s no way for Marty to prepare for an Olympic Gold Medalist. But, because the match on Monday was so epic, Marty has some major fan support here. At least two Marty chants break-out. The match isn’t a squash. It’s competitive. You gave Marty some offense and Marty gets the upper hand going into the commercial break. He even counters the Angle Slam - twice! But like everyone else, he ends up tapping out to the Ankle Lock.

(Was it always planned to be a competitive match like this or did that come up after the huge return on Raw?)

(You were taping your right thigh below your tights and above the knee here. Did you have an injury?)

One week later on Smackdown, we get one of the best Kurt Angle segments ever. HBK’s music hits and out comes...you! Wearing HBK’s gear! You’re chewing gum as hard as you can too, like a cow chewing grass. You do the pose, the little prayer, the pyro hits, and then out comes...Sensational Sherri!

You tell us “anything you can do, we can do better.” And you say HIT THE MUSIC. We get your own version of Sexy Boy. And it’s called “Sexy Kurt.”

I think I’m cute

I’ve won gold medals

I’ve got the moves

that make them all tap out

the Angle slam

the Ankle lock

Marty Janetty...still...can’t walk

I’m just a Sexy Kurt...(Sherri: Sexy Kurt)

I’ll make your ankle hurt (Sherri: Ankle Hurt!)

I’m just a Sexy Kurt...(Sherri: Sexy Kurt)

I’ll make your ankle hurt (Sherri: Ankle Hurt!)

“That’s right Shawn, eat your heart out. Hands off the merchandise!

Instrumental music, just in case...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF__7Txl0Zc

(Who came up with this idea? How did you get the mannerisms down? Did you watch a bunch of Shawn tapes?)

Then, HBK comes on the titantron and tells us he wants to show us a video package about his career, just like we had seen on Raw that same week about Kurt. After it airs, Sherri is visibly impressed and giggles, which pisses off our Olympic hero. You argue with her in the ring. But, you tell her it’s okay. Just give me a kiss.

Then you THROW HER DOWN and put her in the ANKLE LOCK! Sherri’s selling here makes it look like you were killing her! Finally, officials pull you off of her as Sherri cries in pain.

(Why did you hurt that poor woman? Seriously, though, I am assuming you were very safe and what we saw was her doing great work here?)

(What was it like working with her? Did you have any hang ups about the angle?)

On the last edition of Raw before the pay-per-view, you once again attacked Shawn which resulted in Michaels defeating Muhammad Hassan by disqualification.

But, for the build as a whole, some have said it was one of the best build-ups to a match the company had ever done.

(What did you think of the build? Why did it seem to work so well?)

Meltzer wrote that the match was probably the one that the wrestlers were looking forward to more than anyone.

“While both men are nowhere close to their better shape, as Michaels has a bad knee and Angle's medical issues are discussed weekly, Angle has talked about going in with goal of having the greatest match in the history of wrestling. I'm guessing they will be given 25 minutes, if not a Jot more. The bottom line is, as bad off as Angle is physically, there is no possible way he could be in as much pain as he was in 1996 when, the day after breaking his neck, he won the nationals and came back weeks Jaterto win the Olympic trials. Any question of what Angle will do in this situation was answered two years ago in his match with Brock Lesnar. He had no business in the ring, was in far worse shape physically than he is now, and came one botched shooting star press by Lesnar away from possibly winning match of the year. His body also went into shock after the match was over, a scenario that may not be unlikely this time around as well.

(Was that your goal going into this - to have the greatest match in history?)

You weren’t the only one who was probably hoping to have the best match. Of course, we know Shawn Michaels always has been one to put on a show but this particular year and in this build was when he first called himself “Mr. Wrestlemania.” Dave Meltzer even did a full-length story on the claim, saying that it wasn’t justified based on box office - but when you look at match quality, maybe so. Up until that point, Shawn had 10 matches at Mania. 9/10 were three-star or better matches. Four of those  - which is the record - were four-star or better matches.

(When Shawn calls himself this several weeks before the show on Raw, does he know he will be putting you over? When Shawn said this, did it add even more pressure to put on the best match possible?)

Before we get to the event itself - and we’re almost there - we have to talk about some pretty memorable commercials that were airing during the time. With the whole Hollywood theme of Wrestlemania, the company produced several spoofs of famous movies for commercials. Eugene was Forrest Gump, probably something we’d be better forgetting. The Undertaker was Dirty Harry. And our Olympic Hero got in on the fun, too, spoofing When Harry Met Sally. You and Christy Hemme played the roles of Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. In this scene, you’re explaining how you’ll win at Wrestlemania.

“First, I’ll put on my gold medals.”

Christy lets out an erotic moan.

“You okay?” you ask.

Christy proceeds to reach orgasmic levels of excitement while you’re explaining your moves, your entrance music, and shouting “tap, tap, tap.” Then, Linda McMahon appears seated at another table and says “I’ll have what she’s having.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhEys9GoP-g

(These skits or commercials...they were absolutely hilarious. You’re playing a character who is playing a character. Inception, basically. How much fun did you have with these? How long did they take to film? Who came up with the idea?)

We’ve talked about When Harry Met Sally..but there’s a story about When Kurt Met Shawn that probably has to be told, too. We’re going back a few years to when Shawn was in a Survivor Series match after just recently returning.

“It came down to five-on-one; he was the one guy, and he eliminated four guys until the last guy, but he ended up losing, and I was like, ‘This guy’s good…’ I mean, I’d never heard of him really before.

“So when he came backstage, I said, ‘I don’t really know who you are, but you’re really good.’

“And, you know, he kind of laughed, like, ‘Oh my god, this kid’s an idiot…'”

(What can you remember about this funny interaction? Did Shawn ever rib you over it? Did he seem offended, at all?)

(What kind of relationship did you have with Shawn Michaels in 2005?)

About a week before the match, you told WWE Untold that Shawn told you, “I’m not scared of you.” You said you didn’t know what to think and told him you’re an easy guy to work with.

(Why did Shawn say that? How was he to work with?)

The Event

WRESTLEMANIA XXI POLL RESULTS

• Thumbs up  676 (89.4%)
• Thumbs down 13 (01.7%)
• In the middle 67 (08.9%)

BEST MATCH POLL

• Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle 607
• Ladder match (First Money in the Bank) 114
• Undertaker vs. Randy Orton 23

WORST MATCH POLL

• Big Show vs. Akebono 286
• Trish Stratus vs. Christy Hemme 263
• JBL vs. John Cena 142

Angle comes out to a bigger pop than Shawn Michaels. When you get in the ring, you’re not doing the bouncy-spin. You’re still extending your arms and posing while turning but it’s much more intense, less comedy.

(Was that something you consciously did as your character evolved more into this vicious wrestler?)

You’re wearing one of my favorite singlets in this match: navy blue with a gold-winged bald eagle and gold stars.

(Were your trunks something made in-house? Did you provide a lot of feedback or get involved in the design?)

Shawn also has a new style of trunks in this match, which are basically leather pants with his chaps sewn onto them. He would wear this style for the rest of his career.

You get face to face and you’re smiling at each other. You mouth to him “What’s with that smile on your face? It’s not going to be there after this is over.”

Shawn replies “It’ll be there. It’ll be there.”

You say “We’ll see.”

(Was this a shoot? Or part of the story?)

The match begins with a lot of talking and then, Shawn slaps you. Shawn said that Pat Patterson had always been the one to suggest the slap. He said that sometimes, it didn’t make much sense. But here, in this instance, it did.

(Who suggested the slap in this match? Did Pat Patterson help or contribute?)

From there, you shoot for a leg, and a mat wrestling contest happens. This scramble is incredible because you’re all over him. I know you’re working but, your speed, your insanely fast movements around Shawn’s body, they’re real.

Shawn picks it back up and controls the match in a more pro-wrestling sense for a while.

On the outside, you pick Shawn up for an Angle Slam...but instead of hitting it on the ground, you hit it on the RING POST. The crowd reacts because it looks vicious. It’s also showing that you’re working Shawn’s bad back. Meltzer said it actually hit Shawn’s hamstring and not his lower back.

(It looked like the back to me but maybe Dave is right. Who came up with this spot? Doesn’t seem like we saw it much after this. Did you shelve it for some reason?)

Meltzer wrote...Angle worked on the back, as the fans did the dueling, "Let's Go Angle, Let's Go Michaels" (loud enough that you noticed, but I'm guessing it was a very small percentage, as that's still a chant that hasn't made its way to WWE shows yet). Michaels did the Ray Stevens flip into the buckles, and Angle nailed him with two belly-to-belly suplexes. Michaels missed an elbow off the top. Angle went for an Angle slam, but Michaels armdragged out of it Angle took a high backdrop over the top rope.

Shawn goes for a plancha off the top rope onto you on the floor and it looks like he almost slips. It looks like his knee hits you in the face on the way down. For the rest of the match, you’re bleeding out of the mouth a lot.

(Do you remember what happened here? Did his knee hit you in the mouth?)

But you’re back up. This is where we get the first attempt at a German suplex off the ring apron onto the floor. Basically the spot is that you’re pulling back as hard as you can and arching your back while the other wrestler holds on. Shawn escapes and kicks you onto the table. The crowd reacts because they know something is coming. Then, he goes for a springboard moonsault. Shawn lands on you - and the table doesn’t break.

(Memories of this spot? As a shoot, does that make the spot worse when the table doesn’t break?)

Meltzer went on to write, “In the ring, Michaels did the nip up and hit the elbow off the top. Michaels went for the superkick, but Angle caught the foot and put him in the Ankle lock. Michaels rolled through but Angle held on. Michaels made the ropes. Angle put the move on again, but Michaels cradled out for a near fall. Angle blocked another superkick and Angle finally hit the Angle slam in the ring, for a near fall.”

We see something you don’t normally do. You put your straps back on but then take them off again. Almost rededicating yourself to end the match.

(Why did you redo the strap spot here?)

You go for the big moonsault. Shawn rolls out of the way and you come crashing down on your chest. You said you knocked the wind out of yourself with the moonsault on WWE Untold. (Is that a shoot?)

Shawn goes to the top, but you bounce up and hit an Angle slam off the top. The crowd is on their feet. No one sitting down. Shawn kicks out. By now, you’re screaming at him. Major frustration is sitting in. Shawn pushes you back and hits the chin music! He takes forever to cover you and you kick out at 2.9.

Meltzer wrote that you may have gotten your shoulder up late as the ref did a bad looking hesitation.

(Did you get the shoulder up too late or were you late kicking out? Or, was that the idea?)

It feels like two super heroes battling and realizing how tough each other are at the same time!

Then, you rise from the dead and pull in the Ankle Lock. Shawn kicks out multiple times but you hold on. And then you grapevine Shawn with your legs. The crowd pops big. Shawn fights as hard as he can not to tap. This is the longest ankle lock ever. But it’s all great. Finally, Shawn taps.

Meltzer reported Kurt Angle beat Shawn Michaels (Michael Hickenbottom) in 27:25 via submission in this year's classic match. The finish made the match significantly better, and most often in big matches, that isn't the case. ****¾

(How did you feel when the match ended? Did you know when it was over that you had struck gold?)

You leave the ring and say “I’m the best in the business, right here.”

(Is that what it meant? Did the company booking you to win this match mean that Kurt Angle was the best in the business in 2005?)

Shawn gets his own standing O as he applauds back at the crowd and thanks them. But the crowd was thanking both of you for what we had just seen.

(When you get through the back curtain, what’s the reaction like in the Gorilla position?)

Here’s what Dave Meltzer wrote about the match...

Angle and Michaels came in with probably even more pressure [than anyone], because people were expecting nothing short of a classic match. And they got it.

It will be a match that people will be talking about every March for years to come, like Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage, Michaels vs Razor Ramon, Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, Hart vs. Austin and last year's match when Chris Benoit won the title over HHH and Michaels. ...Great matches at Wrestlemania, because of the setting, seem to be remembered far more than great matches any other night. This was one of the best matches of the year, particularly the drama the two managed to build into a simple ankle lock submission, with no ref bumps and belt shots like in virtually every long WWE match. On the other hand, A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels' Iron Man match, in my opinion, slightly topped it, as did the Satoshi Kojima Triple Crown win over Toshiaki Kawada six weeks back. But it's right on the heels of the best matches of the year, and of the best in Mania history.

(This is the highest Meltzer-rated match of your career. Is this the best match of your career and why, or what else is in contention?)

The match also won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Match of the Year award.

(Before we move on...what was your pain situation like going into this and coming out of the match? Were you putting your body through a lot here and how did it affect the issues with painkillers?)

This is HBK’s first loss at a Wrestlemania since WM14 against Austin. He wasn’t involved in the finish the year before and he beat Jericho the year before that.

In the weeks leading up to the match, Meltzer wrote, “I expect Michaels to win, because if nothing else, he doesn't like to lose, and Angle doesn't seem to care.”

At the end of the mostly-generic WWE Untold documentary, it was said Shawn skipped the Wrestlemania after party. The report was, he went back to his hotel room. That sounds like something someone would do who was upset. But, that night, he said he told his wife, “I’m living the greatest life you could ever live.” It’s somewhat confusing. But I’m saying all of this to ask...

(Did Shawn have a problem doing the job for you at Mania?)

Aftermath

If you thought the feud was over at Wrestlemania, there was still one more chapter to be written.

The night after WrestleMania, Michaels thanked the fans for their support towards him, despite Michaels losing at the event. Michaels continued, but was interrupted by Hassan and Daivari. This led to Shawn teaming with Hulk Hogan at Backlash. He would work that program while on Smackdown, you and Booker T entered into a program.

But on the June 13 episode of Raw, you were revealed to be the second draft pick for the Raw brand. That same evening, Michaels challenged you to a rematch at Vengeance, which you accepted.

At Vengeance, which is a show we hopefully will cover in more detail someday, Shawn ended up getting his hand raised.

(Was that part of the deal - you win at Mania and give Shawn a win at the next show? Or did this get booked because of how good the first match was? )