Kurt Angle discussed his match with Chris Benoit at WrestleMania 17 on The Kurt Angle Show recently. He also discussed how it compares to their Royal Rumble match in 2003.

Angle on WWE putting him and Benoit in a match at WrestleMania 17

 “I don’t think the company knew what they wanted to do with me or Benoit. I think that’s the reason they put us together. I was in the program with Rock and Austin jumping back and forth wrestling them every week. So, there was no real time for me to have a program with Benoit. I’m not sure they even thought of it until a week or two before WrestleMania. Benoit and I got put together because we were both top performers in the company and neither one of us had a match. So, the company said let’s put the two best technicians in a match together, they’re gonna have an incredible match. We don’t need much of a buildup, so let’s just throw it on the card. We were more of a mid-level feature match at WrestleMania, which is fine with me. If I could’ve wrestled Benoit at WrestleMania every year, I’d do it. He was an incredible performer.”

On how the match compares to their match at Royal Rumble 2003

“I’ve always said my favorite match of all-time I’ve ever performed in was the Royal Rumble 2003 match. The structure of the match, the way we laid it out, the false finishes, the submission tradeoffs, the amateur wrestling at the beginning – it was a well-planned out story with an incredible finish. Everything came together that night. I was really excited about it. I didn’t know how good it was until I watched it back, and I was like, ‘Holy crap, this is the best match I’ve ever wrestled in.’ And to this day, it still rings true.”