Kurt Angle is the next Bret Hart...

[Guest Downhome]

I can't really place it, but for the past while I have been thinking of Kurt Angle as the next Bret Hart, and I don't really even know why. Perhaps it's because he can have a good match with just about anyone or it could be something as simple like they both have "the smirk" and are just damn charismatic, but something just makes me think of Angle as Bret Hart. Chalk it up to my thinking that Angle is the "future" of WWE, as Bret Hart was once looked upon, but there is something there that makes me think like this.

 

It seems like when Bret Hart really came into his own and broke out, WWE was in dire need of something, and he came and really brought everything up to another leval. When WWE was getting stale, boring, bad matches, etc... Bret came and he added something new, that guy who brought prestige to a World Title. When you saw Bret, you basicly saw "the champion", he just has that feel about him...

 

...and I look at Kurt Angle in the exact same way. WWE needs that something new, something fresh, someone to step up and take WWE by the balls and run with it. They need that guy who has that champion feel to him, and Kurt Angle just feels like that guy to me.

 

I dunno, perhaps I'm crazy or perhaps I'm just a huge mark for both, but I really have the same feeling for Kurt, that I did for Bret "back in the day". So I must ask you all this, do any of you other guys see what I see, or am I going insane?

 

Sincerely,

...Downhome...

[Guest Vitamin X]

You're insane.

 

Angle is way goofier than Bret ever was, but I totally udnerstand the Bret just LOOKS like a champion statement.

[Guest Zero_Cool]

I can see it. If they had Angle playing the badass all the time, he would have that Bret look, I think. I think they are pretty similar too.

[Guest TheHulkster]

Angle is the next Jack Brisco

[Guest Big McLargeHuge]

Sure I can see it in their styles. While Most people would be blinded by flashy moves and high spots (HBK) Bret and Angle have a more pure style that is just as captivating. There's a presence about the two that just says "Fuck it! I'm here to wrestle."

 

Yeah, I can see it. Though Angle is far goofier.

[Guest Ram]

The thing about Bret was that his character was serious and also wanted to be the best.

 

Angle seems stuck on a better-than-you trip and is way too goofy.

 

I wish though. Oh how I wish.

[Guest Downhome]

Oh yeah, don't get me totally wrong. I didn't mean really how they both act, just, they "feel" alike to me. I do feel however that if Angle quit acting so goofy and (gimickly) got really serious and intense about his career, that I'd look at him that much MORE like Bret!

[Guest Downhome]

Sure I can see it in their styles. While Most people would be blinded by flashy moves and high spots (HBK) Bret and Angle have a more pure style that is just as captivating. There's a presence about the two that just says "Fuck it! I'm here to wrestle."

That right there, it just about sums it up!

[Guest wolverine]

The scary thing about Angle is that he's continuing to get better. At this rate, he's going to end up being the best in the history of the company.

[Guest Big McLargeHuge]

Pretty much. He is the most consistent performer, even at such an early point in his career, today.

 

Here's hoping he never suffers a serious injury.

[Guest Downhome]

The scary thing about Angle is that he's continuing to get better. At this rate, he's going to end up being the best in the history of the company.

This is so true indeed. It seems that every time I see him I just find something new about him that just seems to improve. I tell ya, WWE really hit the jackpot with this guy didn't they? He truly is "the total package".

[Guest GenerationNever]

The scary thing about Angle is that he's continuing to get better. At this rate, he's going to end up being the best in the history of the company.

That picture of Benoit's face goes great with what you said.

[Guest Vitamin X]

In my opinion, going off of what everyone else said here, I think that in this case, it's not Angle, but Benoit that reminds me of Hart more, because they both have teh serious, I'm here to take care of business, the best damn technical wrestler in the world, prove me wrong attitude. Angle doesn't have that.

 

But Benoit, although he is one of the best if not the best in the world, is still one ugly muthafucka. And that's why I think Angle, Hart, Jericho, etc. can get feasibly get over but Benoit can't. It's true. You need charisma or looks to make it to the top, poor Benoit.

[Guest Anglesault]

So does that mean thatv Angle will get screwed, become a paranoid loon and go world traveling while his mother is dying?

[Guest GenerationNever]

Benoit did steal Nancy Sullivan away from "The Taskmaster" and had a kid with her. Nancy Sullivan is/was HOT.

[Guest godthedog]

You need charisma or looks to make it to the top, poor Benoit.

 

will everybody please stop equating charisma with mic skills? in the ring, benoit oozes charisma, much like kenta kobashi does. when he's on the offensive, the speed & precision & intensity in all his moves and expressions just screams "i'm going to tear you apart and enjoy doing it." and even when he's not on the offensive, he looks like he's actually trying to get the advantage again. kurt angle doesn't even do that. kurt angle also does not have the ability to make you shit your pants just by smiling at you (remember 2 years ago when stephanie smacked benoit and he just stood there, giving her that evil grin?).

[Guest Austin3164life]

I've always thought of Kurt Angle as being the next #1 guy in the business. Last summer, when he had that feud with Austin up until around October, I could see it in him that he definitely has what it takes to become the best ever. Triple H in 2000 had it, and he did with the Austin feud, but then he got injured and came back huge and immobile. Kurt Angle has been extremely consistent in the ring and on the mic. I haven't seen someone like this since Austin/Rock. Kurt has the aerial skill, technical skill, submission skill, brawling skill, and pretty much every skill needed to be considered as one of the best ever. He does remind me of Bret Hart because he's just a guy who's a pure wrestler, and can do it all. He does have a champions look about him as well. Bret Hart had it in 91-92, Shawn had it in 95, Austin had it in 96-97, and Triple H had it in 2000 (so did Rocky). Kurt Angle is the only newer star that has the ability and the aura of a Champion around him.........

[Guest Madmartigan21]

You need charisma or looks to make it to the top, poor Benoit.

 

will everybody please stop equating charisma with mic skills? in the ring, benoit oozes charisma, much like kenta kobashi does. when he's on the offensive, the speed & precision & intensity in all his moves and expressions just screams "i'm going to tear you apart and enjoy doing it." and even when he's not on the offensive, he looks like he's actually trying to get the advantage again. kurt angle doesn't even do that. kurt angle also does not have the ability to make you shit your pants just by smiling at you (remember 2 years ago when stephanie smacked benoit and he just stood there, giving her that evil grin?).

You are TOTALLY wrong in your assessment of Benoit. He has almost no charisma anywhere, whether it be in the ring or behind a microphone.

 

You described him like someone might describe Ricky Steamboat. That is someone that while not the greatest mic worker in the world, DID have a ton of in ring charisma.

 

Benoit would wrestle the exact same match if he were in a packed Astrodome, or an empty arena. He doesn't play to or acknowledge the crowd in any way. It's called fan participation, and Benoit offers NONE of it. That is why Hogan, as awful a worker as he is, is a legend with most fans and Benoit will be a footnote, if that. It's also, as someone pointed out previously, why Kurt Angle is the "total package."

[Guest Austin3164life]

I think Kurt has an excellent ring presence and offers tons of charisma during a match. He knows how to work a crowd by his bumping, the way he punches, his facial expressions, etc. It seems as if he has something different to offer in every match. This is a trait that Bret Hart and Steve Austin and The Rock and Shawn Michaels have had in their careers (and probably still have it). They are good storytellers in the ring, and Kurt Angle has that trait down pretty well. Take a look at the Angle vs. Cena match. Cena looked green using simple chain moves, but Angle really made it seem like Cena had a chance, until Angle schooled him in the end. In one 10 minute match, I saw who Kurt Angle was in the WWE......

[Guest BionicRedneck]

Angle is a loooooooooooong way off before he even touches Bret Hart, i dont think they are really alike, other than they are both awesome talents.

 

Benoit has improved on the mic. I mean, Big Show was world champ and he was hardley great on the mic, neither was Steamboat, Scott Steiner, amongst others. The important thing is that Benoit as Madmartigan21 said Benoit hasn't much "ring charisma".

[Guest godthedog]

ok, evidently we have 2 different definitions of in-ring charisma. you see it as playing to the crowd, i see it as displaying a uniqueness of personality in the ring. kurt angle throwing his arms up and going "woo!" after he suplexes somebody doesn't necessarily make him charismatic. (angle IS charismatic, but it's a sum total of everything he does in the ring.) playing to the crowd only makes you charismatic if it somehow adds to your character. all the little things that benoit does add to his character, because his character is a machine-like, no-bullshit guy who can physically dissect anybody. charisma also comes from the little things that a wrestler seems to not even be aware of (even though they're very aware of everything they do). at survivor series 96 when austin was behind bret and put his hands up for the million dollar dream with that shit-eating, "this fucker is mine" grin on his face, THAT was pure charisma. you don't need to do something obvious like flex at the crowd to be charismatic.

[Guest Brian]

I agree with godthedog, it's that charisma that makes Eddie and Chavo great rudos and Benoit such a versatile chracter wrestler.

 

"Benoit would wrestle the exact same match if he were in a packed Astrodome, or an empty arena. He doesn't play to or acknowledge the crowd in any way. It's called fan participation, and Benoit offers NONE of it. That is why Hogan, as awful a worker as he is, is a legend with most fans and Benoit will be a footnote, if that. It's also, as someone pointed out previously, why Kurt Angle is the "total package." "

 

I totally have to disagree. Angle has proven to be nothing of a total package. Yeah, he's great, I'll conceed that any day of the week. But Benoit is far more charasmatic in the ring than Angle. This is a guy who got over all across the world just on his in-ring action. He can tweak his in-ring to his charcter. And wrestling the exact same match? Is that a joke? Playing to the crowd is not about taunting or yelling or making signals during the match, it's about taking your charcter and conveying that in how you act in the ring. Right now Benoit is in "take no prisoners" mode. He'll stomp your ass in the ring. But Benoit can easily go into survivor mode where every he can convey that every big spot in the match matters. And he can bump to, wich is what Angle excels at and really, he's just doing the same match anyway. To bring up him and then downplay a versatile worker like Benoit in the same argument is flawed to begin with.