As an amateur wrestler, is Kurt Angle overated?

[BasRuttenFan]

Originally Posted by jttko281

theres actually been mma fighters that also do pro wrestling that said pro wrestling is harder and tougher on the body than mma. but i agree with you about angle being annoying as fuck lol

Yeah, not sure you can definitively say wrestlers or fighters are tougher as there are extreme cases to support either side, but those who have done both say unanimously pro wrestling is certainly harder on the body.

[CCH]

Overrated how? I mean, he's not the greatest American wrestler of all time, but he's certainly a great one. He was three time AA in college (two championships and one runner up finish). I doubt he wrestled Coleman, as Coleman was 190 at his heaviest in college, and Angle was a HWT all 4 years. If they wrestled at all, it would have been during Coleman's senior year, and Angle's true frosh year (1988). Angle, overall, is a much better wrestler, though.

In Freestyle, Angle was a World Champion, and then an Olympic champion. He's a great wrestler.

He's one of the best wrestlers in US history, possibly in the top 10, but definitely in the top 20, and that's saying a lot, as the US is a great wrestling country. If you're saying he's the best ever, then yes, you're overrating him. If you're saying he's a top 20 US wrestler ever, then no, he's not overrated.

[Saku4me]

Originally Posted by DimmuSakuraba

By the casual fan that is. Like me, that don't follow amateur wrestling but when asked whos your favorite amateur wrestler, the only ones I can think of are the ones in MMA and Kurt Angle.

Non fans know of Kurt Angle as an Olympic Gold Medalist, but we don't even know of any other olympic gold medalist so we assume hes the greatest of all-time and the only olympic gold medalist that exists in all weight divisions. We don't even know what weight division it was in. Most people in the HWs forum would believe if Kurt Angle came into MMA, he'd automatically outwrestle everyone cuz hes THE olympic gold medalist not A olympic gold medalist.

So, the question I'm asking is how does he compare P4P to every amateur wrestler in history, is he really the greatest of all-time like non-amateur wrestling fans know him as? Or is he overated in that aspect? The sport of amateur wrestling is not mainstream whatsoever, so all we really know of is that Kurt Angle is the olympic gold medalist.

He's not the greatest of all time but in amateur wrestling, Angle is considered one of the best HW amateur wrestlers ever in American history. If you ever wonder how good he is, just ask actual wrestling fans (not WWE).

Angle was considered one of the 5 best HW (177+ lbs) NCAA wrestlers ever according to a panel of NCAA wrestling experts who selected NCAA 75th Anniversary Team in 2005. Kurt Angle was the lightest NCAA HW champion ever and that's saying something. He also had the quickest shot, according to most wrestling enthusiast, of any HW wrestler. This list was compiled in 2005 for the NCAA 75th Anniversary Team:

At 177 lbs+:
Kurt Angle, Ed Banach, Carlton Haselrig, Dan Hodge and Cael Sanderson.

At 142-172 lbs:
Lee Kemp, Lincoln McIlravy, Wade Schalles, Pat Smith and Joe Williams

At 115-141 lbs
Stephen Abas, Tom Brands, Dan Gable, John Smith and Yojiro Uetake

[Saku4me]

Originally Posted by cookeboy189

this. no one who wins a gold medal is overrated...but hes no legend

He is legendary. Winning a gold medal in the Olympics as an American makes you a legend. Do you even watch wrestling?

In US HW Olympic Freestyle Wrestling history, in over 100 years, there have only been 4 Americans who can lay claim to winning an Olympic Gold Medal in Freestyle. In 100 years of Olympic Freestyle Wrestling history, if you are only 1 of 4 men to ever win a Gold Medal in your weight class for your country, how can that not be "legendary" status? Those who say overrated obviously don't follow Olympic wrestling let alone Amateur wrestling.

[chknhawk]

Was Rulon Gardner's gold in Olympic Freestyle or Greco Roman? Is his win legit, or considered to be a fluke?

[Saku4me]

Originally Posted by DimmuSakuraba

So, the question I'm asking is how does he compare P4P to every amateur wrestler in history, is he really the greatest of all-time like non-amateur wrestling fans know him as? Or is he overated in that aspect? The sport of amateur wrestling is not mainstream whatsoever, so all we really know of is that Kurt Angle is the olympic gold medalist.

Well, he's the lightest NCAA HW champ ever at the D-1 level weighing in at 199lbs. At the HW level, he has to be considered the P4P best because he's the lightest HW champ ever.

[Saku4me]

Originally Posted by chknhawk

Was Rulon Gardner's gold in Olympic Freestyle or Greco Roman? Is his win legit, or considered to be a fluke?

Gardner's was Greco-Roman which is even more prestigious for Americans. I think there are only 3 men in American history to have ever placed Gold in Greco-Roman wrestling history. Gardner is in very, very elite territory for Americans. But he was built up by the public a bit but he deserves every bit of it. Karelin was a beast though. His win is considered the biggest upset in Olympic wrestling history.

[R-DAWG]

I don't follow it but from everything I hear the guy was great....my cousin follows am wrestling and rassled/worked in the WWE for several years.

[R-DAWG]

Gardner > Death

[Sam Adams]

Originally Posted by Saku4me

Gardner's was Greco-Roman which is even more prestigious for Americans. I think there are only 3 men in American history to have ever placed Gold in Greco-Roman wrestling history. Gardner is in very, very elite territory for Americans. But he was built up by the public a bit but he deserves every bit of it. Karelin was a beast though. His win is considered the biggest upset in Olympic wrestling history.

Yeah I would certainly say going roughly 13 years without a loss (the last 6 of which he didn't give up a point) would classify as beast.