Kurt Angle's Most Memorable Matches, Moments in WrestleMania History

Few Superstars in WWE history have put on as consistently spectacular in-ring performances as Kurt Angle over the years, especially on the grand stage of WrestleMania.

Angle transitioned from an Olympic gold-medal-winning amateur wrestler to a top-flight professional wrestler seamlessly, and it wasn't long before he was featured in main event-caliber matches on the biggest show of the year.

The Olympic hero is back in the fold as Raw general manager, and although it has been 13 years since his last WrestleMania match, he made enough memories at The Showcase of Immortals to last a lifetime.

With WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans approaching on April 8, here is a stroll down memory lane regarding some of the greatest WrestleMania matches and moments Angle helped author.

Angle and Chris Benoit Put on a Technical Classic at WrestleMania 17

After making his WrestleMania debut one year earlier at WrestleMania 2000, Angle had his first truly great WrestleMania match against Chris Benoit at WrestleMania 17.

The bout has more or less been stricken from the WWE memory bank due to Benoit's involvement, but it was a classic encounter that stood out on perhaps the greatest WrestleMania card of all time.

Most great WrestleMania matches are bolstered by a well-told story and months of animosity leading up to it, but that wasn't the case with Angle and Benoit.

Neither Superstar had a match scheduled in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania, but a single interaction was enough to get them on the card.

The match was essentially a story of one-upmanship with both Angle and Benoit trying to prove that they were the superior technical wrestler.

There was fantastic mat wrestling throughout the bout and great psychology as well with Benoit trying to beat Angle with his own ankle lock and Angle trying to beat Benoit with his own Crippler Crossface.

Despite being an Olympic gold medalist, Angle strayed from the technical aspect at times out of frustration, which served his heel persona perfectly.

In the end, Angle managed to roll up Benoit and pin him with the aid of grabbing his tights, thus stealing the victory.

Angle and Benoit tore the house down in spite of the lack of build they were dealt, and that was something Angle was able to do consistently throughout his career.

Angle Fights Through Neck Injury to Put over Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 19

Angle entered WrestleMania 19 with major concerns regarding his injured neck, and it was unclear if he would be able to defend his WWE Championship against Royal Rumble winner Brock Lesnar.

Despite being far from 100 percent, Angle competed in the match and succeeded in making Lesnar look like the dominant champion he eventually became.

WrestleMania 19 marked the first and only time Angle was in the headline match at WrestleMania, and he made it count by lasting over 20 minutes with the Next Big Thing before helping coronate him as the new champion.

Lesnar is one of the most gifted athletes to ever step foot inside a WWE ring, but Angle managed to go step for step with him even while nursing a significant neck ailment.

The most memorable moment of the match came courtesy of Lesnar when he botched a Shooting Star Press and nearly injured himself. Angle improvised and covered Lesnar to maintain the flow of the match despite the miscue.

Lesnar was able to recover and finish off Angle with an F-5, which allowed Lesnar to become the face of SmackDown and Angle to take some much-needed time off.

Angle losing cleanly to Lesnar put him over in a huge way, but what happened afterward may have been even bigger.

Lesnar was developing into a top-flight babyface at the time, and Angle endorsing him by raising his hand got the WWE fanbase even more behind him and set the stage for a successful title run.

Eddie Guerrero Outsmarts Angle to Retain at WrestleMania 20

WrestleMania 20 is perhaps best remembered for the closing of the show when Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit celebrated together as world champions.

Benoit beat Shawn Michaels and Triple H to win his title, while Guerrero retained the WWE Championship against Angle earlier in the night.

Although the story told at WrestleMania 20 had to do primarily with Guerrero and Benoit overcoming the odds to reach the top of their profession together, Angle was the perfect foil to Latino Heat.

The rivalry between Angle and Guerrero leading up to WrestleMania 20 was highly personal, as Angle brought up Guerrero's past issues with drug addiction and used it as a reason why Guerrero shouldn't be the face of SmackDown.

Angle and Guerrero made magic whenever they stepped inside the ring together, and the added storyline heat between them brought another element to the table that made their WrestleMania 20 encounter even better.

The in-ring chemistry was apparent throughout, and Guerrero frustrating Angle at times with his better-than-expected mat wrestling provided additional entertainment value.

The bout ended in typical Eddie fashion, as he outsmarted Angle by loosening his boot. When Angle went for his patented ankle lock, he was left with nothing but Guerrero's boot in his grasp.

That allowed Guerrero to surprise Angle with a roll-up and steal the victory, much to Angle's dismay.

Angle has always been great about making his opponents look strong regardless of the result of the match, and even though he got his moves in and dominated portions of the bout, the way he played off the finishing sequence was integral in making Guerrero look like a wily champion.

Angle and Shawn Michaels Go Tit for Tat at WrestleMania 21

Angle and Shawn Michaels are two of the best when it comes to stealing the show on the big stage, and they combined to do precisely that at WrestleMania 21.

Although their match went on in the middle of the show, there is no question that they overshadowed everything else on the card and put forth a main event-caliber effort.

There was no title on the line, but Angle and HBK did a great job building tension and hatred in the weeks prior to WrestleMania.

That was mostly the result of Angle attempting to prove he was better than Michaels at all costs. Angle even drudged up Michaels' past by beating HBK's former tag team partner, Marty Jannetty, in a match and putting the ankle lock on Michaels' former manager, Sensational Sherri.

Angle expertly toed the line between being a comedic and serious heel throughout the build, but the match itself was all about two of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time trying to cement their respective legacies.

The match was everything one might expect from Angle and Michaels with the added element of The Showstopper resorting to dirty tactics at one point despite being a face.

Michaels' low blow nearly helped earn him the victory, but WWE always did a fine job of making Angle look strong and legitimate as a heel, and his ability to bounce back in this match was an ideal example of that.

In the end, Angle trapped Michaels in an ankle lock in the middle of the ring, and Michaels had no choice but to tap despite a valiant effort.

The win was unquestionably the greatest of Angle's WrestleMania career, and it turned out to be his second-to-last at The Showcase of the Immortals before leaving WWE and enjoying a lengthy stint with Impact Wrestling.