Kurt Angle Discusses His New Backstage Role In WWE, His Favourite Royal Rumble Match

At WrestleMania 35, Kurt Angle retired from professional wrestling, going out on his back in a loss to Baron Corbin. Since then, he has transitioned into a backstage role as a producer on Monday Night Raw.

As part of WWE's celebration for moving to BT Sport, our very own Jack King interviewed The Olympic Gold Medallist. Jack asked Angle about his new backstage role and The Wrestling Machine revealed he initially found it difficult to adapt to his new surroundings and actually believes he should have taken some time away from professional wrestling after retiring. He admitted, however, that he has since gotten used to being retired and is now enjoying being a producer and helping WWE's current group of Superstars

Angle said: "It’s good, I enjoy working with the talent, helping them structure their matches and giving feedback on the show. So it's fun for what it is. For me, it’s challenging trying to help the talent put on the best matches they can, so it’s a very important part of the show."

He then added: "At first it affected me a little bit…I probably should have stepped away for a little bit before I became a producer but I’m used to it now and I like it."

Angle then talked about his favourite matches at the Royal Rumble. The former WWE champion has been praised for having many great encounters at the pay-per-view, including his WWE Championship match against Triple H in 2001, and the Royal Rumble match in which he finished second in 2002. However, Angle's favourite match of all his January encounters came in 2003 against Chris Benoit. The former Raw GM said he thought it was the greatest match he ever wrestled and others did too as Triple H praised them both for setting a new wrestling standard within the company.

Angle elaborated: "The Royal Rumble I remember the most is my world championship match with Chris Benoit…It was most likely my greatest match I ever wrestled. Chris was a very talented wrestler. It’s unfortunate what happened to him and his family, but it can’t take away the success I had that night and as good as a match as it was. I actually had Triple H come to me that night and say, 'You just raised the bar.'"

BT Sport is now the exclusive home for WWE programming in the UK. For more information, visit the

website.