Kurt Angle specifically requested Rey Mysterio as his opponent for SummerSlam 2002. Rey revealed this on The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast, and it says everything about how Angle operated during that era.
When the conversation shifted to who helped Rey find his footing after joining WWE, Angle’s name came up immediately. Rey didn’t just mention him as a locker room mentor — he said Angle personally chose him for that SummerSlam slot.
Think about what that means. Rey had just debuted in WWE in the summer of 2002. He wasn’t a proven commodity to the WWE audience yet. SmackDown was stacked with talent. Angle could have pushed for a bigger name, a more established act, someone the crowd already knew on that level. Instead he went out of his way to pick the guy who was just finding his footing on the main roster.
That match ended up being one of the best things on the SummerSlam 2002 card, which is saying something because that show had Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock, Shawn Michaels returning against Triple H, and Chris Jericho vs. Ric Flair. Rey and Angle stole time from all of them and delivered something that made people realize Rey was going to be a problem in WWE for a long time.
Angle was known for doing this kind of thing. He had a reputation for being one of the most giving performers in the business when it came to opponents he believed in. He’d go out of his way to make someone look exceptional, and he clearly saw something in Rey that was worth putting his own spotlight on.
Rey going on Six Feet Under is interesting in itself. The Undertaker’s podcast has become a real destination for these kinds of honest career conversations, and Rey is exactly the type of guest who has deep stories from multiple eras. He came into WWE as a AAA legend and a WCW cruiserweight icon, so when he’s talking about the transition to WWE in 2002 and naming the guys who genuinely helped him, those names carry weight.
Kurt Angle is in both the WWE Hall of Fame and the WWE Hall of Fame’s celebrity wing — he’s a legitimate two-time Hall of Famer — and moments like this remind you why the locker room respected him beyond just his in-ring ability. Being great in the ring is one thing. Going out of your way to pull someone up with you is another thing entirely.
Rey Mysterio has had no shortage of legendary opponents across his career. Eddie Guerrero, Batista, CM Punk, Dolph Ziggins, Seth Rollins — the list runs deep. But the fact that one of his earliest meaningful WWE moments came because Kurt Angle raised his hand and said he wanted that match is a detail worth knowing. It reframes how that SummerSlam match happened and why it clicked the way it did.
Two guys who genuinely wanted to be out there together. That always shows.
