Kurt Angle Says Eddie Guerrero's Death Was A Factor In WWE Title Loss To Rey Mysterio

WWE Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero tragically passed away on November 19, 2005, with the wrestling world still mourning the former WWE Champion to this day. Following Guerrero's passing, his close friend Rey Mysterio won the 2006 Royal Rumble in "Latino Heat's" honor. Mysterio's success would not end there, as he defeated both Randy Orton and Kurt Angle to win a world championship for the first time at WrestleMania 22. However, according to Angle, this was not the initial plan.

"It was going to be a lot longer," Angle said on "The Kurt Angle Show." "Eddie Guerrero passed away at this particular time. Rey Mysterio was representing Eddie Guerrero and we ended up wrestling each other with Randy Orton in a triple threat at WrestleMania. But, I broke my neck again about a month and a half before that, but my doctor didn't tell me to sit at home ... Because of my broken neck and because Rey was representing Eddie Guerrero, they decided to have Rey win the title at WrestleMania 22. Now, if I didn't break my neck, I might have held the title for a while longer, maybe to SummerSlam and then dropped it to Rey."

This wound up being the last time Angle would hold championship gold in WWE, with his reign only lasting 82 days. He was able to successfully defend the title against The Undertaker and Mark Henry, with his fourth defense being his last. Mysterio would wind up holding the title for 112 days — defending it against the likes of JBL and Orton — before dropping the strap to King Booker at The Great American Bash in 2006.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Kurt Angle Show" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.