Kurt Angle Assesses WWE's Randy Orton, Discusses Their Real-Life Relationship

Kurt Angle recently spoke about his friendship with Randy Orton and how "The Viper" rose up the ranks in WWE.

On a recent episode of "The Kurt Angle Show," Angle said Orton's rise to the championship was no surprise, despite his inexperience inside the ring.

"He was so talented from the beginning –- the kid had it, he had the 'it' factor," Angle said. "He started wrestling at 17, and years later he was world champion, and you know what, he deserved it. I think he's the youngest champion in history."

Orton and Angle formed a tight bond during Orton's early days on the road and remain in contact to this day, while their wives Kim and Giovanna have also become close friends in recent years. 

"We were hanging out, we were traveling together when Randy started and we kind of kept in touch, even though he was on Raw and I was on SmackDown," Angle said. "Randy has always been a good friend of mine, he's still my friend to this day and he's one of the very few wrestlers that I actually still keep in touch with. We're definitely due [to hang out]... Randy has been out with injury, but even though he has time off right now, he's training his butt off and he's still rehabbing and everything."

The 14-time world champion continues to recover from a back injury, which has kept him out for over a year.

Orton remains the youngest world champion in the company's history, cementing himself as a main event star at the age of 24 after defeating Chris Benoit at SummerSlam 2004. At a time when WWE was beginning to build for the future around John Cena and Batista, it was "The Legend Killer" who broke out from the pack as part of a long-term storyline with Evolution.