Kurt Angle: Dolph Ziggler Could Compete With Conor McGregor With 6 Months' Training

By now, it’s presumable you’ve heard or read about the Conor McGregor soundbite in which he said, “For the most part, I think [WWE] guys are pussies, to be honest. They’re messed up pussies if you ask me.” Many WWE performers, past and present, responded with varying degrees of anger and bemusement at his size in comparison to them.

SI’s Justin Barrasso caught up with Kurt Angle, who was an Olympic gold medalist in real wrestling before conquering the scripted variety.

“Dolph Ziggler was a great amateur wrestler,” said Angle. “If he trained for six months, Dolph could give Conor a good run for his money … I’d take him down, then ground and pound him until I knocked him out,” said Angle. “Conor is a polished fighter, but with my size, I would overpower him. It wouldn’t be that difficult for me.”

With all due respect to Angle, it seems farfetched to think that Ziggler and McGregor would have that good of a fight, provided they were at or near similar weights. A shoot fight between Angle at his current size and age versus McGregor now would certainly be something I’d plunk down $60 for, but is about as likely to happen as dinosaurs making a big comeback on Earth.

Meanwhile, noticing that this topic is something that is garnering a good bit of attention for himself, McGregor has continued his screed against pro wrestlers. Now he’s going after John Cena, calling him a “failed Mr. Olympia motherf*cker,” and making fun of his age and gimmick:

As disrespectful as this may seem, McGregor is more likely than not angling himself toward a WWE appearance – and big payday – down the road. It especially makes sense now that Dana White and Vince McMahon have gotten cozier about sharing talent with one another. There are thousands of ways WWE could use McGregor in a program.

McGregor is also selling his own fight next weekend against Nate Diaz. By inserting himself into a conversation that otherwise wouldn’t have been applicable to him, McGregor presumably is of the belief that the publicity will help those buy numbers.

Given the amount of attention McGregor has received for his WWE comments, it’s hard to quibble with his strategy.