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WWE legend Kurt Angle: Ronda Rousey is very similar to me

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Kurt Angle partnered Ronda Rousey for her WWE debut at last year's WrestleMania

Kurt Angle says watching Ronda Rousey in WWE action is like seeing his mirror image in the ring.

Angle - who will retire at WrestleMania on Sunday night after his final match against Baron Corbin - is widely believed to have had the best debut year of any WWE competitor after he traded Olympic wrestling for sports entertainment in 1998.

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How to see WrestleMania on Sky Sports!

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But he admits Rousey, who he paired with for her debut match at last year's Mania, is the pick of the women's division in terms of rookie years and shares lots of similarities with him.

"I do see parallels, whenever I see her she reminds me of myself and it's very exciting to see that, very seldom do you see that," he said.

rousey and lynch arrested on raw
Image: Angle believes no female competitor has had a better rookie year than Ronda Rousey

"I thought there would never be another Kurt Angle but when I look at Ronda I feel like I'm looking in the mirror. I'm very proud of her and she's going to continue to get better that's the scary part.

"I'm not sure if she's going to do anything after WrestleMania, she might be taking a break, but I'm looking forward to seeing her coming back and doing some damage."

Kurt Angle's road to WrestleMania
Kurt Angle's road to WrestleMania

We take an in-depth look at Kurt Angle's WWE career ahead of his retirement match on Sunday.

Angle also feels that Ronda fully deserves his place in the WrestleMania main event and that it should inspire WWE's male competitors to challenge themselves further.

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"This year has been a great year for women," he said. "Ronda Rousey has picked it up quicker than any woman ever has and Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch are huge talents so I think they deserve it.

"It's a wake-up call for the guys. If you want the main event, you're going to have to out-perform the women because right now the women are doing extremely well."