Everything about Kurt Angle totally explained
Kurt Steven Angle (born
December 9 1968) is an
American professional wrestler and former
Olympic amateur wrestler. He currently works for
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Angle was involved in amateur wrestling during both high school and college. In college, he won numerous accolades, including being a two-time
National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion.
WCW World Heavyweight Champion,
WWE Tag Team Champion, four-time
WWF/E Champion, WWF European Champion,
WWF Hardcore Champion, WWF Intercontinental Champion, and
World Heavyweight Champion. In addition, he was the winner of the
King of the Ring tournament in 2000, Angle attended
Mt. Lebanon High School, He went undefeated on the freshman wrestling team at Mt. Lebanon High and qualified for the state wrestling tournament his sophomore year. He was a two-time
National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion, national runner-up in 1991, and a 3-time NCAA Division I
All-American. In addition, Angle was the 1987 USA Junior Freestyle champion, a 2-time USA Senior Freestyle champion, and the 1988 USA
International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles Junior World Freestyle champion. training between eight and ten hours a day. In January 1996, not long after Angle began training at the club, Schultz was murdered by
John Eleuthère du Pont, the sponsor of Schultz's team of Olympic prospectives. As a result, Angle quit John Eleuthère du Pont's team, searched for new sponsors, and joined the Dave Schultz Wrestling Club in Shultz's memory.
Angle faced further hardships while taking part in the 1996 Olympic Trials, when he suffered a severe neck injury, fracturing two of his
cervical vertebrae,
herniating two
discs, and pulling four muscles. Nonetheless, Angle won the trials and then spent the subsequent five months resting and rehabilitating. By the Olympics, Angle was able to compete, albeit with several pain-reducing injections in his neck.
He won his gold medal in the heavyweight (90-100 kg; 198-220 lb) weight class,
Shortly after his victory, Angle turned down a contract with the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In the same year, he became a marketing representative for Protos Foods, the manufacturers of OSTRIM, an
ostrich meat based foodstuff. He provided guest commentary during a match between
Taz and
Little Guido, but left the building after
Raven "
crucified"
The Sandman by attaching him to a
cross using
barbed wire. Angle, shocked by the controversial imagery and afraid that his career prospects would be damaged if he was associated with the incident, threatened to
sue ECW owner
Paul Heyman if he was shown on television in the same broadcast as the stunt. He also shot a commercial for local
pizza chain
Pizza Outlet.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
1998–2000
In October 1998, Kurt Angle signed a five-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation. He was assigned to the Power Pro Wrestling developmental territory in
Memphis, Tennessee, where he began training. Angle's first appearance on WWF television was on the
March 7 1999 episode of
Sunday Night Heat, where he took part in an
angle with
Tiger Ali Singh.. This angle involved Singh paying him money to blow his nose on the American flag. Angle refused to do so and fought Singh off instead. His first official WWF match was a
dark match victory over
Brian Christopher on
April 11 1999. In the following months, he wrestled in
house shows and other dark matches in preparation for his televised debut. In his initial
push, he remained undefeated for several weeks, eventually losing to the debuting
Tazz at the
Royal Rumble. Angle was
booked to win both the
WWF European Championship and
WWF Intercontinental Championship in February 2000, He went on to feud with
Triple H after a
love triangle between Angle, Triple H, and Triple H's wife
Stephanie developed. As part of the storyline, he lost to Triple H at
Unforgiven.
2001–2002
Angle held the WWF Championship for almost four months, losing it to The Rock at
No Way Out in February 2001. He then feuded with
Chris Benoit, whom he defeated at
WrestleMania X-Seven but lost to at
Backlash in an
Ultimate Submission Match; Benoit defeated Angle four falls to three in sudden-death overtime. Continuing the feud, Angle again defeated Benoit in a
Two out of three falls match at
Judgment Day. Benoit pinned Angle after an
Angle Slam in a "Pinfalls Only" fall, and then Angle made Benoit submit with the
Ankle Lock in the "Submissions Only" fall. Angle won the third fall, a
Ladder match, with the help of
Edge and Christian.
When
WCW (purchased by the WWF in early 2000) and ECW formed
The Alliance and
invaded the WWF in mid-2001, Kurt turned face and began an
angle where he joined forces with WWF Champion
Steve Austin to repel them. At
Invasion, Angle and Austin captained a team of five WWF superstars against five handpicked members of the Alliance. As part of the angle, Team WWF lost to Team Alliance when Austin turned on his team to join the Alliance. At the close of the match, Austin nailed Angle with a
Stone Cold Stunner, causing him to get pinned by the other team. After winning and losing the
WCW World Heavyweight Championship,
WCW United States Championship, and
WWF Hardcore Championship in matches with Alliance members, Angle was
booked to defeat Austin in a
SummerSlam rematch for his second WWF Championship at
Unforgiven. He
dropped the title back to Austin on the
October 8 2001 episode of
Raw when WWF Commissioner
William Regal joined the Alliance and cost Angle the match. As part of the storyline, Angle subsequently joined the Alliance himself, but ultimately returned to the WWF by enabling The Rock to defeat Austin in a "winner takes all" bout between the WWF and The Alliance at
Survivor Series. Following the
legitimate loss of his hair, Angle's storyline called for him to wear a
wig and insult bald people, leading to a feud with
Hulk Hogan, who stripped Angle of his wig. Angle later scored a submission victory over Hogan at
King of the Ring.
In October 2002, Angle became the fourth WWE
Grand Slam Champion when he was booked to win the
WWE Tag Team Championship with Chris Benoit. After dropping the titles to Edge and
Rey Mysterio on an edition of
SmackDown!, Angle won his third WWE Championship at
Armageddon, defeating
The Big Show, with the help of
Brock Lesnar. While still in his third reign, Angle began a new storyline when he gained the services of
manager Paul Heyman and "
Team Angle" (
Charlie Haas and
Shelton Benjamin).
2003–2004
He then began feuding with
Brock Lesnar, who had won the most recent Royal Rumble match, after Lesnar claimed to be the new top superstar on
SmackDown!. The match between Lesnar and Angle going into
WrestleMania XIX marked the first time in WWE history that two accomplished amateur wrestlers met in a ring. Angle
dropped the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania XIX to Lesnar, who was receiving a major
push at the time.
On
April 11 2003, Angle underwent neck surgery performed by Dr. Hai-Dong Jho to repair nerve and spinal damage,
calcium buildup,
bone spurs, and
intervertebral disc problems. Rather than have Jho remove the afflicted discs and fuse his
vertebrae together, Angle opted for a less conventional surgery where Jho removed only the spurs and selected portions of the discs. The alternative surgery reduced Angle's rehabilitation time from one year to three months.
Shortly after returning, Angle defeated Brock Lesnar and Big Show in a Triple Threat match at
Vengeance to regain the WWE Championship. After retaining the title in a singles bout with Lesnar at
SummerSlam, he dropped the title to Lesnar in an
Iron Man match on an episode of
SmackDown!. Angle then formed a five-man team to rival Lesnar's team at the
Survivor Series 2003, with Angle's team coming out victorious at the pay-per-view.
Following WrestleMania XX, Angle began to once again suffer from legitimate neck problems. As a response, he was made the on-screen
General Manager of SmackDown!, with his absence from the ring attributed to injuries suffered after Big Show
chokeslammed him off a ledge. Angle feuded with
Eddie Guerrero throughout 2004 for the
WWE Championship. He cost Guerrero the championship against
John "Bradshaw" Layfield in a
Texas Bull Rope match at
The Great American Bash by participating in the worked finish; Angle came down to the ring and showed a replay where JBL's shoulder hit the corner pad before Guerrero's hand. Angle was later kayfabe fired by
Vince McMahon as General Manager in July 2004.
In November 2004, Angle initiated the
Kurt Angle Invitational, a
worked weekly segment where "hometown heroes" (known as
plants) challenged him to a match, with Angle promising to give his Olympic gold medal to the first person to last more than three minutes in the ring with him. The Invitational was won by
Eugene in July 2005 starting a new
angle for both men. As a result, Angle faced Eugene at
SummerSlam, defeating him by making him tap out to the ankle lock. The crowd, however, didn't react well to this victory, as Angle had pretended to offer a microphone to the challenger, but then brutally slammed it into the young man's face, stunning him, and allowing Kurt to finish him off with practically no challenge.
On the
November 4,
2004, episode of
SmackDown!, at the
Savvis Center in
St. Louis, Missouri, during
Tough Enough, Angle challenged the finalists through a
Squat thrust competition. The winner was
Chris Nawrocki, and as part of the
Kurt Angle Invitational, the prize Nawrocki won was a
shoot match against Angle. After Angle defeated Nawrocki, Angle asked if anyone else wanted to try.
Daniel Puder, an
American mixed martial artist, raised his hand and challenged Angle. During the match, Angle and Puder wrestled for position before Angle took Puder down, in the process, Puder locked Angle in a
real submission hold, a
Kimura. With Puder on his back, one of two
referees in the ring, Jimmy Corderas, quickly counted three to end the bout, but some fans observed that during the pin, Puder's shoulders were not on the mat. Puder has claimed he'd have snapped Angle's arm on national television, if Corderas hadn't ended the match.
2005–2006
In January 2005, Angle took part in the
Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by
Shawn Michaels, who he returned to the ring to eliminate in retaliation. Angle then became a storyline
heel, and after mocking Michaels by defeating his former tag team partner,
Marty Jannetty, and attacking former manager,
Sherri Martel, Angle defeated Michaels in an interpromotional match, which won
Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) Match of the Year at
WrestleMania 21. losing to Michaels at
Vengeance.
Angle returned to the
SmackDown! brand in January 2006, where he was
pushed to gain the vacant
World Heavyweight Championship in a twenty man
battle royal, turning face in the process. He retained the title in bouts with
Mark Henry at the
Royal Rumble and
The Undertaker at
No Way Out, before
dropping it to Rey Mysterio in a Triple Threat match, which also included
Randy Orton, at
WrestleMania 22.
On
May 29 2006, Angle was drafted to the newly created
Extreme Championship Wrestling brand. Upon coming to ECW, he issued an open challenge for
One Night Stand, which was accepted by Orton. Angle defeated Orton at One Night Stand, later losing to him in a rematch at
Vengeance. Angle appeared sporadically on WWE television throughout mid-2006. On
August 25 2006, he was granted an early release from his WWE contract due to "personal issues."
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2006–Current)
A few weeks after his WWE tenure had ended, Angle signed a contract with
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Angle was let go from his WWE contract out of fear for his health. The new signing was viewed as a promotion not having concern for the health of a wrestler. On
September 24 2006 during the closing segment of the
No Surrender pay-per-view, TNA President
Dixie Carter announced that TNA Wrestling had signed Angle to a contract, with
Jim Cornette introducing video footage of Angle training in a six-sided TNA ring.
Angle made his TNA debut on October 19, confronting
Samoa Joe after Joe refused to relinquish the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt that, according to the storyline, he'd stolen from
Jeff Jarrett. The two men ended up fighting while Jarrett took the title back. Angle's first match in TNA took place on the November 16 airing of
iMPACT!, where he was
booked to defeat
Abyss with the
Ankle lock and be attacked after the match by Samoa Joe. At
Genesis, Angle defeated Samoa Joe, ending Joe's
push as undefeated. which he lost to
Christian Cage after interference from
Tomko and
Scott Steiner. This led into a feud between Angle and Steiner, with Angle pinning Steiner at
Destination X. After Angle defeated Steiner, he was picked to lead a team of four other wrestlers against a team of Christian Cage's choice in a Lethal Lockdown match at April's
Lockdown. Angle chose Samoa Joe,
Rhino, Sting, and Jeff Jarrett for Team Angle, while Cage chose
A.J. Styles, Scott Steiner, Tomko, and Abyss. The man who gained the winning pinfall would become the number one contender to Christian Cage's NWA World Heavyweight Title. Team Angle was victorious after Jeff Jarrett hit Abyss with a
gimmicked guitar full of thumbtacks and allowed Sting to score the pin. At
Sacrifice, Angle was booked to defeat Cage and Sting in a
Triple Threat match to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) doesn't recognize this reign, however, because they'd stripped Christian Cage of the NWA Title earlier in the day, prior to the Sacrifice event, after severing their business partnership with TNA.
On the following episode of
iMPACT!, after hearing complaints from Cage and Sting about the controversial finish to the match, Jim Cornette stripped Angle of the title. One month later at
Slammiversary in a
King of the Mountain match, Kurt Angle became the first
TNA World Heavyweight Champion by defeating Christian Cage, Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, and
Chris Harris. He then attacked Joe after denying a request for a handshake, reigniting their feud.
At
Victory Road, newly-crowned
X Division Champion Samoa Joe teamed with Kurt Angle to face
TNA Tag Team Champions Team 3D, with the stipulation that if a wrestler pinned the other opponent, he won his championship. As part of the planned outcome of the match, Joe pinned
Brother Ray of Team 3D to win both tag team belts, which he held by himself. While illustrating how he'd take away everything important in Kurt's life, Joe brought Kurt's wife
Karen into the fray, as she demanded a divorce. During the match, however, Karen
betrayed Joe and aided her husband. As part of his newest push, Kurt won, gaining all the championships and becoming the second
Triple Crown champion in TNA and the first to hold all three titles at the same time.
Angle was booked to face
Brock Lesnar in a champion versus champion match for the
Inoki Genome Federation on
June 29 2007, defeating him by submission for the
IWGP Third Belt Championship and challenged him to an
MMA fight. On
December 19 2007, Angle defended the IWGP World Title successfully against
Kendo Kashin.
On
January 4 2008, Angle made his third successful IWGP Third Belt Championship defense when he defeated Yuji Nagata at the New Japan Pro Wrestling supershow
Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome by forcing Nagata to tap out to the ankle lock. On
February 17 2008 Kurt lost the IWGP title to
Shinsuke Nakamura in a unification match thus ending his year long run in Japan.
Personal life
Kurt Angle attended
Clarion University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a
degree in
education in 1993. His father was killed in a construction accident when Angle was sixteen, and Angle dedicated both his career and his
autobiography It's True, It's True to him as a result. Angle claimed in an interview that, following the death of his father, he regarded his wrestling coach,
David Schultz, as a paternal figure. While training Angle, Schultz was murdered in January 1996 by
John Eleuthère du Pont, the sponsor of Schultz's team of Olympic prospectives.
He married wife
Karen Smedley on
December 19 1998, and the couple has a daughter, Kyra, who was born on
December 2 2002. They also have a son, Kody, who was born on
October 26 2006. In August 2007, Karen debuted in TNA as Angle's regular
valet.
In regards to his future, Angle has expressed interest on several occasions in pursuing an
acting career after retirement from professional wrestling. The magazine alleged Angle had received prescriptions for
trenbolone (which isn't approved for human use by the
FDA) and
nandrolone, both
anabolic steroids. Angle responded on his official website: "I didn't improperly receive prescriptions. It is well documented that in my career I've broken vertebrae in my neck on five occasions and each time the course of treatment was under the care and supervision of my doctors. Any attempt to link me to the athletes in the current news accounts who may have improperly sought performance-enhancing drugs is without foundation."
Approximately two weeks later on
March 19 2007,
Sports Illustrated posted on its website another article in its continuing series investigating a steroid and
HGH ring used by a number of professional athletes in several sports. That article mentioned that 10 other professional wrestlers were implicated to have received performance-enhancing drugs from the same drug ring including four current WWE wrestlers and
Eddie Guerrero.Kurt Angle never failed a drug test for pain pills. He did, however, fail a steroid test under
WWE's Wellness Policy because his prescription for
Deca-Durabolin had expired.
Driving Under the Influence Charges
Kurt Angle was arrested at his home by
Moon Township, Pennsylvania police on a charge of drunk driving on
September 28 2007 after being reported by a woman who claims that he almost hit her while leaving a local restaurant. Officials said Angle failed a field sobriety test but refused a blood test. Angle is charged with driving under the influence and careless driving, but he denies the charges.
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
Managers
Nicknames
- The Olympic Hero (WWE)
- The American Hero (WWE/NJPW)
- The Wrestling Machine (WWE)
- The Olympic Gold Medalist (WWE/TNA)
- The Only Olympic Gold Medalist in professional wrestling history (TNA)
Theme songs
Appearances
Championships and accomplishments
Professional wrestling
Inoki Genome Federation
Power Pro Wrestling
- PPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
World Wrestling Federation | World Wrestling Entertainment
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Amateur wrestling
Canadian Cup Championship
Collegiate / High School
- Pennsylvania State Wrestling Champion (1987)
- Clarion University Freshman of the Year (1988)
Espoir World Cup
International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
- FILA Junior World Freestyle Champion (1988)
- FILA World Freestyle Champion (1995)
National Amateur Wrestling
- National Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 2001)
National Collegiate Athletic Association
- NCAA Division I All-American (1990)
- NCAA Division I Champion (1990)
- NCAA Division I All-American (1991)
- NCAA Division I runner-up (1991)
- NCAA Division I All-American (1992)
- NCAA Division I Champion (1992)
Olympic Games
USA Wrestling
- USA Junior Freestyle Champion (1987)
- USA Senior Freestyle Champion (1995)
- USA Senior Freestyle Champion (1996)
- USA Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 2001)
World Championships
- Gold medal in freestyle wrestling (heavyweight) (1995)
Yasar Dogu Tournament
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kurt Angle'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://kurt_angle.totallyexplained.com">Kurt Angle Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
