Kurt Angle reflects on hall of fame WWE career
The Pittsburgh native joined WWE after winning Olympic gold in 1996
By Christopher Flowers
As Pittsburgh native Kurt Angle puts it, he won an Olympic gold medal with “a broken freakin’ neck.” Whining about achieving one of this country’s greatest sporting accomplishments is an odd pathway to get heel heat — but professional wrestling is a unique form of art in that way. Wrestling fans stopped hating Angle pretty quickly into his run, though; he was just too good. Barely five years into his WWE career, Angle was already being called an all-time great — the ensuing two decades have only solidified his standing.
After a contentious WWE exit in aught-six, Angle enjoyed a long and successful career in TNA Wrestling (which we’ll explore in the future). He returned to the WWE fold in 2017, competing in his final match two years later. Now in his late-50s, Angle has said there is no chance of an in-ring return.
The WWE Vault channel on YouTube is fun resource for wrestling fans — they basically own the rights to most of the professional wrestling filmed from the dawn of television until the year 2001. In an episode of their “Retrospective” series, Angle watches moments from his career and reflects.
WWE post-9/11
In Angle’s list of accomplishments, a few that are bound to slide under the radar. Don’t remember his reign as WWE Hardcore champion? To call it a “reign” was a bit misleading — although, 45-seconds as champ is more than most got during the 24/7 defense era. Those watching could be faulted for not remembering Angle winning and losing on the Sept. 10, 2001, episode of Monday Night Raw. It’s not what kids were talking about the next day at school.
WWE was the first mass gathering after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. That Thursday’s episode of SmackDown! was to be taped on Tuesday, the 11th, in Houston. Raw had been held in San Antonio the night before, and some, but not all, had managed to fly in. After the decision was made to go live on the 13th, the remaining wrestlers drove. Of the post-9/11 WWE show, the company has released a photo history, an oral history, and a documentary.
Newly-minted good guy Angle was set to wrestle “Stone Cold” Steve Austin for the world championship at the pay-per-view on Sept. 23. About that, though — Austin was going to win and move on, but all parties involved realized a feel-good moment was needed less than a month after the attacks. Angle won, we had a happy ending to the month of September, and ultimately, WWE went back to the status quo two weeks later: