Kurt Angle interview: WrestleMania thoughts, the next main event star & the future of WWE
An Olympic gold medalist and four-time WWE champion, Kurt Angle is one of the most popular wrestlers of all time.
His walkout music, the aptly-named ‘Medal’, is one of the most iconic WWE themes in history, while Angle earned further rave reviews throughout his career for legendary on-mic performances, and was widely-regarded as one of the best ‘heels’ ever in the sport.
Sitting down exclusively with casino.org, Angle discussed his WrestleMania thoughts, the direction of the company under Triple H, who he’d like to have worked with in the modern day, and whether or not AEW’s competition is good for business.
You main evented WrestleMania 19 with Brock Lesnar – what are your best memories around the match? What was the build-up like?
“Brock was still in his rookie year; he was an incredible breakout star, and the company obviously had big plans for him.
“He was dominating the scene. The build-up was amazing, because you had two of the purest wrestlers in the business at the time facing each other at an event like WrestleMania.
“You had an Olympic Gold medalist against an NCAA Champion. The match didn’t disappoint, the only issue was that I broke my neck and had to have surgery beforehand.
“I wasn’t supposed to wrestle at the event, but decided to do it at the last second. I asked my Doctor, ‘can I go out there and wrestle if I protect my neck, will I be OK?’ – he said that he couldn’t guarantee that, but I decided to go out there anyway.
“You have to remember, back in 2003, you didn’t have to worry about any lawsuits. If you broke a neck today, there is no way a doctor would clear you to wrestle, they could be sued. There were no real lawsuits being held against doctors 22 years ago.
“I put my surgery off until the day after WrestleMania, so I went in there with a broken neck and just tried to protect it as much as I could. The match was awesome, it was as good as it could have been. The only negative is that Brock missed a shooting star press, and I thought for a second that he’d broken his neck, too!
“My first thought was ‘shoot, man’ – I’m going to have to hold this title for another month, because Brock won’t win here! That was selfish of me, considering at this point, Brock could have broken his neck. Luckily he got up and finished the match, and the rest is history.”
You have the distinction of holding victories over Cody Rhodes and John Cena during your wrestling career: who do you think would win if Kurt Angle in his prime was added to the Undisputed Championship match at WrestleMania 41?
“I’d take me all day long!
“I had the opportunity to wrestle both and they were great athletes, and incredible wrestlers. I have a lot of respect for them, because of their success and being fan favourites for so many years.
“If I had a triple threat with them, in my prime, I’d say Kurt Angle by submission. I’d have beaten Cena by submission, no doubt about it!”
You retired at WrestleMania 35 after your last match with Baron Corbin – if you could have a one-time return to the ring for WrestleMania 41 to face someone on the WWE roster: who would you enjoy working with the most and why?
“I would love to have worked with Roman Reigns. He’s proven himself to be one of the greatest of all time.
“They really pushed him hard when he first started in WWE, and I don’t think he was ready. The fans rebelled against him as a result, they didn’t want to cheer for him, because he was so overly promoted by the company.
“When they turned him into a heel, he really showed his true colours and what he could do. He became the top guy in the business, and rightfully so. He earned it.
“He’s incredibly talented and, at this point in his career, I don’t think there’s anyone better. I’d definitely go with Roman Reigns.”
John Cena’s farewell tour and his subsequent heel turn/break-up with the ‘WWE universe’ – what are the biggest challenges of changing your character so much? What are the best and worst things about being a heel (bad guy) – and which was the most fun to play between that and a babyface?
“Being a heel is definitely the most fun to play, and it comes with a little less pressure, too.
“When you start in the business, fans don’t know who you are. They’ll immediately boo you, even if you’re a babyface. That’s what happened to The Rock, that’s what happened to John Cena.
“I came into the business as a heel, and I got booed quite a bit. In the promos, I was degrading their cities or their towns, and it worked extremely well!
“It’s easier to be a heel, because you’re not meant to get accepted, so the boos just happen straight away.
“I found it much easier being a heel, probably because 95% of my career I was in that role. I played a babyface very few times in my career, but I did enjoy it.
“The fans were still chanting ‘you suck’ but in a respectful way. They’re the best fans in the world, and they just make moments like that make sense.”
The WWE main event scene is packed right now: who is the next person you think will break through and claim a spot at the top of the card?
“I’ve got my sights on Gunther; I love that kid.
“He has a lot of talent, and I think he’s going to be the next breakthrough star, where he’s main event 24/7.
“He’s a solid technician, a great heel and I think he’s going to be the one we’re going to see a lot more of in the years to come in this business.”
Three of the biggest stars in the world clash at the end of Night 1 of WrestleMania 41 when Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and CM Punk face off in a triple threat match – who would you back to win as old rivals face off? And do you like the 2 night set up of WrestleMania?
“That’s going to be a great match, potentially the best match of the night, maybe even better than Rhodes v Cena.
“I think Roman Reigns will get the job done, but I expect it to be one of the matches of WrestleMania.
“As for WrestleMania’s set up, it used to be really tough to get it all done in one night.
“I’m glad they changed it to two nights. It’s more money for the company, and even though I know the fans love it, it’s asking a lot with seven hours in one sitting for the fans.
“It’s much more tolerable for the fans to watch in a 3.5 hour sitting. Doing it in a seven-hour stint, that’s a lot. When I wrestled Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 19, don’t get me the wrong, the fans were great, but they were tired by the time we made the ring!
“They weren’t as excited as they perhaps should have been, it was like ‘and here’s the next one!’ Overall, I think the WWE made the right call splitting it into two nights.”
Not only were you an incredible wrestler on the mat: you excelled on the microphone. Could any current WWE superstar could hold their own with you, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and the other legends of wrestling’s golden era?
“Absolutely; CM Punk is definitely one to start with.
“Seth Rollins, and obviously John Cena, although he was from my era too.
“CM Punk could definitely have gone with the boys in the Attitude era, he’s great on the microphone and wouldn’t hold any punches.”
With NXT, ‘Legends and Future Greats’ and ‘Evolve’: there are lots of insights now into the process young wrestlers go through as they start their careers and try to break through – how does the current system compare with when you first started in the industry? If you could teach the next generation of stars one lesson, what would it be?
“I think the attitude era was the best era of all time, that’s when TV ratings peaked.
“Today, you have more options to watch. It’s not 15 or 20 channels anymore, it’s hundreds or thousands! So there are more options to watch other things.
“I think the WWE has done an incredible job to keep it popular today. It’s still as popular as it’s ever been. That’s because of TKO; they’re an incredibly successful company, owning the WWE and UFC. Triple H is doing a great job as Head of Creative, too.
“As for the wrestlers themselves, I don’t think there’s a lot I could tell them from my era that wouldn’t be in place for them now.
“The system is better than it’s ever been, and the company is going to flourish even more than it did in the attitude era. They don’t have the ratings of 20 years ago, but they’re going to have more success and the performers will make more money.
“The guarantee in my day was $1million if you were lucky; now with the PPVs, guys will make more than just fighting on the main cards every week.
“Some of these guys are now getting 5, 6 or $7million dollar guarantees. I wish I got the $1million guarantee back in my day! I’d definitely like the sort of figures they’re getting these days; it can only be good for the business.”
How do you think the WWE has changed since Triple H took over as head of Creative?
“Triple H has an incredible mind for the business, he always has done.
“When I was in the ring with him, he was the best in-ring leader. He had the best concepts, the best ideas. He’s a mastermind now running the company.
“You couldn’t ask for anyone better. He’s going to continue to be successful, and I expect the WWE to enjoy a lot of success.
“I have a lot of respect for the guy. There’s nobody better to run the company from a creative standpoint right now.”
You debuted in 1999, during the later days of the ‘Monday Night Wars’ with WCW. AEW has emerged as the next biggest competitor to WWE and gives wrestlers another option in where they ply their trade. Is competition good for business as well as good for talent? If you could work with anyone from AEW: who would it be?
“I think competition is great for business.
“It gives wrestlers options to go to other places. It means that wrestlers can negotiate better deals for themselves.
“I think it’s good for the business. If I could work have worked with anyone from AEW right now, it would be Kenny Omega.
“He’s extremely talented, I’d have loved to get in the ring with him. He’s proven himself not just in AEW; he was a big-time star in Japan, and made a name for himself before coming to the US, which isn’t an easy thing to do.
“I think he’d be a massive star attraction in the WWE; he’s that good.”
Final question – in a recent interview, Kevin Nash called you the best worker in Wrestling history – do you agree with that? Who would give you some competition in that particular category?
“I’d never put myself in those categories, I’d always put forward other guys in the business who I rate and think really deserve it.
“I’d put the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Ric Flair in that category over me.
“I’m very grateful to Kevin Nash for saying that about me, he has a lot of knowledge in the business and has been around a while. It’s hard not to take that to heart coming from a guy like Kevin.
“I actually called him recently and thanked him for the kind words. I told him that it means a lot coming from someone of his stature. Kevin said, ‘I’m pretty good at telling the truth’. It meant a lot to me.”
*Kurt Angle was speaking exclusively to casino.org ahead of WrestleMania 41, live in Las Vegas on April 19-20
