RF Video Shoot Interview with Kurt Angle

This interview was filmed in 2008.

 

The interview starts talking about Angle’s amateur background. He said he began wrestling at age six. His brothers and father were all wrestlers and he wanted to be as good as they were.

He first realized that he was good during his sophomore year of high school. He was actually pinned in his first ever varsity match but said his coach told him he would win the state title one day.

He then states how at Clarion University, he was on the student senate and had a rigorous training schedule. He would get up at 5:00am and do conditioning drills as well as practice his wrestling then go to class and take part in the student senate. He would finish his night by lifting for 1.5 hours. Angle goes on to state that you need a set schedule to keep you busy and motivated.

He made it as an alternate in the 1992 Olympics. He said he could not beat Mark Kerr and Mark Coleman at the time. He went back and conditioned harder, knowing that if he trained like crazy, he could wear them down, especially Kerr who did not train much at all.

He mentions that he tried out for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1994 and was offered a spot on the practice squad as a fullback, despite not playing football in college. He said that he would have became a 27 year old rookie by the time he made the active roster.

Angle said that all but one of his Olympic matches went into overtime. He was stuck between weight classes at the time but did not want to cut weight as it decreases your energy and as a result, your training will suffer. He then says how he was the only heavyweight in NCAA history to weigh under 200 lbs and win the National Title.

He is asked about the murder of David Schultz (Not the Pro Wrestler). He knew that John Dupont, the man who murdered Schultz, was acting crazy around the time, always carrying a gun and appearing sedated and paranoid. Anlge says he felt responsible for not picking up on these signs earlier but did not want to ruffle any feathers. He tells a story of Dupont pulling a machine gun on someone two days prior to the killing.

Angle then tells the story of how he injured himself at the Olympic tryouts. His opponent went for an arm throw but he was trying to prevent himself from losing points and put his had over then ended up falling on his head. He says he heard crackling and crunching in his neck and was unable to feel his arms. Instead of going to a hospital, he had chiropractors crack his neck and used acupuncture to help loosen it up. He said that he was also unable to take a cortisone shot because they tested at the Olympics and it was a steroid. He went on to compete in the National’s anyway, because the winner received an automatic bid in the tryout finals and won in overtime.

He brings up taking off three years before going to the WWF. He said he did a lot of dumb stuff and Vince even told him so, like going all out on house shows. He says he makes sure to always takes care of his opponents and would rather put them in a hold than make them bump.

He said he was a fan of pro wrestling growing up. He liked Bruno, Piper, and Orndroff. He was also a fan of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, stating that he really liked Shawn when he came back to the WWE in 2002. He tells a story of him going up to Shawn at that time, not really knowing much about him prior, and telling him that he was really good. He said Shawn laughed it off. He calls him and HHH the greatest ring generals around. He also puts over Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Mysterio for their in-ring work.

He wound up in ECW when asked by Shane Douglas. He was hesitant at first but wanted to legitimize pro wrestling. He was offended by the angle were Raven was crucified and was pissed at Paul Heyman after the show, stating that he was giving speeches to children at the time and did not want to be associated with that. He liked the in-ring stuff and said that he gets offended easily when it comes to religion. He also claims that the locker room respected him.

He initially signed with the WWF because he was a sports broadcaster at the time and hated the job. He also thought about going back to the Olympics but did not want to go through with that training again. He was sent to Memphis first, where he did opening match stuff. He never got any help with his promos

He is asked if he received any criticism from the amateur wrestling community. He said he told them he was going into a different career and was amazed by the amount of people that have a bad perception of pro wrestling. He says that bad things happen in every career and that wrestling has less of a steroid and drug problem than in other sports. He goes on state how in football, a 350lbs lineman running a 4.8 40yard dash certainly raises a lot of eyebrows.

Angle talks about the Funkin Dojo, run by Dory Funk Jr. He said he had to babysit Teddy Hart and as a result, got a bad rap as the others thought he was doing stuff with him. He calls Teddy talented and is surprised that no one has taking a chance on him, despite his immaturity. He liked Dory but said it was not necessary to bump 300 times per day. Anlge said they should have bumped 20-25 per day and trained 15-20 days per month, instead of five. He said that Steve Bradley was his mentor there.

Angle is asked about his first match. It was with Brian Christopher. He said that Christopher had an attitude and was upset he was facing him so he would call stuff in the ring and take advantage for him. For instance, he would tell him that he was going for a suplex but would hit him with a DDT instead. Angle said he was pissed and was waiting for him in the back but Al Snow calmed him down. He realizes know that it was probably a rib but says that you should always be safe with guys in the ring.

His initial impression of Vince was that he loved him. Kurt says that Vince treated him like a son and Vince would joke with him, stating he wished Kurt was his son-in-law. He addresses the stuff he said trashing Vince but loves him and has a great deal of respect.

Kurt said that the “Three I’s” character was copied from “Family Ties.” He says that Vince booked him like he did the Rock when he first started but this time knew that the fans would hate him and would get him over when he turned heel. He said that character would have been a huge babyface in the 1980’s.

He recalls the fans chanting “Boring” in his match against Shawn Stasiak at the 1999 Survivor Series.  Angle said Vince told him to win the match then grab the mic and tell the crowd not to say boring to an Olympic Gold Medalist. When he said it, the fans hated him and it worked. He puts over Vince as always knowing what to do at the right time.

He says that Steve Austin was approachable and liked working with him. He says that he loved it when Taz broke his undefeated streak as he had more heat as a result and it helped get Taz over. He then goes on to say how pro wrestling is about pleasing the fans. He said that he liked working with Bob Backlund but that he was over-the-top.

He is asked about the love triangle angle between him, HHH, and Stephanie McMahon. He said that he and Stephanie had a good friendship and due to the amount of injuries, had to have someone step up. He said that HHH was in agreement of the angle. He was mad at how it ended, stating that it could have lasted another six months. He then said how the concussion he had during the triple threat match with the Rock and HHH might have had something to do with the angle ending. He then says how HHH never politicked to end the angle.

He loved his streetfight match with Shane McMahon but cant remember most of it and they both ended up in the hospital as a result. He tells the story of throwing Shane head first through the glass, which was plexi-glass and the shards fell and sliced him up badly. He says that was the worst type of glass to use and puts over Vince for almost always being prepared with good stunt coordinators.  He loves Shane, stating that he has a lot of balls.

He said that Steve carried him in their matches. He then said how Vince wanted Angle to be a moron outside of the ring and a killer once he started to wrestle. He then said that Vince saw money in Angle as a face and Austin as the heel. He says that Steve was supposed to win in his hometown just after 9/11 but that Angle thought a “red, white, and Blue” character should win so he asked Vince, who told him to tell Austin, then asked Austin, who was fine with that. He said that he was originally supposed to be the one who won the belt when the titles were unified but the plan was changed to Jericho five days before the PPV so they could get him over. Angle says he always wants other talent o get over and Vince put him in that role a lot.

He says that Vince told him to have his head as he thought he needed to look more rugged.

He said that Hogan was easy to work with and willing to put him over clean. However, he tells a story about Hogan showing up late to a six-man tag at MSG and was upset that Kurt put the match together. He said that he put it together because most of the guys in the match were green (Lesnar, Haas, Benjamin) and liked to know the match layout before they went out. Hogan didn’t do a planned spot so Angle stiffed him. After the match, Hogan told Vince, HHH, and Shawn that he was stiff.

He said that Team Angle was his idea but he originally wanted the Haas Brothers. When Russ passed away, they went with Benjamin, who Angle wanted as a singles wrestler. He blames himself for the group only lasting five months as he wanted to be a face when he returned from injury. He thinks that they could have had a long run if they stuck together.

Kurt talks about his Wrestlemania match against Lesnar. He said that Lesnar was uptight that night and worried about the finish as they shaved nine minutes off the match. Kurt said that he kenw there was an extra fourteen minutes on the show and told him not to worry. He said that the match could have been better and that Brock rushed through the beginning and was worried about Kurt’s neck. He was shocked that Lesnar was able to continue after the shooting star press and said that he actually got hit by the move and did not roll away from it, which is what it looked like on TV. He said that he chose to wrestle, despite the pain after a kid (who I assume was sick) asked him to sign an autograph with him and Lesnar on the cover of a Direct TV program, which made Kurt cry. After the match, Kurt had the chills and the company doctors told him that he had a tumor in his neck, which they knew for a while but waited until the match ended to tell him. He said that Lesnar was freaking out backstage and calls the entire night a nightmare.

He is asked about the Benoit tragedy. He doesn’t know what to think and is still shocked that Chris was able to do something like this. He knew that they were having marital problems and that Nancy was abusing prescription drugs at home, which had Benoit  worried about her and his kid while he was on the road. He heard that Nancy filed for divorce too. Angle said not to blame it on steroids or concussions but to look at Chris as a lonely kid who fell apart when his best friend, Eddie Guerrero, died. He thought that Eddie meant more to Chris than anyone else on the planet. He then says that Chris should have known that it was time to go or ask Vince to wrestle part-time so he could straighten things out.

He is asked about his fight with Eddie Guerrero. Angle prefaces it by stating how Eddie was having health problems and at the time, didn’t know that he was having health problems. Some nights he would look good and others, he was as white as a ghost. They had a lumberjack match one night and Eddie was unable to do anything and was yelling at Kurt to stay away. One night while backstage, Angle blew up at Eddie, saying he was carrying him for two months then shoved him and Eddie went to take him down. The Big Show broke up the fight. Angle said that was all his fault and he should have known, along with others, that Eddie was having health issues and that you cannot blame the WWE for his death.

He said that he took down Lesnar and that it was ridiculous of him to say that he took Angle down twice.

He is asked about Daniel Puder next and how he got taken down by him on Smackdown. Angle said his neck was in bad shape and Vince wanted him to wrestle two off the Tough Enough Guys, the one who looked like Jeremy Shockey (Daniel Rodimer) and the big black guy (Justice Smith). He ended up jamming his neck against the first guy and was unable to feel his arms. Puder was next and he took him down and went to grab his hand off the ropes but Puder grabbed him instead. He said he could have dropped Puder on his head but did not want to hurt him and calls Puder a moron for pinning himself,as he laid flat on his back, which is a pin in amateur wrestling. He called Puder a terrible pro wrestler with no promo skills and recalls running into him in the airport before the Royal Rumble, where Puder told Kurt that he was in the main event, meaning the Rumble match. Angle said he was for a program with him but Puder was unable to catch on and Vince knew he wasn’t going to keep Puder and cut his salary from $250k to $75k in the second year. Kurt said that Dana offered Kurt a chance to fight Puder in UFC but that he had to quit wrestling and Kurt did not want to do that.

He was asked about if there was ever a payoff to the “Hometown Hero” stuff that they did. He said no but it got Matt Stryker a contract.

Kurt said that getting drafted to the ECW brand was an opportunity but there was no one to wrestle after Sabu or RVD. He mentions how the ratings tanked after he quit. He mentions how everyone wanted to be on RAW and that he went from RAW to Smackdown when Batista got hurt because he was a team player and several others declined.

Angle is then asked about if he tried to hide his injury from the WWE. He said that he was getting run down from the schedule and while wrestling RVD in New York, he ended up tearing his abdominal muscle, hamstring, and blew out his groin. He called the office to tell them he was unable to wrestle but was told he had to go to TV. He went backstage and pulled down his pants in front of Vince, to show him the severity of his injuries. He said he was black and blue all over. He said he got pissed and asked for his release.

He is then asked about the death watch rumors that Wade Keller reported, due to his abuse of pain medication. Angle confirms those rumors, but that they were reported four months late as he was sober when the rumor came out. Angle said he abused pain pills from the end of 2002 until 2005. He stated that he asked Vince for a few months off in order to go to rehab but Vince told him he couldn’t and said that he was an Olympian, unlike 90% of the other losers. He said Vince used the line about losers to motivate him and not to disparage everyone. He said he ended up quitting cold turkey and went through hell. He blames himself, not the WWE, for getting addicted but is still pissed that Vince did not let him to go rehab. At the time, Vince was giving him a lot of tough love. He said that he thinks he can go back one day.

His initial thoughts of TNA was that it is still an opportunity but nowhere near the machine that is the WWE. He says that TNA needs more writers and production guys. He is thankful that TNA exists and is not going away and puts over the growth of the company over the past few years.

The interviewer brings up the time that the cops showed up to his house after someone reported that he was driving erratically. He said that at the time, he was talking and texting Vince Russo and might have crossed the yellow line. He passed a breathalyzer and the cops still wanted to bring him to the Emergency Room for drug testing. He said that later on, they found out that the person who reported him wrote down his license plate number on a receipt from the liquor store and was drunk. He said the cops felt bad afterwards.

He was then asked if he should have went over Samoa Joe in his first match. Angle said it was not his call and wouldn’t have minded doing the job but thought it was a good way for him to enter the company. Angle said he loves Joe but thinks that loss effected him.

He thinks that Kevin Nash is good for TNA and puts him over for helping the younger guys.

He wanted to elevate Joe and AJ Styles while in TNA. He also felt he revitalized Sting, as he was getting stagnant at that time. He puts over Bobby Roode and James Storm as well as the X Division guys. He thinks Storm can be a good babyface.

He said that Jarrett is the reason his wife is on TV. He thinks she is a great performer, best utilized as a heel. Angle says that he gets along with Jarrett but they have had it out over creative differences.

He is asked about his cage match with Joe. Said it was a hard match to do and they tried hard to make it believable but thought it should have either been all MMA or all wrestling, not a mixture of both. Angle seemed shocked when the interviewer told him that people liked the match

Angle is asked about his comment that he could take Chuck Liddell. He said that he could of 8 years ago but is turning 40 and doesn’t have enough training. He says that he was going to fight Couture but Dana had a deal for one more fight with him and it never took place.

He doesn’t want any part of being on the creative team right now, as he doesn’t want the fans and wrestlers to think he has control. He says he does what he is told.

When asked about the booking style of Russo, Angle says that he wants more wrestling but doesn’t want to say anything bad about him. He thinks more wrestling would be a better alternative to the WWE.

He says that Low Ki was a great wrestler with good presence and a deep voice but he couldn’t put all of that together and could have been a major player if he did.

He is asked if TNA scooping up all of the recently released WWE guys hurts the company. He says that sometimes it does as you need homegrown talent.

Angle says he was shocked that the WWE hired Chris Harris (Braden Walker), and that his partner, James Storm, was much better. The interviewer told him that he was already fired. Angle said he was in terrible shape.

He said that his wife, Karen, is level headed and wont let the business get together. He also says it will not interfere with their marriage. Sadly, it did.

He said that CM Punk is the one person that he wants to work with that he hasn’t yet. He was shocked by his popularity and thought he would be another “Independent flash in the pan.”

He said that he used to travel with Edge & Christian, then Randy Orton. He puts over Randy for growing up and says that he is a great guy. He also used to travel with Luther Reigns when he was abusing pills and that was a bad choice. After that, he traveled alone.

He the says that wrestling needs to go back to telling good stories and move away from too many highspots. He goes on state how he and HBK worked a twelve minute headlock in their Wrestlemania match.

He closes by stating he plans to wrestle for another five years and his clean and sober. He also thanks his fans.

Final Thoughts: I thought this was an excellent shoot interview. Angle did not have an axe to grind and did not bury anyone. He admitted to his shortcomings too, which a lot of wrestlers do not in these interviews. He ended up being dead wrong about is marriage though. I highly recommend this shoot and its long, lasting just under three hours. It is interesting to hear about his amateur background, which takes up the first forty minutes or so of the shoot. Highly recommended.