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Kurt Angle
Born	December 9 1968 Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Kurt Angle
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Billed weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Billed from	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Trained by	Dory Funk, Jr. Tom Prichard
Debut	1998

Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9 1968 in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania) is an American 1996 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling and a professional wrestler. He is best known for his run in World Wrestling Entertainment.

Amateur wrestling

Angle attended Mount Lebanon High School and won varsity letters in football and wrestling. In football, he was an All-State linebacker. In wrestling, he placed third at the state finals as a junior, and was the 1987 Pennsylvania State Wrestling Champion as a senior.

Angle had an exemplary career in amateur wrestling. He was a 2-time NCAA Division I champion (1990 and 1992) and a 3-time NCAA Division I All-American while attending Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Angle had also beaten future WWE wrestler Sylvester Terkay to gain his 1992 NCAA championship. Angle has a tattoo of the Clarion University Golden Eagle on his upper back. He was also 1987 USA Junior Freestyle champion, 2-time USA Senior Freestyle champion, and 1988 USA FILA Junior World Freestyle champion. Before Angle won his 1996 Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling, he sustained amateur wrestling losses to former PRIDE and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion Mark "The Hammer" Coleman and mixed martial arts (MMA) legend Mark Kerr.

Olympic medal record
Men's Freestyle Wrestling
	1996	Freestyle Wrestling

In 1995 Kurt Angle won the gold medal at the World Championship, but he reached the pinnacle of his amateur career one year later, at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, winning the 90-100 kg (198-220 pound) weight class. In WWE, Angle often gloats that he won the gold medal with "a broken freakin' neck!". This refers to a severe neck injury that Angle sustained while wrestling in the 1996 Olympic Trials. The injury consisted of 2 cracked vertebrae, 2 herniated disks and 4 pulled muscles. The injury should have prevented Angle from wrestling. However, he managed to win the trials and qualify for the Olympic Games, which was then 5 months away. Angle wrestled very little in the months leading up to the games, instead using the time to rest his neck. This recuperation time, along with several pain reducing injections in his neck, allowed the injury to heal sufficiently enough for Angle to win the gold in the Olympic Games.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

On October 26 1996, Angle was convinced to attend the taping of an Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) event named High Incident by Shane Douglas. He provided guest commentary during a match between Taz and Little Guido, but walked out of the building after the infamous "crucifixion storyline" (where Raven attached The Sandman to a cross using barbed wire). Angle was shocked by the controversial imagery and feared that his career prospects would be damaged if he was associated with the incident, so much that he threatened to sue ECW owner Paul Heyman if he was shown on TV in the same broadcast as the stunt. Following this incident, Angle worked as a sportscaster in Pittsburgh, PA.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

In 1998, Angle was signed to a contract by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He was assigned to the Power Pro Wrestling developmental territory in Memphis, Tennessee, where he began training as a professional wrestler.

1999-2000

In 1999, Angle began competing in dark matches for the WWF. He also appeared on an episode of Sunday Night Heat that was taped in Pittsburgh when Tiger Ali Singh tried to pay Angle to blow his nose on the American flag in front of his hometown crowd, but instead blew his nose on Singh's Indian flag. After several weeks of vignettes, he made his on-screen debut on November 14 1999 at the Survivor Series 1999 pay-per-view, defeating Shawn Stasiak. Angle's somewhat sanctimonious character, touting morality and "the three I's" -- intensity, integrity, and intelligence -- spoofed the wholesome babyfaces of the 1980s. Angle was intended to be a heel in the anti-hero, "Attitude" era 1990s.

Angle won the WWF European Championship on the February 10, 2000 edition of SmackDown!, defeating Val Venis. On February 27, 2000 at No Way Out 2000, Angle defeated Chris Jericho for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, and began referring to himself as the "Eurocontinental" Champion. He was the third wrestler to hold both titles at once, following D'Lo Brown and Jeff Jarrett.

Veteran wrestler Bob Backlund became Angle's mentor, but, unfortunately for Angle, agreed to a match on Angle's behalf that would see him defend both his titles in a triple threat match. As this meant that Angle could potentially lose both of his titles without being beaten, he was understandably angry, and used Backlund's own Crossface Chickenwing hold on him. On April 2, 2000 at WrestleMania 2000, Angle lost his Intercontinental Championship to Chris Benoit and his European Championship to Chris Jericho without being involved in either fall.

In mid-2000, Angle joined forces with Edge and Christian to form "Team ECK". One of team ECK's most prominent rivalries was against another 3-man stable consisting of Too Cool and Rikishi. Team ECK also participated in a comedic non-ring feud with kayfabe commissioner Mick Foley involving several onscreen backstage conflicts. On June 25 2000, Angle defeated Rikishi in the finals of the sixteen man King of the Ring tournament.

Following his feud with Triple H, Angle refocused on the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, finally defeating The Rock at No Mercy 2000 on October 22, 2000 after capitalizing off of inadvertent assistance from Rikishi (who intended to interfere on behalf of The Rock).

2001-2002

Angle retained the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in a match against Triple H at the 2001 Royal Rumble on January 21, 2001, but lost to The Rock at No Way Out 2001 on February 25 2001.

When The Alliance invaded the WWF in mid 2001, Angle was instructed by Vince McMahon to join forces with WWF World Heavyweight Champion "Stone Cold" Steve Austin to defend the WWF from the invading WCW and ECW superstars. At WWF Invasion on July 22 in a five on five match pitting the WWF superstars against The Alliance, Austin betrayed the WWF by stunning Angle as he had the Ankle Lock submission hold applied on Booker T. This lead to a near half-year long rivalry with Austin that resulted in Angle becoming a face character for the first time in his career. During this time, Angle won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (defeating Booker T), the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (defeating Rhyno) and the WWF Hardcore Championship (defeating Rob Van Dam).

After gaining a disqualification victory over Austin at SummerSlam, Angle defeated Austin for his second WWF World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven 2001 on September 23, 2001 by making Austin tap out to the Ankle Lock in his hometown of Pittsburgh. As a result, Angle became the second man (joining The Rock) to win the WCW and WWF world titles in the same year despite never working for WCW. However, he lost it back to Austin on the October 8 2001 episode of RAW when WWF Commissioner William Regal turned heel and joined The Alliance.

At Vengeance 2001, Angle was one of four men to take part in the tournament to crown the first ever Undisputed Champion. After a strong battle with Austin, he became a victim of the Stone Cold Stunner and was eliminated.

In 2002, Angle competed in his first Royal Rumble match, making it to the final two before being eliminated by Triple H. During the next month, Angle would ignite a feud with former friend Edge. At one show, Edge told the fans that instead of chanting the "What?" catchphrase made popular by Stone Cold during Angle's promos, they should instead chant, "You Suck!" Shortly after this the fans started chanting "You Suck" at Angle during a regular beat in his entrance music, a practice that continued until mid 2006 when his music was edited to remove the rhythmic portion. At Judgment Day 2002 the two engaged in a "Hair vs. Hair" match which Edge won. Although Angle tried to escape the building in order to save his hair, Edge caught him and applied a sleeper hold which knocked out Angle long enough for Edge to shave his head. Angle then wore a wig along with wrestling head gear to keep it on for a few weeks following the event, claiming it to be his real hair. Angle also made comments against the bald and balding, which led to multiple matches against Hulk Hogan, during which Hogan attempted to remove Angle's head gear and wig. On a particular episode of Smackdown! Kurt ditched the wig and issued a challenge to face any wrestler who he has not faced. A debuting John Cena responded to the challenge. Cena slapped Angle in the face and went on to nearly defeat Kurt. Angle has maintained his bald head since.

The following month, at King of the Ring 2002, Angle faced Hulk Hogan for the first time, winning the match via his Ankle Lock submission. Angle's win was Hogan's first defeat via submission on WWE programming.

Angle went on to his third WWE Championship reign, defeating Big Show in December at Armageddon, thanks to the help of Brock Lesnar and the F-5. Angle then turned heel again by hiring Paul Heyman, who was feuding with Lesnar at the time.

2003-2004

Angle defeated Benoit to retain the WWE Championship at the 2003 Royal Rumble. He lost his title to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XIX in March and turned face by congratulating and befriending Lesnar immediately afterward.

Angle seriously considered trying to make a comeback to freestyle wrestling for the 2004 Summer Olympics, but he abandoned that plan when neck problems that dated back to his past amateur wrestling career recurred. In mid-2003, Angle opted for a new type of neck surgery that allowed him to return in three months rather than a year.

Angle regained the WWE Championship to begin his fourth title reign in a triple threat match at Vengeance against Big Show and Lesnar after hitting the Angle Slam on Lesnar. Lesnar turned on Angle a few weeks later by aligning himself with Mr. McMahon. At SummerSlam 2003, Angle became the first of only two men to ever make Lesnar tap out, getting the submission victory with the Ankle Lock. Lesnar eventually regained the title in September in a 60 minute Iron Man Match on SmackDown!.

In March 2004, Angle's neck problems returned again and he feared the possibility of career-ending surgery. For a time, he considered having an operation similar to the one he had in 2003, but has decided against it for the time being.

At No Way Out 2004, Kurt Angle defeated Big Show and John Cena in a Triple Threat match to become the Number 1 Contender to the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XX. After his short feud with Eddie Guerrero leading up to WrestleMania XX, and turning heel once again, Angle played the role of general manager on SmackDown!. This change came after Angle was thrown off a 25-foot high ledge by Big Show with a chokeslam and claimed he could no longer wrestle again (this was a storyline to allow Angle to recover from his recurring neck injury yet still participate in WWE shows). After costing Guerrero a WWE Championship match against John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Angle was "fired" from that position when his career-ending injury was proved to be fake. He returned to the active roster during SmackDown! on July 29, 2004 where he defeated former student Charlie Haas with the Ankle Lock. Angle then went on to defeat Eddie Guerrero at SummerSlam 2004 again using the Ankle Lock.

On November 16 2004, Angle started the Kurt Angle Invitational. Angle allowed "hometown heroes" to challenge him to a match. If that person defeated Angle, he would award them his authentic 1996 Olympic gold medal.

2005-2006

At the 2005 Royal Rumble, Angle was eliminated from the Rumble match by Shawn Michaels and later dumped Michaels over the top rope to eliminate him in retaliation. As a result of what happened at the Royal Rumble, Michaels issued a challenge to Angle for a match at WrestleMania 21, which Kurt Angle accepted when he appeared on RAW to attack Michaels. Angle defeated Michaels by submission with the Ankle Lock at WrestleMania 21 on April 3, 2005 in what many consider to be one of the greatest matches of all time.

He would then engage in a fued with Booker T with him stalking the latter's wife Sharmell, claiming he wanted to have "beasiality sex" with her. He would end up losing to Booker at Judgement Day 2005 and again several weeks afterwards on Smackdown.

On June 13 2005 Angle became the second person to be drafted from SmackDown! to RAW in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery. His feud with Shawn Michaels ended at Vengeance 2005, losing to Michaels.

He continued the Kurt Angle Invitational, and two weeks in a row defeated Matt Striker to retain his gold medal. The July 25 2005 RAW saw the end of the Invitational when the returning Eugene survived three minutes against Angle to win his gold medal, becoming the only successful challenger in the event.

On August 22, 2005 Angle was revealed as the number one contender for John Cena's WWE Championship. Angle defeated John Cena by disqualification in the main event of Unforgiven, as Cena struck Angle with his WWE Title belt. Angle attacked Cena after the match, only to be given an F-U through the Spanish announce table. He was almost awarded the title the next night on RAW by Eric Bischoff, but Vince McMahon intervened.

After Daivari helped Angle defeat Shelton Benjamin on the November 21, 2005 RAW, Angle announced Daivari would be his personal referee and the special guest referee for his upcoming match with Cena for the WWE Championship at the 2005 Survivor Series. Cena won the match after SmackDown! referee Charles Robinson counted the fall.

During the January 13 2006 edition of SmackDown! at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Angle was announced as the 20th participant in a 20 man Over-the-Top Battle Royal for the World Heavyweight Championship, which had been vacated earlier that night due to injuries suffered by the former champion Batista in a match the previous week. Angle would go on to win the battle royal and the World Heavyweight Championship, last eliminating Mark Henry. On January 16 2006, Angle competed in his final match on the Raw brand in a non-title match with Shawn Michaels.

At WrestleMania 22, Angle lost his World Heavyweight Championship title in a Triple Threat Match against Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton without being pinned when Mysterio pinned Orton.

On May 29 2006, Angle was announced by Paul Heyman as the SmackDown! draft pick for the revived ECW. Three days later, on SmackDown!, Angle defeated World Champion Rey Mysterio in what was billed Angle's "farewell" match. Angle left SmackDown! after this but not before first issuing an open challenge to anyone who wanted to face him at ECW One Night Stand 2006, stating that he did not care if the challenger was from a "four-sided, six-sided or eight-sided ring". His challenge was accepted by the returning Randy Orton on the June 5, 2006 episode of RAW. Angle went on to defeat Orton at One Night Stand. A rematch between the two was held under "WWE rules" at Vengeance 2006, where Angle lost to Orton.

After losing to Rob Van Dam on the June 27 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Angle was absent throughout July. He returned on August 1, squashing The Brooklyn Brawler.

On August 25, Angle asked for, and was granted an early release from his WWE contract due to personal issues.

Wrestling facts

• Finishing and signature moves

• Ankle lock
• Angle Slam / Olympic Slam (Spinning release belly-to-back suplex)
• Super Angle Slam / Super Olympic Slam (Top rope release belly-to-back suplex)
• Bridging belly to back suplex (1999)
• Crossface chickenwing (2000)
• Body scissors
• European uppercut
• German suplex
• High angle belly to back suplex
• Moonsault
• Overhead belly to belly suplex
• Rear naked choke
• Rolling German suplexes
• Top rope overhead belly to belly suplex

• Managers

• Bob Backlund
• Daivari
• Paul Heyman
• Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley
• Mark Jindrak
• Luther Reigns
• Trish Stratus

• Nicknames

• The Wrestling Machine
• The Best In The Buisness
• The Only Olympic Gold Medalist in WWE/ECW

• Theme music

Kurt Angle's original entrance theme, "Medal", was used for Team America's theme at Survivor Series 1997 (2 years before Angle debuted). It was also used for Sgt. Slaughter and The Patriot in the mid-90's.

At ECW One Night Stand 2006, Angle debuted his new music, which not only repeats the beginning of the song, but the part where the fans chant "You Suck" in time with Angle's music was cut out.

Championships and accomplishments

• Amateur wrestling

• Pennsylvania State Wrestling Champion (1987)
• Clarion University Freshman of the Year (1988)
• 2-time NCAA Champion (1990, 1992)
• Espoir World Cup second Place (1989)
• Yasar Dogu Tournament second Place (1989)
• Canadian Cup Championship Winner (1990)
• World Championship Winner (1995)
• National Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame (2001)
• Named "Greatest Shoot Wrestler Of All-Time" by USA Wrestling
• Inducted in the USA Wrestling Hall of Fame

• Olympic Games

• 1996 Summer Olympic Games Gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, on Heavyweight class.

• Professional wrestling

• PNW

• 1-time PNW Tennessee Heavyweight Champion

• Power Pro Wrestling

• 1-time PPW Heavyweight Champion
• 1-time PPW Young Guns Champion

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI Feud of the Year, versus Triple H (2000)
• PWI Most Hated Wrestler (2000)
• PWI Rookie of the Year (2000)
• PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler (2001)
• PWI Comeback of the Year (2003)
• PWI Feud of the Year, versus Brock Lesnar (2003)
• PWI Match of the Year, versus Brock Lesnar (2003)
• PWI Most Popular Wrestler (2003)
• PWI Wrestler of the Year (2003)
• PWI Match of the Year, versus Shawn Michaels (2005)
• PWI ranked him #1 in the 2001 PWI 500
• Angle holds the record for most PWI Achievement Awards in a single year (five in 2003)

• World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

• WWF European Championship

Defeated Val Venis on February 8, 2000 in Austin, Texas, USA.

Lost to Chris Jericho on April 2, 2000 in Anaheim, California, USA.

• WWF Intercontinental Championship

Defeated Chris Jericho on February 27, 2000 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

Lost to Chris Benoit on April 2, 2000 in Anaheim, California, USA.

• WWF Championship

Defeated The Rock on October 22, 2000 in Albany, New York, USA.

Lost to The Rock on February 25, 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

• WCW World Heavyweight Championship

Defeated Booker T on July 24, 2001 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Lost to Booker T on July 30, 2001 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

• WWF Hardcore Championship

Defeated Rob Van Dam on September 10, 2001 in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

Lost to Rob Van Dam on September 10, 2001 in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

• WWF Championship (2)

Defeated "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on September 23, 2001 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Lost to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on October 8, 2001 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

• WCW United States Championship

Defeated Rhyno on October 22, 2001 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.

Lost to Edge on November 12, 2001 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

• WWE Tag Team Championship (with Chris Benoit)

Defeated Edge and Rey Mysterio in a tournament final on October 20, 2002 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.

Lost to Edge and Rey Mysterio on November 5, 2002 in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA.

• WWE Championship (3)

Defeated Big Show on December 15, 2002 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.

Lost to Brock Lesnar on March 30, 2003 in Seattle, Washington, USA.

• WWE Championship (4)

Defeated Brock Lesnar on July 27 2003 in Denver, Colorado, USA.

Lost to Brock Lesnar on September 16 2003 in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

• World Heavyweight Championship

Won battle royal on January 10 2006 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Lost to Rey Mysterio on April 2 2006 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

• 2000 King of the Ring

Won tournament on June 25 2000

• Triple Crown Champion

Achieved on October 20 2002

• Grand Slam Champion

Achieved on October 20 2002

• Angle is the only wrestler to have won the WWF/E Championship, the WCW World Championship, and the World Heavyweight Championship.

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Famer (inducted in 2004)
• 2000 Most Improved Wrestler
• 2001 Most Outstanding Wrestler
• 2002 Wrestler of the Year
• 2002 Most Outstanding Wrestler
• 2002 Best Interviews
• 2002 Best Technical Wrestler
• 2002 Match of the Year (with Chris Benoit, versus Edge and Rey Mysterio)
• 2003 Most Outstanding Wrestler
• 2003 Feud of the Year (versus Brock Lesnar)

Personal life

Angle is a graduate of Clarion University, where he received a degree in Geography and won two national titles.

Angle is married to Karen and has one daughter, Krya Marie Angle, who was born on December 2 2002.

Angle has four older brothers, including Eric, also a wrestler, and one late sister, the latter of whom died due to heart complications, a problem for several Angle family members. His father was killed in a construction accident, and Angle dedicated 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 as a paternal figure.

Angle has announced in several interviews that he intends to pursue an acting career after he retires from professional wrestling.

Books

• Angle, Kurt and Harper, John (2001) It's True! It's True!, ISBN 0060393270

Videos

• Kurt Angle: It's True! It's True! (VHS)

References

• Kurt Angle at WashingtonPost.com

External links

• The official website of Kurt Angle
• WWE profile
• Kurt Angle at IMDb
• TheMat.com (the site of USA Wrestling)

• 1968 births
• Living people
• People from Pittsburgh
• American sport wrestlers
• Olympic wrestlers of the United States
• Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• Olympic athletes who wrestled professionally
• American professional wrestlers
• Born-again Christians