Pro wrestler Kurt Angle is free on bond following his arrest today on charges that he violated a protection of abuse order obtained by his girlfriend earlier in the morning.

Mr. Angle, 40, of Moon, was arrested by township police around 7:50 a.m. in the parking lot of a Giant Eagle Supermarket where his girlfriend, Trenesh Biggers, had taken refuge, according to a police affidavit that supports his arrest.

She told police Mr. Angle, who already had abused her physically, had been stalking her from outside a Starbucks where she was using a computer to send e-mails.

She said she was afraid to use her home computer because Mr. Angle lives there, the affidavit said.

She called police after she again saw him circling the supermarket parking lot.

In addition to the PFA violation, Mr. Angle also was arraigned on charges of harassment, possession of the human growth hormone Hygetropin, and possession of a syringe to use the controlled substance, police said.

Mr. Angle told police the drug is prescribed to him legally, the affidavit said.

Police ordered his car, a Cadillac, to be towed from the scene because Mr. Angle’s license is suspended in connection with a previous drunken driving arrest.

After police were dispatched this morning, an officer pulled over his car on Park Manor and Robinson Town Center Drive.

During the traffic stop, Mr. Angle told police he and Ms. Biggers had an altercation last night. He said Moon police removed him from his residence.

He denied stalking Ms. Biggers, claiming he was looking for a hotel in which to stay since he was barred from his home.

Ms. Biggers reported to police that Mr. Angle had taken possession of her Blackberry cell phone, and that she feared he was erasing text messages and photos that showed injuries she suffered during their altercation.

Police recovered the cell phone and returned it to her.

Mr. Angle will face a preliminary hearing scheduled at 10 a.m. Tuesday before District Judge Carla Swearingen in Robinson.Pro wrestler Kurt Angle is free on bond following his arrest today on charges that he violated a protection of abuse order obtained by his girlfriend earlier in the morning.

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After bludgeoning Frank Mir to retain the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight championship at the hyped UFC 100, the former pro wrestling star decided to put on a real show.

Lesnar ran around the octagon flipping off the Mandalay Bay Events Center crowd with both middle fingers. He shouted at Mir as the challenger sat on a stool trying to regain his equilibrium. Mir stood up and they went sort of nose-to-broken nose before Lesnar cackled with laughter.

In the post-fight interview, Lesnar encouraged the booing fans to “keep going” before continuing to taunt Mir.

No one and nothing was spared. Lesnar even turned his attention to the UFC itself, which paid him an estimated $3 million for the fight, pointing at the giant Bud Light advertisement in the middle of the octagon.

“I’m drinking a cooler full of Coors Light, Coors Light because Bud Light won’t pay me anything.”

Anything for the children at home, big guy?

“Hell, I might even get on top of my wife tonight.”

With his clown-show antics, Brock Lesnar just became the greatest villain in modern fighting. From refusing to tap gloves prefight in a sportsmanlike ritual to this over-the-top rant that came right out of the silly wrestling circus.

“Straight WWE,” said a stunned Dana White, the president of the UFC. “Brock went so far over the top tonight I can’t even describe it. I don’t think in the history of the UFC we’ve ever done anything like that.”

Postfight, White pushed his way into Lesnar’s crowded locker room and took the big guy into the bathroom for a private “discussion.” Lesnar himself described it as “a whip-the-dog session.”

“With women in here you don’t want to know what I said,” White said. It worked, Brock showed up at the press conference smiling, supposedly contrite and even drinking a Bud Light.

“First and foremost I want to apologize,” Lesnar said. “I acted very unprofessionally after the fight. I screwed up and I apologize. I apologize to Bud Light. I’m not biased, I drink any beer.”

It was mostly a chance for laugh lines, but it was still an apology. Lesnar said the pent-up energy of avenging a loss to Mir caused him to go crazy. “I’m a sore loser,” he said. “I don’t like to get beat. I believe I gave that fight to him. So there was a lot of emotion in this fight for me.

“Man, I was so jacked up. I’m used to selling pay-per-view tickets. I come from a business that is purely the entertainment business.”

And so that was the excuse. Lesnar didn’t flip, he just flipped the switch back into Vince McMahon’s operation where nothing is too over the top. The UFC, however, is real and it has tried to position itself not as a blood sport but one based on sportsmanship and mutual respect.

Lesnar did the UFC no favors in that regard. And neither did veteran Dan Henderson, who dropped a vicious forearm smash on an already knocked out and prone Michael Bisping on the undercard. Henderson then admitted he did it on purpose to avenge prefight trash talk. The UFC even went on to award him its $100,000 “knockout of the night” bonus. White also gave Henderson a talking to, but Henderson still said it “felt good.”

The damage done to the UFC’s mainstream momentum remains to be seen. While some will be repulsed, others will be drawn in. It’s cage fighting, after all. Things get out of hand.

That this occurred on the promotion’s biggest night, when the numerical significance of the card was expected to bring in a large first-time audience, wasn’t appreciated by the UFC. The night was electric and highly entertaining. And while it is likely to most offend people who weren’t disposed to giving mixed martial arts a chance in the first place, White was aghast at Lesnar’s act. This isn’t what he built. This isn’t what he wanted.

“What he’s doing out there tonight is not real,” White said. “You don’t have to act like something you’re not. This isn’t the WWE. I don’t ask these guys to act crazy so we get more pay per views. That’s not the business I’m in.”

In the meantime, the cementing of Lesnar’s reputation as the promotion’s most hated man is done.

“Brock hasn’t made himself very loveable,” White said. “They hate Brock.” For the UFC, a classic villain is business gold. He’s the ultimate leading man for the organization. Some loathe him. Some love him. No one can ignore him. For those seeking his comeuppance however, there isn’t a WWE storyline that can be written to stop him.

Lost in the antics was Lesnar’s performance, a brilliant effort that showed both his growth as a mixed martial artist and the immense potential. The question becomes, who the heck can tame this mountain of a man from the Minnesota woods?

Shane Carwin? Cain Velasquez? Mir in a final chapter of a trilogy of fights? No doubt they’ll get a chance, and no doubt they stand a chance.

The greatest beneficiary of each Lesnar snarl, however, lives in Stary Oskol, Russia, a man named Fedor Emelianenko who is considered the No. 1 heavyweight (if not pound-for-pound fighter) in the world. If anyone has the knockout power to stop the 6-3, 265-pound Lesnar, it’s Emelianenko.

Fedor doesn’t fight in the UFC though. He’s with its rival promotion, Affliction. He’ll fight Aug. 1 in Anaheim, Calif., in what is the last match of his contract. Affliction is hoping to re-sign him until 2012, but the UFC will come hard after him. More now then ever. And that means money, big money.

“Eventually Fedor is going to be here,” White said. “I want Fedor. We’ll end up getting that deal done and then we’ll do Brock vs. Fedor and we’ll do a huge fight.”

Time will tell, but the pressure to sign the elusive Russian has been ratcheted up. A villain was born and there isn’t an obvious superhero in sight. The UFC brought Brock Lesnar over from the WWE for just this kind of a sensation. And the big man has delivered – the good, the bad and the embarrassing.

Only Dana White has no scriptwriters that can contain him.

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By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Former University of Minnesota wrestling All-American Brock Lesnar, the current Ultimate Fighting Champion heavyweight title holder, took a swipe at President Obama in an interview and bragged that he is “built like a black man” as he credited God — and not steroids — for his physique.

Lesnar’s smorgasbord of comments came in an interview with Maxim that was published in May and posted Friday on Fightline.com, a website that covers mixed-martial arts, ultimate fighting and other forms of professional wrestling.

Lesnar was a two-time All-American and 2000 NCAA heavyweight champion for the Gophers. His post-college career took off when he became a star with the WWE for two years, a part of his life that he recalled with some regret.

“You live a double life,” the 285-pound Lesnar said. “I was tired of trying to be who I was in the ring and then coming home for two days to be normal. They didn’t allow you to be. The guys who get out are the smart ones, really and truly.”

Lesnar also took a swipe at President Obama when talking about having money for the first time in his life while in the WWE.

“I acted foolishly,” he said in the interview, noting the he owned four homes (one in western Hennepin County), a private plane, two Hummers and a Mercedes. Asked whether he has saved for retirement, he responded: “That’s private. But if Obama keeps spending our money like this, I’ll have to fight till I’m 50.”

Concerning steroids and his ability to stay ripped, Lesnar said.

“I bet you I’ve taken over 60 steroid tests. In college, I had 15 random drug tests in two years. I’ve taken drug tests for the NFL, the WWE, the UFC. I must be pretty good at masking steroids. God gave me this body: Are you jealous of it or what? Give me a break.

“I got the genetics of–not to get into racism or anything–but I’m built like a black man. Would you say so?”

One day before his 32nd birthday, Lesnar defends his UFC title vs. Frank Mir on July 11 in Las Vegas. Lesnar won the championship from Randy Couture last November.

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The question was more on people’s minds during old-school pro wrestling’s heyday than in recent years, largely because the Ultimate Fighter has answered a lot of questions about putting guys with different backgrounds into an arena and seeing what styles come out on top.

In the early days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, many amateur champion wrestlers fared well simply through takedowns and the ability to control and keep opponents on their back.
But in today’s mixed martial arts, you have to be a well-rounded fighter, with knowledge of wrestling or judo for balance, jiu-jitsu for submission awareness and avoidance, and both boxing and kickboxing techniques.
Brock Lesnar isn’t coming to UFC to answer any age-old questions. He’s coming because it’s a sport he’s watched since its inception, and now after more than a year of full-time training, after trying pro wrestling and pro football, he feels that it’s the sport he was put on earth to participate in.

Lesnar, 30, who is expected to debut for UFC on Feb. 2 in Las Vegas against an opponent not yet named, is the most famous and likely the most expensive newcomer the UFC has ever signed.
“I’ve had one MMA fight, and he was a tuna can or whatever,” said Lesnar about his debut, a fight on June 2, when he dismantled 1996 Olympic judo silver medalist Min Soo Kim of South Korea in a K-1 Hero’s event at the Los Angeles Coliseum. “What I want to prove is Brock Lesnar should be taken seriously. This isn’t a joke for me. I’m spending countless hours trying to learn every discipline, so when I step into the octagon, I’ll be well prepared. I’m not setting myself up for defeat. That’s not my mentality.“

Lesnar beat Kim in just one minute, nine seconds, immediately taking him down, and knocking him out with punches from the top. Little was learned about the state of Lesnar’s all-around game. What was learned is Lesnar is incredibly quick for his size, which anyone who saw him wrestle amateur already knew, and he has an explosive takedown.
We also learned he has natural punching power when on top of his opponent on the ground. The velocity of his short punches on top were said by ringside onlookers to be similar to Fedor Emelianenko.
As for the rest of his game, those questions are yet to be answered. We know he’s fast. We know he’s strong. We know he’s a disciplined athlete and a hard trainer. Can he take a punch or block a kick? Is his overall striking game good? Can he avoid submissions? Can he apply submissions?

Some hearing that a former World Wrestling Entertainment champion is coming into UFC would automatically jump to the conclusion that it’s a freak-show attraction and nothing more than a gimmick to sell tickets.
They would be partially correct. It is a ploy to sell tickets, but as a national heavyweight champion in junior college in 1998, and NCAA Division I champ at Minnesota in 2000, Lesnar’s athletic ability can’t be questioned.
He brings to the table more than wrestling credentials. He’s a freak as an athlete. His combination of size, strength and speed is on the level of an NFL first-round draft choice. But none of that guarantees he’ll be a great fighter.
Several previous NCAA champions have entered MMA with mixed results. Randy Couture (Oklahoma State) and Matt Hughes (Eastern Illinois) became legends. Lesnar’s freestyle wrestling is better than Couture’s, and he’s a guy who cuts weight to make the 265-pound weight limit, a huge heavyweight as opposed to a small heavyweight trying to use wrestling to manhandle bigger foes.

But many wrestlers haven’t fared as well. And while you can talk about his college wrestling all day long, the fact is, he’s in UFC this early and getting a two-year contract because he can wrestle and because he was a star in pro wrestling. K-1 paid him $500,000 on the books for his debut, and every MMA group looking to make itself a name had to have interest in him.
Lesnar was only one facet of a news conference held Thursday by the company and headed by company president Dana White, covering a multitude of issues, including signing a new three-year contract with Spike TV, the failure to reach a deal with HBO, and the present and future of Couture.

“Brock Lesnar is the real deal,” White said. “He’s a young guy, athletic, great credentials and he’s done the right things to make the transitions. Guys I know who are training with him say he’s going to be a great fighter.“
Lesnar walked out on the WWE in 2004, shortly after signing a new $1 million-per-year guaranteed contract through 2010 because he grew to hate the arduous travel schedule. And, in the back of his mind, he wanted to play pro football before the window of opportunity closed. After never playing the sport since high school, he asked the WWE to let him out of his contract, saying he wanted to play in the NFL. WWE agreed, but in his release papers, the company decreed he couldn’t participate in either pro wrestling with a rival organization, or MMA, anywhere in the world for the duration of the contract.
Lesnar went to the Minnesota Vikings camp and played in several preseason games in 2004 before being a late cut. But the Vikings were impressed enough to recommend him for NFL Europe, but one of the key reasons he left wrestling was that he was never home to see his family, in particular his young daughter, and his wife, former well-known wrestling personality and Playboy cover model Rena “Sable” Mero. Plus, he now admits, he was relieved the day he was cut. He was so far behind when it came to football that he realized it wasn’t for him.

“You have to feel confident and I didn’t,” Lesnar said about his brief NFL experience. “I realized I was unprepared at the Vikings training camp. I was thinking to myself, ‘What am I doing here?’ Because of my lack of experience, I felt it wasn’t for me.“
The next problem was his WWE release. He began wrestling in Japan, even though the release prohibited it, leading to a lengthy court fight. He argued that the WWE was keeping him from making a living during the prime of his athletic life.
In the settlement, Lesnar was allowed to do basically anything he wanted to do. Although he doesn’t talk bad about WWE today, Lesnar said he liked the wrestling itself, just grew to despise the travel and didn’t like what it was doing to his body.
In MMA, Lesnar says he has found his true calling. Time and circumstances simply didn’t allow it to happen until now.
“I’ve never felt fighting isn’t for me,” he said. “It’s come fast and feels natural. People who have been around like Pat Miletich, Sean Sherk and Greg Nelson (his current main trainer) have all said this comes naturally to me, and it’s nice to hear that from people of that caliber.“
Lesnar feels the difference between him and college wrestling stars who didn’t make it in MMA is that he knows that college wrestling alone will never make him UFC champion. Instead of concentrating his training on what he does best — his wrestling — his focus is on the other aspects of the sport.

“I know and understand my wrestling capabilities aren’t going to make me a champion in this sport,” he said. “I train wrestling, but I spend more time training my hands and training jiu-jitsu.
“My No. 1 goal is to win my first fight, and work my way to being heavyweight champion.“
Lesnar was 55-3 in two years at Minnesota after being 51-2 at Bismarck Junior College. He finished second in the Division I tournament to Stephen Neal in 1999, who ironically accomplished what Lesnar didn’t in becoming an NFL player (with the New England Patriots) without playing high school ball. In 2000, Lesnar was NCAA champion.
Largely because of his physique and natural power, several pro wrestling organizations were interested in him. Lesnar had already decided he wasn’t going to pursue the Olympics. MMA was near death at this point, and as much as he wanted to do it a few years earlier, he didn’t consider it an option.
After winning the championship, he decided he had three viable options. He could stay in college one more year, get his degree, and play football for the Golden Gophers. He could join the WWE, which offered him $250,000 guaranteed per year to start, an almost unheard of figure for somebody who had never worked their way up the ranks. Or he could try out for the NFL, as Tony Dungy, then coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a Golden Gophers alum, recruited him after watching him dominate on the college mats.

“I was a kid from South Dakota who didn’t have two nickels to rub together and the WWE deal was a sure thing,” he said. “They guaranteed me the money and football only offered me a tryout. I chose WWE. But I always regretted I didn’t at least do the tryout first.“
White said he was going to heavily market Lesnar’s debut to the pro wrestling audience.
“I think a lot of people are going to be curious to see if he can really fight,” said the UFC president. “He’s an athlete capable of fighting. Not to say the rest of them (pro wrestlers) aren’t athletes. I think a lot of WWE fans are going to tune in to see if this guy can really fight.“
White acknowledged that he never had any interest in using pro wrestlers, although he did negotiate with Kurt Angle, an Olympic gold medalist before going pro, in the past.

UFC also announced the signing of a three-year contract renewal with Spike TV, that gives the network cable exclusivity on the product through 2011. The contract calls for two seasons of Ultimate Fighter in 2008 and 2009, and one each in 2010 and 2011. It also calls for a weekly live TV fight that would debut in 2010. It also calls for a minimum of four UFC Fight Night specials, a similar schedule as the current deal, as well as 13 new episodes per year of UFC Unleashed.
The agreement would allow UFC to negotiate a deal with a broadcast network or a premium channel like HBO, but not a rival cable channel like ESPN.

White also bent over backward to praise Couture, noting he still considers him heavyweight champion and no matter what has happened, is looking to settle things with him.
“The title isn’t vacant until Randy Couture tells me face-to-face he’s retired,” White said. “Randy Couture is a guy I have a ton of respect for. I’m going to try and work this out.“

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Olympic gold medalist and professional wrestling star Kurt Angle was charged Friday with driving under the influence.

Moon Township police said they received a call from a motorist at 1:49 p.m. complaining that someone driving a white Cadillac nearly struck his vehicle in a restaurant parking lot.

The motorist, who gave police the vehicle’s license plate number, also said the Cadillac was driving erratically on Beaver Grade Road and almost hit a traffic sign. Police tracked the Cadillac to Angle’s residence, which they did not identify.

Angle, 38, who has admitted an addiction to painkillers, told police he had been at the restaurant and driven home. He failed a sobriety test but refused a blood test. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance and careless driving. He was released to appear in court at a later date.

Angle, a Mount Lebanon native, is the current Total Nonstop Action Wrestling world champion. He could not be reached for comment.

A standout athlete at Mount Lebanon High School, Angle was a two-time NCAA Division 1 wrestling champion at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. He also won a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

In 1991 he joined the World Wrestling Federation, where he won numerous accolades. He left the organization, which had morphed into World Wrestling Entertainment, last year.

He joined TNA in September 2006 and soon after admitted to a painkiller addiction. He said last November, however, that he had been drug-free for more than a year.

In March, Sports Illustrated reported that Angle was one of dozens of prominent athletes to receive steroids from a Florida wellness center. Angle disputed the report on his Web site.

Angle and his wife, Karen, who has appeared with him ringside, have two children.

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By Kyle Klingman – TWM Columnist
Please send comments, questions or replies to: info@thewrestlingmall.com

When conversations arise about great United States freestyle Olympic wrestling teams the athletes who competed at the 1972 Munich Games are usually at the top of the list. Not only was it one of the best teams but it was a unique team, a rare combination of differing personalities that ranged from devout Christians (John & Ben Peterson and Gene Davis), a training fanatic who revolutionized the sport (Dan Gable), a radical hippie (Rick Sanders), the heaviest Olympic athlete ever, (Chris Taylor), a 17-year old high school student (Jimmy Carr), and a wrestler who was studying for the bar exam while training for Olympics (Wayne Wells).

But was this the greatest Olympic wrestling team ever? Certainly the medal count from the 1972 freestyle squad lends credibility to those who make the claim that this often-talked about team stands alone at the top. In an era of Soviet wrestling domination (their teams won seven out of eight world team titles from 1962 through 1971) the United States put up an impressive medal count that year. In all, the U.S. freestyle team won six medals, including three golds, two silvers, and a bronze.

When looking through every fully contested Olympics since World War II only one team can match the medal haul that the 1972 team turned in. Twenty years later the freestyle wrestlers that competed at Barcelona in 1992 turned in the exact same medal count as their 1972 counterparts. It was three golds, two silvers, and a bronze once again as the boys from Barcelona made their push as the greatest freestyle team ever.

Note: The 1984 team deserves mentioning as one of the best teams ever as their medal total was impressive. The freestyle team won seven gold medals and two silvers, the highest gold medal and medal percentage since World War II. However, the Soviet-bloc boycott makes it hard to know where to place this team as 23 of the 30 medalists from the previous year’s world championships were not in attendance. It is also impossible to rank the 1980 team because they did not compete due to a U.S. boycott.

While it is pure speculation on anyone’s part it appears that the 1972 and 1992 United States freestyle teams stand out from the rest of the pack. Trying to pick a clear winner between the two is tricky. Because of rule changes to the sport over the last century making a comparison between the two teams is nearly impossible.

For example, matches in 1972 were nine minutes in length with no technical falls whereas matches in 1992 were six minutes with technical falls occurring when a wrestler had scored 15 more points than his opponent. Because of this fact a wrestler from either era would train differently for different kind of matches.

Another major factor between the two teams was the weigh-in rules. In 1972 wrestlers had to make scratch weight two hours prior to the start of the first match competed that day. By 1992 you still had to make scratch weight every day but wrestlers weighed in the night before which meant approximately 12 hours of recovery time versus two to three hours 20 years earlier.

Unfortunately for wrestling fans, FILA (the dubious governing body of international wrestling) has changed the rules of the sport more times than Steve Mocco has used his foot sweep. For FILA it doesn’t matter when and where they change the rules. If something sounds interesting they’ll do.

You won’t have to look any further than what they did prior to the 1992 Olympics to see the ridiculousness of how this poorly run organization works. At Olympic Trials wrestlers were not put down for passivity. Then, a month before the Olympics, they change the rules so that wrestlers are put down for passivity while caution and disqualification procedures were eliminated.

Virtually every rule that was in place in 1972 was different by 1992. Passivity was called differently, techniques were approached differently, and the par terre position was restructured. The sport had changed completely over a 20 year period. Even the way a wrestler won a gold medal was different. In 1972 the black mark system was in place and the winner of the round robin was declared the winner. In 1992 the winner from pool A wrestled the winner from pool B.

Nonetheless, I’m ready to put the 1972 and 1992 U.S. Olympic freestyle teams to the test to decide once and for all what team can be called the greatest ever. In the tradition of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton this dispute will be settled in a mythical dual meet between the two legendary squads. (Only nobody will die).

Continue Reading

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“When a new book is published, read an old one” – Samuel Rogers, British poet

By Kyle Klingman – TWM Columnist

The history of wrestling in books is fascinating. From the beginning, wrestling held a prominent place in writing. The Epic of Gilgamesh, considered by many to be oldest surviving piece of literature, features a wrestling match between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The story of the ancient Sumerian ruler predates the Bible and the Homeric epics (both of which include wrestling) by over 1000 years.

Through the ages books have been viewed as both good and evil. Perhaps the greatest holder of books was the Royal Library of Alexandria. The Egyptian library was formed in the 3rd century B.C. during the rule of Ptolemy II. It is estimated that over 500,000 scrolls were kept there at its zenith.

Upon arrival to the great city of Alexandria all books were confiscated. Ptolemy III ordered that all visitors were to give up any writing in their possession. The scrolls were taken and copied by scribes with the original being placed in the library and a duplicate copy given to the original owner.

Unfortunately, this great library was destroyed and a tremendous amount of history and knowledge was taken with it. One of the world’s great mysteries is who was responsible for annihilation of this great museum. According to scientist Carl Sagan we would be on Mars if that library was still in existence.

The Library of Congress in Washington D.C. met with a similar fate. During the War of 1812 British armies burned most of the capital, including the Library of Congress. In an attempt to restore what once was Thomas Jefferson offered to restock the library with his personal collection under two conditions. They had to take it all and they had to set the price. Jefferson’s collection remains in the library to this day.

The Library of Congress is currently the largest library in the world. Each day approximately 7000 books are added to the over 100 million already there.

Although wrestling has a rich and storied past there are very few books that deal exclusively with the sport. Most books about wrestling are of a technical nature, teaching holds and moves to improve performance for competition. Followers of wrestling like to boast how their sport is mankind’s oldest and greatest but very few people have taken the initiative to document experiences involving amateur wrestling in written form.

Within the next several months wrestling fans will see that number rise. A History of Collegiate Wrestling by Jay Hammond, Never Stop Pushing by Rulon Gardner, Victory by Steve Fraser, No Excuses: The True Story of a Congenital Amputee Who Became a Champion in Wrestling and in Life by Kyle Maynard and Wrestling Tough by Mike Chapman are all books scheduled for release before the first of the year. This comes at a time when wrestling needs more positive exposure. Historical documentation is of critical importance for the preservation of any sport. That is why these four books will be welcome additions to personal and public libraries across the nation.

There are several good books about wrestling already available that any fan of wrestling should consider reading. The following list of ten are not “how to” books. Rather they are books about wrestling and what we can learn from the sport.

Encyclopedia of American Wrestling by Mike Chapman (1990)
This is the most comprehensive book written on amateur wrestling. For this reason alone it is the most important book published about the sport in recent years. The Encyclopedia of American Wrestling contains place winners and records from virtually every major tournament imaginable from 1888 through 1988.

The following is a list of tournaments the book covers:
• Olympic Games
• World Championships
• Pan-Am Games
• World Cup
• Tbilisi Tournament
• AAU National Freestyle Tournament
• United States Freestyle Senior Open
• Greco-Roman Nationals
• NCAA tournament – Division I, II, and III
• Junior College National Tournament
• Midlands Championships
• Junior Nationals
• Junior World Tournament

Also crucial to the book are the detailed introductions given before each chapter. This gives the reader insights into the evolution and formation of all the tournaments listed. This is especially useful when reviewing the AAU and USWF national tournaments because of the long and bitter dispute between the AAU and USA Wrestling during the 1960s and beyond.

This book is no longer in print and can only be found used. Chapman has also written 11 other books on wrestling, all of which are recommended.
Wrestling: On & Off the Mat by Wayne Baughman features a section devoted to great names in the sport of wrestling where Baughman shares his thoughts on some the nation’s finest wrestlers.

Wrestling: On & Off the Mat by Wayne Baughman (1987)

Wayne Baughman is truly original. Here is a guy who is willing to stick his neck out on the line and not apologize for it (example – claiming Tommy Evans would have beaten Dan Gable in college and ranking Dave Schultz as the greatest wrestler ever). The book contains insights that only a man of Baughman’s experience is qualified to give.

As a wrestler Baughman has done it all. The former Oklahoma Sooner won 16 national titles in folkstyle, freestyle, Greco-Roman, and Sambo and was a member of three Olympic and eight World teams. He was also the head coach for the 1976 freestyle Olympic team.

Approximately a quarter of the book is autobiographical with the rest of the book filled with stories, secrets, strategies, and thoughts on the sport. Baughman doesn’t limit his writing to wrestling though. He also talks about his experiences in other sports such as running, triathlons, and boxing.

One of the more interesting accounts is when Baughman explains how he ran two 100 mile races at an average elevation of 10,000 feet on training that consisted of the same four mile run, six days a week (an average of 24 miles per week). There is also a section devoted to great names in the sport of wrestling where Baughman shares his thoughts on some the nation’s finest wrestlers.

Not only is this book thought provoking, but it is filled with an honest assessment of where wrestling has succeeded and failed. Baughman is one of the few wrestling greats who have taken the time to document his experiences in wrestling.

The Cowboys Ride Again: The History of Wrestling’s Dynasty by Bob & Doris Dellinger (1994)

The Oklahoma State wrestling program is arguably the most successful in NCAA history. Cowboy wrestling teams are the proud owners of 33 NCAA team titles, which are 13 more than the University of Iowa’s 20. They are also the only school that can lay claim to winning the NCAA wrestling tournament in every decade since the tournament began in 1928.

The Cowboys Ride Again begins with the 1994 season when Pat Smith attempts to become the first four-time NCAA champion in Division I wrestling history and the quest for the school’s 30th team wrestling title. The book then delves into past seasons and personalities from Oklahoma State’s first coach A.M. Colville through the hiring of John Smith as the seventh head coach in school history.

Throughout the book are lots of pictures and stories that capture the essence of a great sporting dynasty. Not only does Dellinger give the history of Oklahoma State wrestling but he also shows how college wrestling has evolved over the years. There are also records and year-by-year results listed through 1994 in the back of the book.

A Season on the Mat: Dan Gable and the Pursuit of Perfection by Nolan Zavoral (1998)

At the height of his coaching powers there was perhaps nobody greater than Dan Gable. As head coach of the University of Iowa Dan Gable set the standard for coaching excellence. During his 21 year head coaching career he led the Hawkeye’s to 15 NCAA team titles, 21 Big Ten team titles, and a 355-21-5 dual meet record.

A Season on the Mat documents the University of Iowa’s 1997 wrestling season, which, incidentally, was to be Gable’s last year as head coach. Interspersed throughout the book are details about Gable’s life growing up in hometown of Waterloo, Iowa and his career as a high school, college, and international wrestler.

Zavarol gives readers a rare glimpse into one of the greatest athletic programs ever. This is the only major book that documents an entire college wrestling season from the first dual meet to the culmination of the season and beyond.

Sports Wars: Athletes in the Age of Aquarius by David W. Zang (2001)

The importance of Sports Wars lies in where wrestling is placed among other popular athletic contests. Included in the book are seven chapters that deal with the conflict of ideals and the cultural clash seen through sports in the 1960’s and 70’s. Names like Joe Namath, Muhammad Ali, John Lennon, Bill Walton and Y.A. Tittle are mentioned throughout the book.

The second chapter is titled Toil and Trouble: A Parable of Hard Work and Fun and deals with the contrast in personalities of wrestlers Rick Sanders and Dan Gable. The chapter starts out with two quotes that set the tone for the text:

Gable trains as if he’s going to row stroke on a slave galley. – Leo Davis, The Oregonian, 1972

I’d bang on the wall many times at night in no uncertain terms, telling Rick to get his ass to bed, shut that music off. He had the girls in there and they were – I’m pretty sure – smoking dope. – Wayne Wells, 1972 U.S. Olympic wrestling team captain

Most of the chapter is based around the uniquely different approach to wrestling between Sanders and Gable during preparation for, and competition at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Adding to the flavor of the writing are accounts from those individuals who were around both athletes. John & Ben Peterson, Gene Davis, Sergio Gonzalez, Wayne Baughman, Bobby Douglas, Jim Peckham, Bill Farrell, and Don Behm are just a few of the wrestlers and coaches who give their thoughts on what went on during an influential time in wrestling history.

The Games Do Count: America’s Best and Brightest on the Power of Sports by Brian Kilmeade (2004)

Amateur wrestling prides itself on the values the sport instills. In The Games Do Count, Brian Kilmead has compiled stories from 74 prominent people about how sports have influenced their life. Included in this list are 10 individuals who had a background in wrestling. They are:

1. Geraldo Rivera, Television Journalist
2. Henry Cravis, Co-Founder of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co.
3. Robin Williams, Actor
4. David Pottruck, Co-CEO of Charles Schwab
5. John McCain, U.S Senator
6. Hank Paulson, CEO and Chairman of Goldman Sachs
7. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House
8. John Irving, Author
9. Jeremy Glick, Hero from Flight 93 during the 9/11 terrorist attacks
10. Steve Doocy, Television News and Weather Anchor

Like Sports Wars, wrestling is given mainstream exposure by using several well-known people as a platform.

A Distant Flame by Jack Van Bebber (1992)

As an undefeated three-time NCAA champion for Oklahoma A&M and 1932 Olympic champion, Jack Van Bebber is an essential link to the past. Very little has been written about the early days of college wrestling and his book reveals the hard life of a wrestler during the depression. Van Bebber also gives remembrances about his legendary coach E.C. Gallagher and the demanding schedule he had to keep during college.

Early in his life there was doubt whether Van Bebber would be able to compete in any sport. As a school boy he was severely injured in a wagon accident and had to overcome a tremendous amount of adversity to stay in wrestling.

The climax of the book is his experience at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. Due to a scheduling change Van Bebber had to run from the Olympic Village to the wrestling venue in order to make his final match for the gold medal. This is an inspiring book about one of America’s best wrestlers ever.

The Imaginary Girlfriend by John Irving (1996)

John Irving is among the greatest fiction writers of this generation. Five of his books have been made into motion pictures and he won an Oscar for The Cider House Rules in 1999. Novels such as The World According to Garp and The 158-pound Marriage include wrestling as a prominent theme.

The Imaginary Girlfriend is a memoir reflecting solely on Irving’s 33 years involved with wrestling (which he notes is three times longer than his time spent as a student and teacher). Most of his novels are long but the writing in this book is concise and crisp.

Irving has often said that he feels a closer bond with the wrestling community than he does with the world of writing and this is evident in his book. There are wonderful stories about his experiences at Exeter prep school, attempting to make the wrestling team at Pittsburgh University, trying to maintain order as a referee, and teaching his sons how to wrestle. There is also a chapter devoted to his time spent with Dan Gable.

Because the influence Irving has, it is valuable to learn about how his time in wrestling affects his life.

Vision Quest by Terry Davis (1979)

“The truest novel about growing up since Catcher in the Rye”. – John Irving

Olympic Wrestling Throughout the Millennia by Raiko Petrov (1993)

Wrestling is contested in many different ways. The first half of this book is a systematic breakdown of various forms of wrestling throughout the world. However, the central theme is Olympic wrestling and how it has evolved from the ancient form until know. Included are records of the earliest Olympic wrestling champions as well as modern day placewinners. Petrov also examines the motives and objectives for wrestling.

The second half of the book is of equal value. Presented are full color photographs that range from historic wrestling statues, artwork, and carvings to Americans John Smith, Kevin Jackson, and Zeke Jones wrestling at the 1992 Olympics. Olympic Wrestling Throughout the Millennia is an all-inclusive book covering virtually every aspect of wrestling.

Other Suggestions:
• They Call it Wrestling: A Pictorial Anthology of the American Wrestler by Wade Schalles (1983)
• Mat Snacks by Jack Spates (1999)
• Make it Happen by Mitch Clark (1999)
• The New Breed: Living Iowa Wrestling by Lou Banach with Mike Chapman (1985)
• Two Guys Named Dan by Mike Chapman (1976)
• It’s True! It’s True! by Kurt Angle (2001)
• Speaker by Denny Hastert (2004)
• Wrestling Sturbridgeby Rich Wallace (1996)
• The Legend of Dan Gable the Wrestler by Russ Smith (1974)
• Mat Power: Lehigh Wrestling Highlights by Denny Diehl (1997)

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I hope the hype of our announcements last night lived up to or exceeded your expectations. In this industry, it is very hard to keep anything quiet. We are thrilled to have Kurt Angle join our team. Just like with all of our wrestlers, Kurt’s family and health will always come first. I’m sure you will be hearing from him in the coming weeks.

I asked Kurt’s agent to provide me with a quote for our announcement release. Most times a publicist, manager or agent will prepare a statement for the talent. But after a long film shoot in Nashville last week that ended at midnight, Kurt sat down and hand wrote his heartfelt comments on a hotel note pad. Instead of just pulling a small part from that to use in the press release, I thought his fans would love to share in his full emotions from that night:

“Being with TNA feels like I have finally found my home. I had fun in WWE at certain times, but I was never really happy. Now being a part of TNA, I know I have a purpose. I feel like I am part of history, part of a company that is not only on the rise – not only going to be the number-one watched wrestling show in the world within a short period of time – but TNA gives me an opportunity to spread my wings. This company has no limits to where it can go. The sky is the limit and the main reason is because they brought the “real” back into wrestling and that is a perfect fit for the greatest wrestler in USA Olympic history. I have room to grow here and to help TNA grow. Working for these caring and very giving employers of TNA makes me feel like I have a purpose and that the sky is the limit. I don’t feel trapped or held back like I did the first six years in my tenure with the other company. They held me back. Now, our wonderful audience will see the real Kurt Angle doing what I love to do – real wrestling – and that’s what puts a smile on my face each time I come to work. I even smile when I think about it. TNA will be the most watched television show on cable television. It’s only a matter of time. Now, I get the opportunity and privilege of being a part of it. Thank you TNA for saving my career, my life and my desire to do what I love. I will be here in some capacity for the rest of my life. That’s real…that’s damn real.” – Kurt Angle

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Real Fighter magazine will carry an exclusive feature on Angle in the November/December 2006 issue, (on newsstands 11/24) in which the former Olympic Gold Medalist wrestling great will explain what motivated him to jump into the challenging sport of MMA. You won’t want to miss it — and you won’t read it anywhere else.

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Kurt Angle didn’t even follow pro wrestling until he joined World Wrestling Entertainment – then known as the World Wrestling Federation – in 1998.

He was a 1996 Olympic gold medalist who had never really shown an interest in the professional side of the sport until WWE came calling with a lucrative offer.

But he took to pro wrestling like a duck to water, and his love affair with the game blossomed.

He showed the same intensity and determination in the pro ranks that he had displayed during an amateur career that included two NCAA Division I titles as a three-time NCAA All-American at Pennsylvania’s Clarion University.

Angle, who combined technique with credibility and charisma, was on the fast track to superstardom the first night the Pittsburgh native stepped into a WWE ring, adding virtually every major title to his collection.

In eight relatively short years Angle went on to win the WWE heavyweight title on four occasions and became one of the most celebrated performers in company history. For much of the time, though, he couldn’t pop pills fast enough to mask the pain in his rapidly deteriorating body.

Driven to succeed

Perhaps the one word that best describes Angle is driven.

Twenty-four hours after his father died in a construction accident at the age of 55, the all-state linebacker competed in a varsity high school football game, despite the pleas of friends and family, making 16 solo tackles, two touchdowns and one interception, the best football game he would ever play.

Angle displayed the same drive and resilience when he went into the finals of the freestyle wrestling competition at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta with a broken neck, while doctors warned him that he risked paralysis by continuing. Angle not only found a way to compete, but he found a way to win, admitting that he trained so ferociously that he would make himself sick.

It was no different in the pro ranks. His cocky in-ring character and mic ability drew natural comparisons to The Rock. But he had a physical toughness that no one in the company could match.

“I believe I was meant to win the gold medal. But I feel more comfortable in this ring than I did the amateur wrestling ring. And that’s a tough thing to say,” he said shortly after turning pro. “It’s amazing how I caught on. I think that’s why when I went out and tried out the first day, the second day they came up to me with a contract. They didn’t want to see anything else. That was it.”

Angle’s neck never recovered, and he blew off doctors’ requests to undergo a major operation – that would have kept him out of the ring indefinitely – in favor of quick-fix surgeries that never really worked. Ultimately they only bought him more time in the ring. But that all came with a cost.

End of the road

The 37-year-old Angle’s storied career came to a crashing halt a little more than a week ago when WWE owner Vince McMahon decided it was time to pull the plug. The Olympic hero was on a path to destruction, and everyone in the company knew it.

With Eddie Guerrero’s tragic death still fresh in the company’s collective mind, McMahon could ill afford to add yet another high-profile name to a list of stars who had all died far too soon and on his watch.

Most close to Angle admit he had become obsessed with the business, and was willing to do anything to maintain the adrenaline rush he had become so fond of. The roar of the crowd made him work even harder despite his growing pain and worsening injuries. “Vince McMahon is literally going to have to fire me in order for me to stop wrestling,” Angle had told the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this year.

The move to end the relationship may have saved Angle’s life. The jury on that, of course, is still out. There is, however, little doubt as to the outcome had he continued wrestling at the high-octane level that marked the athlete.

In the ring, he never stopped performing at that high level. Outside the ring, though, his body had been breaking down at an alarming rate. He had confided that he couldn’t get up in the morning without taking some kind of medication. His admitted addiction to painkillers had taken control of his life, and his overreliance on the chemicals only served to mask the pain.

Everyone knew it was time to cut the ties when Angle injured his groin, tore an abdominal muscle and pulled a hamstring all during the same match at an Aug. 13 event in White Plains, N.Y. The warning signs could no longer be ignored.

“Early on in the match, I pulled my groin, but I kept going, feeding off the crowd,” Angle told the company’s Web site. “Then I pulled my abdominal muscle off the pelvic bone, but I kept going as the crowd grew more wild. Finally, I blew out my hamstring, but we finished the match. The crowd stood and applauded – a standing ovation and that meant so much to me.”

“My body is so beat up and run down, I can’t even think straight,” said Angle, who has a history of heart disease. “I need my body to re-heal and rehab, I have done this for too long without a break. I haven’t been able to really enjoy my life. I haven’t seen my family, I’ve had problems with medication – I’m just fried physically and mentally.”

His business manager admitted as much.

“Kurt’s in a tremendous amount of pain, he’s used prescription medication to deal with it,” said David Hawk. “Kurt has come to the conclusion that unless he can get in the ring without the use of pain medication, then he doesn’t need to be in there. He realizes he was just endangering himself and his opponents.”

In reality, there wasn’t any other option for Angle. He had failed a drug test several months ago after large amounts of pain medication were found in his system, and was forced to sit out a 30-day suspension. The drugs weren’t going to go away, nor was Angle’s obsession to remain in a business that was literally killing him.

Ignoring the obvious

McMahon deserves credit for acknowledging the problem and openly speaking about it. The company’s new wellness policy that calls for suspensions for positive drug test or other evidence of drug use no doubt has cast an unfavorable light on some WWE performers. No longer should the company turn its back and pretend that cases such as the late Eddie Guerrero don’t exist.

Perhaps that’s why it was so strange the see the reactions of some of Angle’s colleagues concerning his departure from the ring.

Said Rey Mysterio: “I was shocked. I just couldn’t believe it. I go back a long way with Kurt, and this has really affected me. I hope he can get his issues straightened out. We all have issues with this lifestyle because it’s not easy. I hope he keeps plugging away because I’d love to see him in the ring again someday.”

Said Chavo Guerrero: “He’s a machine; there has to be something else going on.”

When told Angle was so banged up that he admitted he couldn’t enter a wrestling ring without using prescription painkillers, Guerrero offered, “This isn’t ballet. We all get banged up, but Kurt’s a different animal; he doesn’t know how to downshift into a lower gear. I wish him the best.”

Those statements seem amazing in light of the fact that Mysterio and Chavo Guerrero were probably the two closest to Eddie Guerrero on the WWE roster. That Guerrero and Mysterio should seem anything but relieved only shows that they are part of a much larger group that live in a world in which the line between fantasy and reality is blurred at the very least.

Eddie Guerrero, who died last November at the age of 38, battled demons for most of his career, and they eventually cost him his life. Kurt Angle is no different. His true friends should be rejoicing over the news that someone threw him a life raft while his head was still above water.

The truth is, had the issue not been forced, Angle would still be working in a WWE ring.

“I’ll always be in the WWE,” Angle once said in an interview. “I’ve had offers to fight and wrestle over in Japan. I’ve gotten offers for three matches for six million dollars. That’s a lot of money. But I would never leave Vince – not for what he’s done for me and what he is in this company. I’m going to stay with Vince and pursue my wrestling career for as long as I can.”

“Not to have Kurt with us is really unfortunate all the way around … but circumstances were such that Kurt should have been, and was, granted his release,” McMahon said in an official statement. “Kurt has been dealing with that pain, and the advancement of that pain, as well as other injuries. He had been dealing with that injury since he won the gold medal; he had been masking it in many ways just so he could go out and compete.”

Paul Heyman, who had foreseen Angle as the centerpiece of his ECW brand, perhaps summed it up best.

“This is the best thing for both parties. Kurt has spent his entire life driven to be the best at what he does. Kurt’s body, however, could no longer preform to the level that he envisioned for himself. Kurt was prepared to drive himself into an early grave simply to live with himself striving to be No. 1. This is a recipe for catastrophe, and taking time off to get his mind and body in sync is the only way to deal with these issues.”

Uncertain future

Thirty years of nonstop wrestling has taken a toll on Angle’s body, his mind and his family. His life has been spiraling out of control.

He is going through a divorce with his wife who is pregnant with their second child. Friends say she had spent far too much time wondering if her husband would be spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Angle admitted in an interview early last year with the Baltimore Sun that he was having trouble playing with his young daughter due to his injuries.

“If he gets to the point where he really can’t play with her, that will be it,” said wife Karen. “No matter what you have in your house, no matter how good your life is, you can’t give that up. If that’s what happens, that’s when I’ll put my foot down and make him stop.”

According to the paper, “At that moment, Kurt Angle smiled and said, ‘I’ll never stop.’”

Karen Angle divorced her husband in the summer of 2005. They briefly reconciled in early 2006, only to separate again recently.

“I think Kurt has some issues he has to face, as we all do from time to time,” said McMahon. “We all have our demons, and as human beings, it is important for us to overcome them and become better human beings, athletes and business people.”

Also uncertain is the status of Angle’s $1 million-per-year guaranteed contract that typically pays wrestlers while healing up – including drug rehab. He realizes he’ll have problems the rest of his life whether he wrestles again or not.

Two herniated discs that were putting pressure on his spine has caused him to experience numbness in his arms, hands and fingers. He can longer hear out of his left ear after having it drained more than 80 times.

The Olympic hero has always subscribed to the motto that a champion never quits and a champion never dies. Preserving his legacy has been paramount in the world of Kurt Angle. To him it was worth the risk putting his body on the line every time he stepped into the ring.

Angle’s words shortly after joining the company now sound prophetic in light of recent developments.

“It’s important to be happy with your life and what you’re doing. I know everybody has problems ? we all do, I do ? but for the most part, you want to enjoy your life and get through your problems. If you don’t like what you’re doing, try to find something that can take up your time that you can enjoy.”

Hopefully Angle will get that second chance.

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“My body is so beat up and run down, I can’t even think straight,” Kurt Angle tells WWE.com in an exclusive interview Saturday concerning his early release from his contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. Angle and WWE officials mutually agreed to end Angle’s relationship with the company on Friday.

Angle says seven years of non-stop wrestling has taken a major toll on his body, his mind and his family. “I need my body to reheal and rehab, I have done this for too long without a break. I haven’t been able to really enjoy my life. I haven’t seen my family, I’ve had problems with medication – I’m just fried physically and mentally.”

Angle’s business manager David Hawk claims, “Kurt’s in a tremendous amount of pain, he’s used prescription medication to deal with it. Kurt has come to the conclusion that unless he can get in the ring without the use of pain medication then he doesn’t need to be in there. He realizes he was just endangering himself and his opponents.”

The last straw for Angle seems to have occurred on August 13th, 2006, at an ECW live event in White Plains, New York. Angle was wrestling Rob Van Dam in a match where both competitors were fueled by the passionate ECW fans. “The crowd was wild,” Angle says. “Early on in the match, I pulled my groin, but I kept going, feeding off the crowd. Then I pulled my abdominal muscle off the pelvic bone, but I kept going as the crowd grew more wild. Finally, I blew out my hamstring, but we finished the match.. The crowd stood and applauded – a standing ovation and that meant so much to me..”

Ironically that would be Angle’s last match.

WWE.com asked Angle if he would ever return to competition in WWE. Angle says “I can’t tell you that right now, I need to heal up mentally and physically. Until then, I can’t even think about returning.”

But Angle says WWE Chairman Vince McMahon told him the door is always open. “Vince says when I’m ready, if I’m ever ready, to come back just sign on the dotted line. I’ll tell you if I do return I’m going back to my roots, training on the mat like my amateur days. Longevity is the key.”

Hawk seems confident Angle will be in the ring again someday.

Angle has a final message to his legion of WWE and ECW fans. “Don’t be concerned, this move was for the best. It was a privilege to be able to compete for all of you. I’d like to say thank you.”

WWE.com will continue to follow up on Kurt Angle over the next several months.

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The only Olympic gold medalist in WWE history, Kurt Angle arrived in 1999 and quickly became one of the most decorated champions in sports-entertainment history. “The Wrestling Machine” is not only a six-time World Champion, but also held the Intercontinental Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship; he also won the 2000 King of the Ring tournament. Recently joining ECW, Angle’s unmatched intensity was rivaled only by his technical and athletic in-ring prowess.

Angle was a two-time NCAA heavyweight champion (1990 and ‘92) and Olympic gold medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Games. 

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Struggling financially and working on a new marriage, he took a risk that not many in amateur wrestling had done in years – certainly not a person with his accolades. Angle joined the ranks of the sports entertainment business, also known as professional wrestling. At the very least, it would pay much better than his broadcasting job in Pittsburgh.

“I was running out of options really,” Angle said. “At first, I was on the side that professional wrestling will ruin amateur wrestling. I talked with a lot of people close to me, and we began to feel that with an amateur wrestler gaining that kind of exposure, maybe we could help to draw more non-traditional wrestling fans into dual meets and tournament-venues.”

Angle admits that moving into the then-WWF was hard. In 1996, he had turned down an offer he received the night after he won his Olympic gold. Jim McMahon was scurrying to find a superstar with a great personality, great look and an established name. At the time – who better than Angle?

Angle had just defeated Abbas Jadidi of Iran to win the Olympic gold in Atlanta – becoming a true American hero. In fact, in only two World-level competitions, Angle won gold, also capturing the top prize in the 1995 World Championships in Atlanta.

Gerald Brisco, the Talent Relations Director with the WWE, was excited about the possibility of pulling Angle into their world. Brisco, a former wrestler at Oklahoma State and brother of Cowboys great Jack Brisco, had started to keep an eye on amateur wrestlers, and convinced McMahon to go after Angle.

“It wasn’t hard (to convince McMahon),” Brisco said. “At the time, a lot of our talent consisted of bigger men who couldn’t move very well. Kurt was an exceptional athlete. He wasn’t as tall as we were used to, but we knew he could bring some excitement into our business. And at the time, adding an Olympic hero was also a good niche for us.”

Angle turned down the job offer in 1996, but couldn’t resist re-visiting the possibility in 1999 with not many options left to him.

How things may have been different for so many entities if Real Pro Wrestling had existed back then. Would the WWE have been able to recover from its major financial woes in the mid-90’s? Would Angle be the superstar that he is today anyways? Would real wrestling be more popular on the Olympic level?

Angle has gone on to superstar status in the WWE, capturing the championship belt on more than one occasion. He has released a book, It’s True, It’s True. But if RPW were running in 1999, would Angle had made the controversial jump over to what many in the wrestling community consider “the dark side?”

“Something like Real Pro Wrestling would have changed my entire attitude. I most likely would have never stepped into a WWE ring. At that point in my career, it was great to win a gold medal, but when I began to start a family, I needed to start thinking about a career. I still love to compete, and Real Pro Wrestling would have offered that solution at the time,” Angle said.

Angle also continues to give back to wrestling. In 2002, he funded the Kurt Angle Classic in New Orleans, which was one of the first events to showcase amateur wrestling in a different light – using pyrotechnics, live music and a more fan-friendly atmosphere. It also provided a big payday to the athletes selected to compete, which included numerous future U.S. Olympians as well as athletes from other top countries such as Russia and Belarus.

He also continues to donate to Clarion wrestling, the college program he was so successful in.

As a former athlete training for the Olympics, Angle knows all about adversity. He was one of the first wrestlers to begin designing and selling his own t-shirts, offering them to anyone with a pulse. This sometimes drew criticism from fellow American wrestlers.

“Some guys were jealous,” Angle said laughing. “But I didn’t have time, or money, to care. I was doing what I could at the time to help my training and to promote myself. Back then, everyone thought I was cocky. But now, all of the top wrestlers have web sites, products – everything. Wrestlers today are promoting themselves so much better, and that is a promising sign for this sport’s future.”

Helping to secure wrestlers financially is one of RPW’s goals for its athletes. Turning wrestling into a mainstream sport is the overall goal, but RPW has now given wrestlers an avenue to be able to train more effectively while leaving behind the stress that comes with financial difficulty.

RPW CEO and co-founder Toby Willis feels that Angle’s knowledge could be a welcome contributor to the success of the league.

“There is much real wrestling can learn from Kurt and the WWE. Competition wrestling has gone to great lengths to distance ourselves from any form of entertainment and promotion. In many ways we need to learn and copy much from the WWE and bring the important elements of fun and entertainment back into our sport. We feel this can be done tastefully and not overshadow the centrality of the competition.”

“It is ironic that while Kurt took a lot of heat for ‘going over to the dark side,’ it may be that move that helps wrestling in ways nobody ever imagined. Kurt has proven he not only was a real Olympic champion, but that he continues to identify with and help the wrestling community. Because of this, we hope to find a significant role for Kurt in RPW,” Willis added.

RPW also hopes to give a new, refreshing meaning to the term “professional wrestling.” So far, Angle is impressed.

“What (RPW) has done for the sport already is amazing,” Angle said. “The sport of wrestling continues to grow at all levels. More and more fans are going to tournaments and dual meets and it is getting more television exposure and media exposure. Now is the time for a group like this to make its move.”

And who knows – Angle may even decide to become involved as well.

“I learned in 1999 to never say never.”

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January 26, 2006, 3:07 PM EST

STAMFORD, Conn. — Wrestling star Brock Lesnar was billed as “The Next Big Thing,” but after a failed bid to play professional football he says he’s banned from performing anywhere in the world until he’s past his prime.

Lesnar, 28, has a lawsuit pending in federal court in Hartford challenging an agreement he reached with World Wrestling Entertainment, his former employer, that restricts him from working in sports entertainment until 2010.

The restrictions apply to many of the areas to which a 6-foot-3, nearly 300-pound man might aspire, from wrestling to ultimate fighting.

“Lesnar now desires to work and earn a living in the only occupation for which he has been trained and which he knows, professional wrestling, and/or the occupation for which his physical gifts and training as an amateur wrestler make him particularly well suited, professional combat sports,” Lesnar’s attorneys wrote in his lawsuit.

The ban stems from an agreement Lesnar reached with Stamford-based WWE in 2004 so he could try out for the National Football League. Lesnar was cut by the Minnesota Vikings in August 2004.

Lesnar contends in court papers that the agreement is unreasonably broad and unfair and prevents him from earning a living anywhere. His attorneys want the judge to declare the settlement unenforceable, arguing it is not reasonably tailored to protect WWE’s legitimate business interests.

WWE says Lesnar pinned himself to the mat by agreeing to the restrictions. The company says it competes around the world and made a substantial investment in promoting Lesnar, a college standout and a world heavyweight champion in the scripted world of WWE.

Lesnar, who made more than $1 million annually, was touted as a potential replacement for stars such as “The Rock.”

“He didn’t have two nickels to rub together before he met the WWE,” said Jerry McDevitt, WWE’s attorney. “He’s basically asking a judge to rewrite his settlement agreement. We don’t think we’ve been dealt fairly by this man from day one.”

Like a WWE match, the plot surrounding the lawsuit has thickened since it was filed last year. Lesnar’s side smells a conspiracy, arguing that WWE is waging a campaign of harassment and intimidation by trying to depose his attorney.

Sensing danger, Lesnar’s side attempted to body block the move to let WWE question his attorney. A hearing was planned Friday, but the fight was postponed until next month.

McDevitt would not discuss why he wanted to depose Lesnar’s attorney, other than to say the attorney wrote the terms of the agreement in question.

WWE _ famous for putting on matches in which wrestlers talk trash and slam chairs off each other’s heads _ says Lesnar hurt his own prospects with improper conduct.

“Among other things, Lesnar, in his last match as a professional wrestler with WWE, made vulgar, derogatory and disparaging hand gestures to the crowd in Madison Square Garden on March 14, 2004, at ‘Wrestlemania XX,”‘ WWE wrote in court papers.

Talking trash himself, McDevitt called Lesnar a “prima donna” who wanted his own private plane when he tried to come back to work for WWE after his failed NFL bid.

Lesnar has performed in Japan despite the restrictions, WWE says.

Lesnar’s attorneys and his agent, Ed Hitchcock, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Telephone messages were left for them.

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Do you keep in touch with people from USA Wrestling?

Oh yeah, I keep in touch with those guys, I try to promote Olympic wrestling as much as possible. Half the reason I joined WWE was to expose amateur wrestling. Every time I walk out to the ring, everybody knows who I am and where I came from. You can’t get any better exposure than that. It’s been a win-win situation for everybody, even though USA Wrestling was a little bit tentative about me joining, because they thought I was selling out. I’m in sports entertainment now, I’m not in real wrestling, but I’m exposing amateur wrestling to every single kid out there that wants to be Kurt Angle, and there’s a bunch of ‘em.

So has USA Wrestling come around?

They’ve changed their mind, they said, ‘Holy smokes, this kid is actually good.’ I’m not only one of the best amateur wrestlers of all time, I’m very entertaining as well. They never saw that in me because as an amateur wrestler you’re trained to show no emotion, like a robot, like Ivan Drago from Rocky IV. Go, do your job, win, raise your hand and walk off the mat. And I’m not like that. I’m an emotional person.

Did you ever bust out the “Angle Slam” during a football game?

No. I was actually a better football player than I was a wrestler, but I liked the one-on-one attention with wrestling, that’s what really got me. I was known for hitting the hell out of people and hurting people. I’d walk by my coaches and say, ‘If Ohio State stops by just tell ‘em I’m in room 411.’ I’d be real arrogant about it.

Where’d you get offered scholarships?

Pitt offered me then backed out, I was really upset about that. West Virginia recruited me very hard, so did Penn State. Joe Paterno said I was too short, it made me very upset. In football they have this safety valve; pick the prototype player, 6-5, 240 pounds. If he pans out, great. If he doesn’t pan out, you say, ‘Hey, he was 6-5, 240 pounds, runs a 4.6 40, how could you go wrong? He’s just a [wimp].’ That’s where football is going wrong. They don’t get the smaller guys with heart. If they did that, they’d get a lot more guys with a lot bigger hearts, like me.

So have you followed Brock Lesnar’s attempts to make it in football?

Oh yeah. Honestly, I thought Brock would make it. I thought Brock had the ability to be a tremendous football player. I have a lot of respect for Mike Tice, but I think he’s a moron for not picking Brock. He is so agile, so quick, so smart. It doesn’t matter about all these little techniques, he could pick that up. He’s been a wrestler his whole life – technique in football is [nothing] compared to technique in wrestling. If Mike Tice had any brains in his head he’d have signed Brock Lesnar and he’d be starting this year. As far as Brock leaving our company, I have no respect for that. Brock quit on us and I don’t have any respect for Brock for doing that.

The moments before a SummerSlam or WrestleMania, does that feel anything like getting ready for a football game?

Nothing is more exciting than WrestleMania or SummerSlam. The only thing I can compare it to is the Olympics, and the only problem is with the Olympics, I can’t remember a damn thing. My mind was so focused, I can’t remember who I wrestled, I can’t remember the match, I can’t remember receiving the award. It was my dream I always wanted to come true, and when it did I was in a state of shock. It wasn’t even that I was happy – I was relieved. People don’t understand how hard amateur wrestlers work. Put it this way, if we’re ever in a bar and we’re having a few drinks, stay away from us, because amateur wrestlers are the baddest dudes on the planet. I’ve seen 118-pound wrestlers beat up pro football players. They’re just intense, mean sons of [guns]. Any pro football will tell you that amateur wrestlers are tough bastards. It’s because of their training, they’re animals. If you’re an amateur wrestler, you’re stupid enough to abuse your body. The training is not training, it’s complete and utter abuse. You train until you’re exhausted and ready to fall on your face, and that’s when the training begins. Pro football players don’t do that.

So what pro sports star would make the best pro wrestler?

You know what, Deion Sanders would be a tremendous pro wrestler, I’d love to have that son of a [gun] in our company. Charisma, I’d take any athlete with charisma. Jeremy Shockey would be one of the biggest bad guys we’ve ever had. Brian Urlacher would be a Stone Cold Steve Austin-type guy. Warren Sapp would be tremendous because of his charisma. T.O. would be awesome.

See, I think it’s T.O. I think he was masterful this summer.

He caused a negative impact on football, but what he did was he made a spotlight out of himself. That’s what wrestling’s all about. T.O. would be perfect for wrestling.

Would he be a good guy or a bad guy?

Oh gosh, he’d be a bad guy first, then he’d be a good guy, because he’s so damn arrogant. Ray Lewis would be great too. Actually, I want you to put this in your column: I would love to take on Ray Lewis at WrestleMania 22. Make sure you put the word out. Tell him I want his [hide] at WrestleMania 22. I think he’s the most dominant player in the NFL and I’m the most dominant wrestler in the WWE. I think that would draw huge, huge pay-per-view buys.

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With a gold medal draped around his neck, Kurt Angle couldn’t hold back the tears as he stood proudly on the podium, his right hand across his heart, as “The Star-Spangled Banner” played.

It was the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, and Angle had just won the 220-pound freestyle wrestling competition.

The fact that he even qualified for the Olympics was amazing, because he did it with a broken neck, which he had suffered while winning the nationals.

Coming from a blue-collar background, the clean-cut, baby-faced Angle was quickly embraced as America’s newest sports hero. He was a guest on national talk shows and even had two parades in his honor.

Currently one of the main attractions in World Wrestling Entertainment, Angle still invokes a spirited reaction. But instead of adulation, he routinely has an arena-full of fans chanting “You suck” at him, and he expects a similar response tomorrow night when he performs on WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view show at MCI Center.

Now, is that any way to treat an Olympic hero?

It is in the bizarre world of professional wrestling, where milk-drinking straight-arrows like Angle are portrayed as the bad guys, and beer-guzzling rebels are the fan favorites.

A legitimate world-class athlete like Angle might seem out of place in that world, with its over-the-top theatrics and pre-determined outcomes, but he couldn’t be more serious about his often-mocked profession. He is as driven to be recognized as the best pro wrestler of all time as he was to win the gold medal.

“A lot of people in this business claim to be the best,” Angle, 36, said, “but I truly believe there’s nobody better than me. I want to be considered the greatest ever.”

To put his comments into context, he’s not talking about wanting to be the biggest star in pro wrestling history. He knows the fans will never put him in the same class with Hulk Hogan and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Holds nothing back

Angle is speaking in terms of a well-worked pro wrestling match being an art form. Despite WWE’s sometimes-farcical presentation as a testosterone-laden soap opera – and Angle readily admits what he does is entertainment, not true sport – his goal always is to deliver the most compelling, realistic and athletic-looking match on the card.

“I want to steal the show every time I’m out there,” said Angle, who is 6 feet 2, 220 pounds. “When you watch Hulk Hogan, he doesn’t look quite as crisp and sharp and his technique isn’t what mine is. Not to put down Hulk, but I have to look real because I am real.

“I actually have more of a passion for this than I did for amateur wrestling.”

Angle, who has continued to battle severe neck injuries since starting with WWE in 1999, already has earned a reputation in the pro wrestling industry as one of the top in-ring performers.

“He may not go down as the greatest of all time because of the injuries and [lack of] longevity, but he is already an all-time great,” said Dave Meltzer, editor and publisher of theWrestling Observer Newsletter.

“The Kurt Angle of two years ago, match after match, was as good as anyone I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if he can still do it at that level night after night, but he’s still at the top of the list of the best guys in the business today.”

Angle didn’t always have a passion for pro wrestling, however. Like most amateur wrestlers, Angle – who was a two-time NCAA Division I heavyweight champion at Clarion, is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and was recognized last year as one of the 15 greatest NCAA wrestlers of all time – never paid any attention to pro wrestling and considered it a joke.

In fact, when WWE chairman Vince McMahon offered him a lucrative contract a few days after he won the gold medal, Angle turned it down, later remarking that there was a better chance of his joining the circus than becoming a pro wrestler.

But after a brief stint as a sports anchor in his hometown of Pittsburgh and a failed attempt to land a spot with the Steelers as a fullback, Angle decided to give WWE a second look.

Signed to a developmental deal for significantly less than WWE’s initial offer, he proved to be a natural in the ring and charismatic on the microphone. Less than a year after his debut, Angle won the WWE championship from “The Rock.”

He also had to lose a few matches along the way, which didn’t sit well with him initially.

A new mind-set

“When I first started, I said, ‘Vince, I don’t ever want to lose,’ ” Angle said. “He was like, ‘Are you crazy? Nobody goes undefeated.’

“I had to forget everything I learned in amateur wrestling. I had to learn how to give my body up to my opponent, how to [show pain] – and not just to the person in the front row; the people in the rafters need to see the pain, so you have to overdo [your facial expressions].”

Angle certainly wasn’t the first amateur wrestler to go into pro wrestling. A number of amateurs had made the transition, especially in the 1940s and 50s, with varying degrees of success. Angle, however, was the most high-profile amateur to do it.

That did not please some in the amateur wrestling community, who were having a hard time watching one of their most-decorated athletes playing comedic foil to WWE’s good guys and trading pulled punches with guys named The Undertaker and Scotty 2 Hotty.

“It raised some eyebrows and there were some people that spoke out about it,” said Rosedale resident Tom Gaylin, an NCAA wrestling official who was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame with Angle in 2001.

“We usually never even discussed pro wrestling – it was taboo. A lot of people, particularly in the hierarchy, had mixed emotions.”

Angle went on to become one of WWE’s marquee performers for several years before his career was nearly derailed just as he was about to reach the pinnacle for a pro wrestler – headlining WrestleMania, WWE’s Super Bowl, in 2003.

He was scheduled to face Brock Lesnar, the 2000 NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion at Minnesota who followed Angle into the pro ranks, in the main event of the annual pay-per-view extravaganza. But two months before the show, Angle called McMahon and told him he was unable to lift his arms above his head.

The neck injuries that occurred during the 1996 nationals, when he cracked vertebrae in two places and had two disks pushed directly into his spinal cord, had gradually worsened as the result of getting bumped around the ring in WWE.

Doctors told him he needed spinal fusion surgery, which would keep him out of the ring for at least a year and maybe permanently.

A few days after backing out of the match, however, Angle had a change of heart. And just as he did in ‘96, he ignored the doctors and risked possible paralysis for the opportunity to achieve one of his goals.

‘One more match’

“It was my first chance to be in the main event at WrestleMania, and I had only been in the business three years,” Angle said. “I figured I could go one more match, and then I’ll have surgery and see how it goes.”

Angle delivered his usual quality performance at WrestleMania, then underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure and returned to the ring a couple of months later.

The neck problems kept occurring, however, and during one match he briefly lost feeling in both his arms. It got so bad that McMahon asked Angle to consider retiring last year.

“I told him, ‘I ain’t gonna retire. Let me take a break and heal up and I promise you there won’t be any more problems,’ ” Angle said.

“I knew I wasn’t stretching my neck and doing the right things to prevent the injuries from getting worse. Now, every day, I stretch five times a day. I do everything I can to keep my neck and back in condition, and I don’t have any problems with my neck right now.”

Angle realizes he’s still only one bad bump away from a tragic situation. But despite the physical toll pro wrestling has taken on him, as well as the emotional one – he said he and his wife recently separated due to the strain of his constant traveling – Angle is determined to leave an indelible mark on the industry.

“Vince McMahon always tells me this is in my blood. I know this is what I was meant to do,” Angle said. “I’ve done everything there is to do in this business, but in order to have that iconic status, you can’t do it in five years. So I’m going to do all I can to show people that I’m as good, if not better, than anybody that’s ever been in this business. I’m looking to go another 10 years.”

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IGN Sports: With your successful transition from amateur wrestling to sports entertainment, do you see more amateurs following your footsteps into the sport?

Kurt Angle: Yeah, and I’m glad to see Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, and of course Brock Lesnar was here for a little while. We have another guy, I think his name is Lashley, he’s in OVW. I got him a tryout a couple of years ago and he’s going to be coming in pretty soon. Rulon Gardner was interested, so he came in and did a little tryout. I think it’s good for amateur wrestling. And I think that finally, amateur wrestling as a community, they always felt like they took a backseat to pro wrestling and they felt that in people’s minds, pro wrestling was just the next step of amateur wrestling. They were out there trying to say pro wrestling was fake and they were real. But pro wrestling is not fake, it’s sports entertainment. We go out there and we perform, and a lot of what we do out there is real, but we’re not going to insult anyone’s intelligence, there is a predetermined winner. It’s just the fans don’t know who it is, and that’s what makes it so intriguing. Amateur wrestling finally realized that by entering professional wrestling, I wasn’t taking the next step, I was taking another career path and I opened it up for other wrestlers to follow. Now we’re seeing a lot more wrestlers getting involved, and I think one of these days, if we do it the right way, it’ll be all amateur wrestlers. As long as they have the charisma and everything else…they obviously have the look. But if you bring your amateur wrestling techniques in and then learn the pro moves, it’s a catapult. You go from Olympic wrestling into pro wrestling, and it’s a very difficult transition, but if you make it, you can earn a great living while at the same time giving amateur wrestling a lot of exposure by being on TV every week. Fans know where you came from.

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