In 1999, Kurt Angle made one of the toughest choices of his entire career.
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.
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Kurt Angle |
“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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