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Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American professional wrestler and former Olympic gold medalist amateur wrestler, who is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
He earned numerous accolades before winning an Olympic gold medal in heavyweight freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Between 1998 and 2006, Angle wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment, winning six world championships.
Amateur wrestling career
Angle attended Mt. Lebanon High School, where he won varsity letters in football and wrestling, and was an All-State linebacker. Angle went undefeated on the freshman wrestling team at Mt. Lebanon High and qualified for the state wrestling tournament his sophomore year. He also placed third in the state wrestling tournament as a junior, and was the 1987 Pennsylvania State Wrestling Champion as a senior.
Upon graduating from high school, Angle attended the Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where he continued to wrestle at an amateur level. He was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion in 1990 and 1992, national runner-up in 1991, and a 3-time NCAA Division I All-American. In addition, Angle was the 1987 USA Junior Freestyle champion, a 2-time USA Senior Freestyle champion and the 1988 USA International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles Junior World Freestyle champion. In the course of his amateur career, Angle faced several future mixed martial artists, defeating Sylvester Terkay, Mark Coleman and Mark Kerr.
Upon graduating from college, Angle continued to wrestle. In 1995, he won a gold medal at the World Championships in Atlanta, Georgia. Following this victory, Angle began training for the 1996 Summer Olympics under Dave Schultz at the Pennsylvanian Foxcatcher Club. In January 1996, not long after Angle had begun training at the club, Schultz was murdered. While taking part in the 1996 Olympic Trials, Angle suffered a severe neck injury, fracturing two of his cervical vertebrae, herniating two discs and pulling four muscles. Angle won the trials nonetheless, then spent the subsequent five months resting and rehabilitating. By the time of the Olympics, Angle was able to compete, albeit with several pain-reducing injections in his neck. The injury led to Angle's future claim of having won his Olympic gold medal "with a broken freakin' neck." In October 2006, Angle stated that he temporarily became addicted to the analgesic Vicodin after breaking his neck.
1996 Summer Olympics gold medal
Angle won his gold medal in the heavyweight (90-100 kg; 198-220 lb) weight class by defeating the Iranian Abbas Jadidi by officials' decision after the competitors wrestled to an eight minute, one-one draw. The bout saw Jadidi earn a point after two minutes and 46 seconds by turning Angle, with Angle earning a point of his own with a takedown after three minutes and 11 seconds. The officials' decision was protested by Jadidi.
Shortly after his victory, Angle turned down a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a prominent professional wrestling promotion. In the same year, he became a marketing representative for Protos Foods, the manufacturers of OSTRIM, an ostrich meat based foodstuff.
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 left the building after Raven "crucified" The Sandman by attaching him to a cross using barbed wire. Angle, shocked by the controversial imagery and afraid that his career prospects would be damaged if he was associated with the incident, threatened to sue ECW owner Paul Heyman if he was shown on television in the same broadcast as the stunt. Following the incident, Angle began working as a sportscaster on Pittsburgh television.
World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
In October 1998, Angle signed a five-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation. He was assigned to the Power Pro Wrestling developmental territory in Memphis, Tennessee, where he began training. His first match was a loss to Tom Prichard. Angle would hold the PPW Heavyweight Championship for two weeks time in 1999, defeating J.R. Smooth on July 24, and losing the title to Steve Bradley on August 7.
Angle's first appearance on WWF television would come on the March 7, 1999 edition of Sunday Night Heat (taped in Angle's native Pittsburgh), in a segment where Tiger Ali Singh offered the sum of $500 to any American willing to blow their nose on the American flag. Angle as a (kayfabe) fan attending the show, volunteered. After bargaining up to $5,000 with Singh, Angle acted as if he was going to do it, but at the last minute gave Singh a belly to belly suplex after blowing his nose in Singh's Indian flag.
Angle's first official WWF match was a dark match victory over Brian Christopher on April 11, 1999 in East Lansing, Michigan. From then on through the next several months, he would wrestle on house shows and other dark matches in preparation for his televised debut.
After several weeks of vignettes, Angle made his televised in-ring debut on November 14, 1999 at the Survivor Series, defeating Shawn Stasiak. He remained undefeated for several weeks, eventually losing to Tazz at the 2000 Royal Rumble. Angle went on to win both the WWF European Championship and WWF Intercontinental Championship in February 2000, billing himself as the "Eurocontinental Champion". He lost both of his titles without conceding a fall in a two falls triple threat match with Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 2000; the match had been agreed to on Angle's behalf by his mentor, Bob Backlund.
Throughout mid-2000, Angle, Edge and Christian ("Team ECK") feuded with Too Cool and Rikishi, with Angle defeating Rikishi in the finals of the King of the Ring tournament. He went to feud with Triple H after a love triangle between Angle, Triple H and Triple H's wife Stephanie developed, losing to Triple H at Unforgiven. Following his feud with Triple H, Angle began pursuing the WWF Championship, defeating The Rock at No Mercy. Angle retained the WWF Championship in a match with The Undertaker at the Survivor Series, in a six way Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon and in a match with Triple H at the 2001 Royal Rumble before losing to The Rock at No Way Out. He went on to feud with Chris Benoit, whom he defeated at WrestleMania X-Seven.
When WCW and ECW formed The Alliance and invaded the WWF in mid-2001, Angle joined forces with WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin to repel them. At King of the Ring, Angle participated in possibly one of the most infamous street fights of the era. After defeating Christian in the tournament semi-finals and losing to Edge in the final match, he faced (kayfabe) WCW owner Shane McMahon. The 26-minute contest was legitimately discussed in detail during an episode of WWE Confidential. After a suplex on the hard floor, Angle was thought to have cracked his tailbone. Angle was also scripted to deliver an overhead belly-to-belly suplex through the plated glass stage decoration, but Shane didn't break through on the first attempt, causing him to fall head-first onto the concrete floor. After a successful second attempt, Angle was to put him through a second plate back out to the stage and again failed two more times. Allegedly, Shane secretively demanded that Angle put him through anyway, to which he was thrown through in a safer fashion. The match ended with Angle performing the Super Angle Slam before scoring the victory over a bloodied Shane.
At Invasion, Angle and Austin captained a team of five WWF superstars against five handpicked members of the Alliance. Team WWF lost to Team Alliance when Austin turned on his team to join the Alliance. At the close of the match, Austin nailed Angle with a Stone Cold Stunner, causing him to get pinned by the other team. After winning and losing the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, and WWF Hardcore Championship in matches with Alliance members, Angle defeated Austin for his second WWF Championship at Unforgiven. He lost the title to Austin on the October 8 episode of RAW when WWF Commissioner William Regal joined the Alliance by costing him the match. Angle subsequently joined the Alliance himself, but ultimately returned to the WWF by enabling The Rock to defeat Austin in a "winner takes all" bout between the WWF and The Alliance at the Survivor Series. He went on to take part in a four man tournament for the Undisputed Championship at Vengeance, but was defeated by Austin.
Angle took part in the 2002 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by Triple H. After defeating Kane at WrestleMania X8, Angle began a lengthy feud with Edge. In the course of the feud, Angle lost a "hair versus hair" match to Edge at Judgment Day 2002 and was subsequently shaved bald. Following the loss of his hair, Angle began wearing a wig (which he kept attached to his head with an amateur wrestling headgear) and insulted bald people, leading to a feud with Hulk Hogan, who stripped Angle of his wig. Angle went on to score a submission victory over Hogan at King of the Ring 2002, Hogan's first submission loss in the WWF (which was renamed "World Wrestling Entertainment" in May 2002). Angle would still wear a wig, but took it off, because he was tired from hiding his bald head.
In October 2002, Angle became the fourth WWE Grand Slam Champion by winning the WWE Tag Team Championship with Chris Benoit. After losing the titles to Edge and Rey Mysterio, Angle won his third WWE Championship at Armageddon 2002, defeating The Big Show. In the course of his third reign, Angle gained the services of manager Paul Heyman and "Team Angle" (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin). He defeated Benoit to retain the WWE Championship at the 2003 Royal Rumble before losing the title to Brock Lesnar in a brutally fought match at WrestleMania XIX.
On April 11, 2003, Angle underwent neck surgery under Dr. Hai-Dong Jho to repair nerve and spinal damage, calcium buildup, bone spurs and intervertebral disc problems. Rather than have Jho remove the afflicted discs and fuse his vertebrae together, Angle opted for a less conventional surgery that saw Jho remove only the spurs and selected portions of the discs. The alternative surgery reduced Angle's rehabilitation time from one year to three months.
Shortly after returning, Angle defeated Brock Lesnar and Big Show in a triple threat match at Vengeance 2003 to regain the WWE Championship. He retained the title in a singles bout with Lesnar at SummerSlam 2003 before losing it to Lesnar in an Iron Man match on an episode of SmackDown!. Angle formed Team Angle, as part of his Survivor Series 2003 team against Brock Lesnar's team, Team Lesnar, with Angle's team coming out victorious. Angle would later take part in the 2004 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by Big Show. After defeating Big Show and John Cena in a number one contendership match at No Way Out 2004, Angle unsuccessfully challenged WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero at WrestleMania XX.
Following WrestleMania XX, Angle began once again suffering from neck problems. As a response, he was made the General Manager of SmackDown!. Angle continued to feud with Guerrero throughout 2004, costing him a title match with John "Bradshaw" Layfield at The 2004 Great American Bash. Angle returned to the ring in July 2004 and continued his feud with Guerrero, defeating him at SummerSlam 2004 before losing to Guerrero in a Survivor Series bout at the 2004 Survivor Series.
In November 2004, Angle initiated the Kurt Angle Invitational, a weekly segment that saw "hometown heroes" challenge Angle to a match, with Angle promising to give his Olympic gold medal to the first person to last more than 3 minutes in the ring with him. The Invitational was won by Eugene in July 2005 before eventually winning it back and ending The Invitational at SummerSlam of that same year.
On November 4, 2004, SmackDown!, in St. Louis, Missouri, the Savvis Center, during a Tough Enough segment, Angle put the finalists through a Squat thrust competition for a prize. The winner was Chris Nawrocki. As part of the Kurt Angle Invitational, the prize Nawrocki won was a match against Angle. Angle defeated Nawrocki. Angle, then asked, if anyone else wanted to try, Daniel Puder, an American mixed martial artist, raised his hand and jumped in the ring. Angle managed a takedown on Puder, forcing him to the mat, back first, eventually scored a pinfall. However, this sparked some controversy, during the pin, Puder's shoulders were not grounded or on the mat, moreover, Puder locked Angle in a real submission hold, a kimura or keylock.
Angle took part in the 2005 Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by Shawn Michaels, whom he returned to the ring to eliminate in retaliation. After mocking Michaels by attacking both his former tag team partner, Marty Jannetty, and former manager, Sherri Martel, Angle defeated Michaels in an interpromotional match at WrestleMania 21. He continued to feud with Michaels upon being drafted from SmackDown! to RAW in June 2005, losing to Michaels at Vengeance 2005.
In August 2005, Angle began feuding with WWE Champion John Cena. He defeated Cena by disqualification at Unforgiven 2005, lost to Cena including Shawn Michaels at Taboo Tuesday 2005 and then lost to Cena in a rematch at the 2005 Survivor Series.
At New Year's Revolution 2006, Kurt Angle participated in the Elimination Chamber Match for the title which involved WWE Champion John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Kane, Carlito and Chris Masters. Kurt Angle was the first man eliminated.
Angle returned to the SmackDown! brand of WWE in January 2006, winning the vacant World Heavyweight Championship in a twenty man battle royal. Angle retained the title in bouts with Mark Henry at the 2006 Royal Rumble and The Undertaker at No Way Out 2006 before losing to Rey Mysterio in a triple threat match that also included Randy Orton at WrestleMania 22.
On May 29, 2006, Angle was drafted to the newly revived ECW brand. He issued an open challenge for One Night Stand 2006 which was accepted by Orton. Angle defeated Orton with the ankle lock at One Night Stand, later losing to him in a rematch at Vengeance 2006 with a RKO on Angle. Angle appeared sporadically on WWE television throughout mid-2006. On August 25, 2006, he was granted an early release from his WWE contract due to "personal issues".
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
A few weeks after his WWE tenure had ended, Angle signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). On September 24, 2006 during the closing segment of the pay-per-view No Surrender 2006, TNA President Dixie Carter announced that TNA Wrestling had signed Angle to a contract, with Jim Cornette introducing video footage of Angle training in a six-sided TNA ring.
Angle made his debut on the October 19, 2006 confronting Samoa Joe after Joe refused to relinquish the NWA World Heavyweight Championship belt that he had stolen from Jeff Jarrett. The two men ended up fighting while Jarrett took the title back. Angle was then the special enforcer for the Title vs. Career match between Jeff Jarrett and Sting at Bound for Glory 2006 but took out referee Rudy Charles and assumed the referee's role for the rest of the match-up. Angle's first match in TNA took place on the November 16, 2006 airing of TNA iMPACT!. He defeated Abyss with the Ankle lock, and was attacked after the match by Samoa Joe. At Genesis 2006, Angle defeated Samoa Joe by Ankle lock submission, ending Joe's "undefeated" streak. At Turning Point 2006, Joe defeated Angle by Coquina Clutch submission.
At Final Resolution 2007, Angle defeated Samoa Joe in a 30 minute Iron Man match 3-2 to earn a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Against All Odds, but would lose the match against Christian Cage after interference from Tomko and Scott Steiner. This would lead into a feud between Angle and Steiner, with Angle pinning Steiner at Destination X. After Angle defeated Steiner, he was picked to lead a team of four other wrestlers against a team of Christian Cage's choice in a Lethal Lockdown match at TNA's April PPV event, Lockdown. Angle ended up choosing Samoa Joe, Rhino, Sting, and Jeff Jarrett for Team Angle, while Cage ended up choosing A.J. Styles, Scott Steiner, Tomko, and Abyss. The man who gained the winning pinfall would become the number one contender to Christian Cage's NWA World Heavyweight Title. Team Angle was victorious after Jeff Jarrett hit Abyss with a guitar full of thumbtacks and allowed Sting to score the pin. At Sacrifice 2007, Angle would defeat Cage and Sting in a Triple Threat match to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Though the match was originally promoted as having been for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (with the NWA belt actually being used during the event), the National Wrestling Alliance had stripped Christian Cage of the NWA Title earlier in the day, having severed its ties with TNA. But TNA still recognized Cage as their Champion, so the match was now for TNA's World Title.
Angle won the match by getting Sting to tap out to the ankle lock, while Sting was pinning Cage. Angle was announced as, and declared Champion. On the following episode of iMPACT!, after hearing complaints from Cage and Sting about the controversial finish to the match, Jim Cornette stripped Angle of the title.
New Japan Pro Wrestling
On February 18, 2007 Angle made his debut in New Japan Pro Wrestling, teaming with former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata to face fellow TNA wrestler Travis Tomko and fellow WWE alumnus Giant Bernard, the IWGP World Tag Team Champions. Angle and Nagata won after Nagata made Tomko submit.
Wrestling facts
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