Exclusive: WWE Legend Kurt Angle Reminisces On The Attitude Era, Steve Austin, And Being A Better Businessman

Zack Heydorn | Nov 14, 2024

WWE.com

Wrestling fans know Kurt Angle as the crazy intense, pure mat wrestling technician, multiple-time world champion in both WWE and TNA, and WWE Hall of Famer. Since retiring, Angle now just does regular people stuff.

Angle chatted with The Takedown on SI while engaging in the regular people stuff, but is 100% content living that life.

"I actually I had to get my wife's car to the car dealership because she has a recall," Angle said as he started our conversation. "Ever since I retired, I'm now now doing daddy duty and husband duty."

It didn't take long for Angle to jump right in and start talking about wrestling. After all these years, it's still a passion of his and that passion oozes out of him as he talks about the business. Angle is a unique figure to speak on wrestling. He made his debut during the peak Attitude Era in 1999 and has insight as to how hard it was to work for WWE during that time because of the pressure.

"It's actually more difficult (to work for WWE during a hot period) because you have to outdo yourself from the prior week," Angle said. "I was very lucky to get in the business right in the peak of the Attitude Era. It was the best era in wrestling. And the crazy thing about back then was everybody was a star. It didn't matter if you were the opening card match, mid card match, main event card match. You were a star and your name was held in high regard.

"Nowadays, you have your handful of stars, and then everybody else is kind of at a lower level. Back then, everybody was the household name. I mean, The godfather, Val Venis, and Bob Holly, and then you know Undertaker, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin -- just everybody was widely known throughout the world. If you want to be at the top of the heap, you have to produce. So, I knew that when I started."

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Angle says he had a good relationship with Vince McMahon during that time and even though Vince was always at the helm during Angle's time in WWE, he isn't surprised that the company has found Attitude Era type levels of momentum without Vince in control.

"I think he's been so much of a part of it that it really doesn't matter now, because the guys that were underneath him know the business in and out the way Vince did," Angle said of McMahon not being in control. "And I will tell you that nobody is Vince McMahon and nobody is ever going to be Vince McMahon, but Triple H, he knows the business pretty damn good. Paul Heyman, he knows the business pretty damn good. So, we have a lot of good guys that we can turn to and depend on for the business to continue to grow.

"Vince McMahon may be done, but the business is not done. It's going to continue to triumph and it's going to continue to get bigger. It's going to go in cycles. It's going to be really popular, then it's going to be struggling again. Then it'll be very popular again and It'll struggle again. It's always gone in these cycles, but the business will always be here, because you're going to have incredible individuals like Triple H and Paul Heyman."

Angle now works as a USA Wrestling Ambassador and one of his main goals is to grow finances for athletes working to train for the Olympics. Angle opened up on the business of pro wrestling and said he could have been a better businessman during his time in WWE.

"Nobody. I was horrible at it," Angle said when I asked him about the business of WWE and who taught him how to work it. "I didn't come up with ideas. I wish I would have. Steve Austin was great at it. He got it right away. He he said, 'I'm going to make a character and I'm going to make a lot of money with this character.' Me, I came in, I was just like, I just want to wrestle.

"So sure, come in with a business mindset, and I should have, and I got kind of lucky that I got that million dollar guarantee, because I wasn't always pushing to make more money. I was always worried about how well I would do. And so I should have had a better business mind when I started, because I could have made a lot more money, definitely sold a lot more merchandise, and that's my fault."

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Speaking of Steve Austin, Angle had remarkable praise about one of his best opponents and rivals.

"Steve and I, we had great chemistry," Angle said. "The thing is, Steve is the kind of guy that he's going to go on what he feels. There are a lot of times during our matches, we would structure the match backstage and I get out there and Steve would call an audible, and I'd be like, 'what the hell you doing, Steve?' We're in right field and then go off the left field, you know? And I was like, how are we going to get back to right field? But, he always was able to go off script and then make his way back on script. He never confused me. So, that shows how seasoned of a veteran he was, because I was still learning.

Angle talks like he's still in the wrestling business, but made it clear that retirement is the only "R" word he's thinking about right now. There won't be a return for the Olympic Hero.

"Umm, no," Angle said about the prospect of returning to the ring. "I have knee replacements. Had five neck surgeries. I had my back surgery last year. I have to have shorter replacements. I am in no condition to be getting in the ring and wrestling."

So, regular people stuff it is for the former gold medalist. How'd you like to be the guy fixing Angle's car. Watch your ankles.

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