The Olympic Hero, The Wrestling Machine, The Olympic Gold Medalist: all names used to describe one of professional wrestling’s greatest champions and certainly its most celebrated athlete, Kurt Angle. As the only professional wrestler in history to have won an Olympia wrestling Gold Medal it was perhaps only natural Kurt Angle rise to the very top of the colorful and often controversial pro game.
From his days in the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) where he won all available titles including World Heavyweight Champion to his current rein as TNA’s (Total Nonstop Action Wrestling’s) biggest and best, being the first man in TNA history to hold all three of their championship titles simultaneously, a strong case could be argued in favor of Kurt Angle being the best professional wrestler of all time.
Enjoy this interview with one of professional wrestling’s all time greats.
David Robson: Since September 24, 2006, you have been contracted to wrestle for the TNA federation. Why the move to the TNA?
Kurt Angle: Many reasons - One: over seven years in the WWE, 300 days a year on the road, I was probably the most utilized wrestler because of my past achievements including winning an Olympia gold medal and having the reputation of being the best pro wrestler in the world. WWE knew keeping me on the road as much as possible would make them the money, but in return it did the same for me. The more I wrestled the more money we both made. It was a situation where if played the game hard for Vince McMahon he would in return do the same but after seven years it took a toll on me, and my body. I have a beautiful wife and two wonderful children. I barely saw them and my body really began to breaking down; most people don’t realize I fractured my neck on four different occasions.
I began thinking now is the time for me to start going part time. My manager and I kindly asked WWE to reduce my schedule. The WWE at that point had jumped from two hours to four hours to five hours of programming per week, and they couldn’t afford for me to go part time. Vince McMahon told me, “Kurt, we need you full time.” I told him, “Vince, if I can’t go part time I’m going to have to quit.” And that’s where our differences really began.
So I did what I had to do for my family and health, I moved on and went to TNA Wrestling. With TNA I saw a young, rapidly growing company that had an easier schedule that could possibly use a leader like me to help ignite their ratings. Have I ignited it? To a degree I have, my presence in TNA firmly displayed to the wrestling community this company has some power and deep enough pockets to give WWE a run. Recently they’ve handed me the ball and now I am their champion with the most titles ever.
David Robson: How would you explain your job, or position, with the TNA and the WWE?
Kurt Angle: As a professional wrestler my actual job is not to just go out there and beat hell out of everybody. My job is to be a leader. It’s to go out and give the TNA fans the very best matches of the night. My job as an entertainer/wrestler is to not just make myself look good but the talent around me look just as good. This is what I excelled at and what I brought to the table for WWE and now TNA. For the majority of my carrier I’ve been fortunate to be positioned as a main event player, one of the top tier guys. But what I’m best at is bringing talent from the semi-main events pulling them up to main event status by wrestling me. Whether I won or lost didn’t matter, that was in the writers hands. What I do best is making my opponent look incredible and that’s what I’m the very best at.
David Robson: So you are raising the bar for those who are less well know as wrestlers by helping them to lift their game.
Kurt Angle: Yes, exactly.
David Robson: Compared to the WWE, how does the TNA rank in terms of public appeal and what does TNA look for in talent?
Kurt Angle: TNA is averaging between a 1.1-1.5 rating on Spike TV, which is very good on cable, where I believe WWE is doing around a 2.6 but you have to remember TNA is newer and is only has one-hour of programming per week, where WWE has five hours between Raw, Smackdown and ECW. With our one-hour program we’ve easily matched the ECW ratings and are climbing fast to the Smackdown ratings.
What is great as of this October 4th, 2007, is that TNA JUMPS to a new two-hour program every Thursday night on Spike TV. This new extended time slot is because TNA’s growing at an accelerated rate, thank God to the incredible management we have with owner Dixie Carter, Jeff Jarrett and Vince Russo. The two-hour program finally allows us to give our fans more Real Wresting. We have a slew of talent backstage we can finally bring out to our audience.
Isometric Maximum Strength in College Wrestlers
Previous research has demonstrated the importance of isometric maximal strength (PF) and rate of force development (RFD) in a variety of athletic populations including track cyclists and track and field athletes. Among coaches and sports scientists there is a lack of agreement regarding how much strength is required for optimal performance in most sports.
If I were to match TNA’s talent to WWE’s talent, WWE is more fluff with and a lot less athletic action. The guys we have at TNA do act but they are 210% more Action and more REAL Wrestling. That is what real wrestling fans want. Because of our new time frame we can now better utilize our top guys like Samoa Joe, Christian Cage, Abyss, Rhino and Sting every single week while nurturing our semi-main event talent to become main-eventer’s in due time.
At TNA we are looking for the BEST wrestlers in the business with top athletic skills where WWE has in past looked for the six foot four, 300-pound massive muscle monsters. I am more comfortable at TNA because of my wrestling abilities and this is what made me popular in WWE, certainly not my physique. I do not have the frame or a bodybuilder type look. I’m an extremely well condition athlete but my frame does not resemble a bodybuilder. I have a blockier build, the perfect core frame for a world-class performance athlete. I’m 6ft at 220 pounds at about five percent body fat.
For my sport I need to be in the very best cardio condition of any athlete where I can go 30 minute to possibly an hour in a match if needed. I try to maintain lean muscle mass and take good care of my body but with high intensity training it’s hard to hold on to a lot of muscle. I am and have always been a wrestler, an Olympic wrestler, that’s who I am, that’s my job, my description and my passion. A couple of my brothers were former competitive bodybuilders, my brother Eric was actually a NPC national level competitor; my manger Dave Hawk was also a former IFBB pro.
My job is to give fans the best matches at every show. And because of that I’ve accrued hundreds of injuries from my neck down to my heels. There is no other industry like pro wrestling.
When I was a teen back in ’86 watching my brother compete in the Mr. Pittsburgh, Dave just turned pro and was guest posing with Lee Haney. For one moment I thought about trying bodybuilding but I didn’t. It was not for me. The sport of bodybuilding is very tough and I’m a born wrestler so I shouldn’t look like a bodybuilder for my sport. Too much muscle on your frame works against your athletic abilities. I do what I call intense cardio - body sculpting to stay in shape.
David Robson: Then how did you train exactly?
Kurt Angle: Today my training is much different compared to when I trained for the Olympics. Training for the Olympics I trained 28 days out of 30 each month and did lot of power training, which was basically a hectic eight-hour-a-day workout. It consisted of cardio and a lot of “core” training. I did three types of training - track, wrestling mat and weight training. For example, I would run seven miles a day and kept each mile at approximately seven minutes, I did 100’s of sprints and steps at Three Rivers Stadium, I would take a 200 pound person or a short phone pull and place a log across my shoulders and run hills, steps or do walking squats for hours.
From there I would hit the wrestling mat for three hours of technique training, and go to gym for 90 minutes and do an intense mix of heavy weight super sets, giant sets and or drop set exercises working different muscle groups on different days but every day I trained was intense.
Now I do more body sculpting with good cardio. This training is not as hardcore as my Olympic days but it’s still intense and works well for what I need. I keep my condition up and try to maintain lean muscle so I can have a decent look to my physique. But since I fractured my neck four times, I have some nerve damage through my neck and traps, which runs through my arms. I actually have to train my upper body, primarily my arms, every other day with pump sets in order to get adequate blood into my arms, neck and traps. My arms are certainly not big but if I don’t train them this way the muscle degenerates and shrinks.
David Robson: Is competing in MMA competition an option for you right now?
Kurt Angle: Right now a few top MMA companies are trying to contract with me for one major fight. At this point my manager Dave, Dixie at TNA and I am closely considering the IFL as the best option. The IFL seems to have the best field, schedule and opportunity that will also fit my current professional wrestling schedule with TNA.
As an Olympic champion, 11-time World and Olympic champion, the most recognized and celebrated athlete in the world, they all want me to come in and bring the TV entertainment along with the real Athletic skills, because millions of viewers worldwide are going to want to see if Kurt Angle either wins or get his ass handed to him on a plater. I’m the one recognized Olympic Gold Medallist and real wrestler in the business and everyone wants to see if Kurt Angle can really do the MMA. All know I’m going to sell tickets.
I believe I will have a decision for my direction in MMA by mid-November.
David Robson: If you do MMA, whom would you like to jump in the octagon with?
Kurt Angle: I would not just jump into a fight with anyone, as there are certain guys I won’t even consider fighting. There are guys that are very dangerous and I do have a past neck injury these guys know of. If I had to pick a truly quality opponent with similar skills I would consider Randy Couture or someone like him closer to my age and skills background. Randy Couture is a great guy as I’m proud of his accomplishments, as he’s a true ambassador for the sport. I actually used to train with him before Olympics and was whopping his butt, (laughs). He’s certainly improved since then and is a top guy. So if they want me to fight Randy Couture, the most notorious fighter in the world, I would be happy to fight him, but they have to put up the money and I would need at least three months training to do it.
David Robson: You won the 1996 Olympic trials and went on the win a heavyweight gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games despite suffering a severe neck injury. How on earth did you manage this?
Kurt Angle: Well, with a lot of prayer and some Novocaine because I wasn’t allowed cortisone. I took Novocaine shots before each match so I couldn’t feel my neck, which was dangerous because I was risking paralysis, but I went through it to win the Olympic trials and the Olympics, then I retired.
Kurt Angle Gold
David Robson: How did you find pro wrestling compared to amateur wrestling?
Kurt Angle: I found out that pro wrestling is much more gruelling and barbaric than amateur wrestling, which by the way is the most injurious sport in college sports. There are more injuries in amateur wrestling than in any other college sports – including football and basketball. So I did go on and do pro wrestling and I found out that pro wrestling is a lot tougher than I thought it was. When you are in the pro ring you are letting the guys in front of you throw you around half the time. He’s throwing you on top of your head and on your back, throwing you out of the ring. It’s a stunt show - nothing like real amateur wrestling. I had to learn a whole new industry. And when you learn, then you go above and beyond the call of duty to become the best wrestler in the world.
A lot of guys will claim they are the best wrestler, like Triple-H and Shawn Michaels, but from the fans perspective Kurt Angle was the best pro wrestler ever and I take a lot of pride in that. My job is to give fans the best matches at every show. And because of that I’ve accrued hundreds of injuries from my neck down to my heels. There is no other industry like pro wrestling. I was an all-state football player in high school; I was a collegiate two-time National champion and one-time runner up; I was a six-time National champion in wrestling; and a world champion and Olympic champion. Then I went on to pro wrestling and I found that was by far the most gruelling business you could ever subject your body to.
I always thought that pro wrestling was fake. It’s not fake at all. There are maybe pre-determined winners but the fans do not know the outcome until the match is over that’s what makes it so interesting for them.
As far the pain goes, for at least 30 minutes a night, every night, I’m letting guys throw me on my head, back, shoulders knees and then hitting over the head with a chair. You cannot be in this business without injury and after seven years of day in and day out I had enough and went to Vince McMahon and asked if I can go part time. I was told, “We need you full time, period, we can’t afford to have you off.”
After a few weeks of not being able to come to a mutually rewarding understanding, I quit (WWE) and went to TNA wresting where Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett certainly showed they were there for me. I’m proud to be part of this new exciting, fast growing company that is truly there for their talent.
David Robson: Were you ever uncomfortable being the bad guy?
Kurt Angle: Being an Olympic gold medallist it was very hard at the beginning, but after a while I noticed that being a bad guy wasn’t so bad. You want fans to either cheer or boo for you. If they don’t say anything, they don’t care about you. If they yell and scream at you, they care about you. If they cheer for you they care about you. If they don’t say anything then you are in trouble. So far in my career I have either been the top good guy or the top bad guy and doing that the fans have always responded to me and that is a blessing from God.
David Robson: You say although the matches are scripted, the pain is real. Just how real is the pain when you are in their fighting?
Kurt Angle: Oh gosh! Just getting clothes lined and hitting the plywood or concrete floor, that pain is enough for one day. But we go through a thirty-minute match where we are doing all of these moves, being thrown on your heads and suplexing one another over and over. You have to remember the ring is metal and wood with very little give. The ring has a little bit of canvas but all in all it’s a pretty solid surface.
As a professional wrestler when you sign a contract you know what you are getting into. When we see these unfortunate situations like Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit, you can’t blame Vince McMahon for their personal mistakes and misfortunes. These guys had personal choices. When they signed the contract they knew how much work was involved. They had the ability to quit any time they wanted. I’m not saying the business shouldn’t oversee certain aspects of their talent to make sure they are safe and mentally sound but many misfortunes for wrestlers are brought upon themselves, just as in our society today. When my life began to unravel with WWE, I could not keep the schedule due to injuries and to stay competitive in the day in day out schedule, I decided I had to quit and go with another company that fit me and my health, my schedule and my welfare. I’m now the happier for it - for my family and me.
David Robson: Thank you very much for your time Kurt; it’s been a pleasure talking with you.
As an active martial artist, bodybuilder and accredited personal trainer, David employs the latest cutting edge research to enhance his own training progress, and that of the many ...
Interviews 
The Olympic Hero, The Wrestling Machine, The Olympic Gold Medalist: all names used to describe one of professional wrestling’s greatest champions and certainly its most celebrated athlete, Kurt Angle. As the only professional wrestler in history to have won an Olympia wrestling Gold Medal it was perhaps only natural Kurt Angle rise to the very top of the colorful and often controversial pro game. 
made. It was a situation where if played the game hard for Vince McMahon he would in return do the same but after seven years it took a toll on me, and my body. I have a beautiful wife and two wonderful children. I barely saw them and my body really began to breaking down; most people don’t realize I fractured my neck on four different occasions. 
(0 vote)
