During his most recent Facebook Q&A, Kurt Angle discussed a wide range of topics, including his original plans for after his goal medal winning performance at the 1996 Olympics. Here are the highlights:
On What He’d Tell People Dealing With Neck Issues:
Don’t push yourself stretching your neck. Start with correcting your posture. Head back. Shoulders back. Good posture can help neck pain more than you think. Also, get a neck traction device. It works. 15 minutes a day. Talk to your doctor first.
On His Favorite Moment During The McMahon/Helmsley Era:
It was working with all of these guys like HHH, Rock, Austin, Taker, Jericho just to name a few. The McMahon-Helmsley story line helped to elevate me to the main event level. It was fun to be relatively inexperienced and new, and each week was a learning experience for me. I literally had so much fun wrestling and doing promos and backstage interviews. I really got the opportunity to enhance my character. It wasn’t work, it was fun!
On Getting Blown Up Against Austin At A House Show:
Obviously I was tired that day. I have always taken pride in exhausting my opponents. I never get tired, but in that one particular night in Fresno, Austin got me tired. Make no mistake, Austin was a machine. He was one of the most intense wrestlers I faced. So YES, I blew up…. once.
On His Top WWE Rival:
I had a lot of rivals. Orton. Cena. Taker. Brock. Michaels. HHH. Rock. Austin. Jericho. Edge. Christian. Booker T. AJ (Tna). Joe (Tna). Sting (Tna). BUT….. Angle vs Benoit was incredible. I felt like I was wrestling myself. We had many classics. I tell aspiring wrestlers to watch Royal Rumble 2003 Angle vs Benoit for the WWE Championship. Up and comers could learn a lot watching that match. That’s how it always was with Benoit. We had incomparable chemistry.
On His Original Plans After The 1996 Olympics:
Actually WWE was the first offer I got. In 1996 I refused the offer. I honestly didn’t know what I wanted to do after the Olympics. I got a gig as a sportscaster, but it wasn’t for me, so I thought about being an Olympic Coach. Instead I called WWE in late 1998 and asked if I could try out. They said yes and the rest is history.
On Advice To Younger Wrestlers:
My advice to young athletes is to take good care of your bodies. Limit your bumps in the ring. You only have so many. Train hard and don’t forget to work on your flexibility. You will have a much longer career.
On Where He Sees The Wrestling Business Going:
I see wrestling always progressing as long as the creative team books the right match ups and builds the right talent. Fans today enjoy quality wrestling more than story lines.
On What It Would Have Been Like To Wrestle Bret Hart:
Bret is the one that got away. I knew after I started in WWE that if I worked with Bret, it would be one of my greatest matches and biggest rivalries. I think anyone would have wanted to wrestle Bret in his prime.
On Never Facing The Undertaker At Wrestlemania:
We both wanted to go to Mania, but the powers that be did not. The whole reason Undertaker and I locked horns at No Way Out in 2006 is because we both wanted a match against each other at Wrestlemania that year. So the boss gave us the next best thing… a match the month before Wrestlemania. Our match at No Way Out could possibly be one of the greatest matches in history. Undertaker is a very rare breed.
You can read the full Q&A below:
https://www.facebook.com/realkurtangle/posts/10158817131373047
