Kurt
Angle is a name known to many fans of the WWF after its battle with WCW ended.
He is my opinion was one of the important factors that made WWF so amazing. He
was the definition of "Intensity, Integrity, and Intelligence" I mean
he made a career out of being the definition of those three things. But he
didn’t have the normal man's career to being WWF superstar. Coming into
the WWF, Kurt was already a gold medalist in 1996 Olympics. Yes, Kurt Angle won
the medal for the United States and he won that medal with a broken “fricken”
neck (As he had told everyone who would listen).
After
the Olympics, he was offered a contract by the WWF in 1996 but he turned it
down. It took another 2 years for the WWF to add the amazing talent to their
roster. After approximately 11 months after he signed, he made his debut. And
to be fair as a young Canadian kid I didn’t understand why a man wore his
country’s flag on his tights. But then again I didn’t understand much as a kid.
It took me almost a decade to be in awe of this man. In his first match, he
showed traits that would make him one of the greatest wrestlers to ever
wrestle. He put his amateur wrestling skills at work while facing his opponent
Shawn Stasiak and he took time out of the match to get out of the ring, get a
microphone and inform the crowd that they shouldn’t boo an Olympic gold
medalist and how he came to the WWF for the fans.
He
made his American hero character his own something special and the sky was the
limit for the rookie Kurt Angle. I mean in his rookie year he won 3 titles and
a prestigious tournament known as the King Of The Ring, 2 of which he held at
the same time (European Title and Intercontinental Title) and the other being
the World Heavyweight Champion while having great matches/rivalries with
amazing wrestlers such as Chris Benoit, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin,
Triple H and The Undertaker.
As
his wrestling career was collecting accolades, he was continuously growing as
an entertainer. Kurt Angle made the role of the American hero to perfection. He
wasn’t the American hero the people wanted, but he was the hero they needed.
Week by week every time he was on the microphone he was always able to make the
fans boo him. Not that it was a challenge, keep in mind this is 2000’s WWF
television. Times had changed from when fans listened to their wrestling role
models as they drank their milk, took their vitamins and said their prayers. By
the time Kurt Angle arrived we had seen the rise of the hothead, beer drinking,
no-nonsense, and uncensored Stone Cold Steve Austin, and the rowdy, degenerates
known as Degeneration X.
Fans
at this time loved to cheer the bad guys and hated the good guys. The WWF knew
it and so did Kurt Angle. So whenever he was on the microphone was able to tell
the fans that by showing the 3 “I”’s, being good Americans and having a role
model like Kurt Angle he could do anything. Given by anyone else that message
is quite uplifting but Kurt was able to deliver his message in such an arrogant
way it was easy to boo for him. This was fantastic because during this time he
teamed up with a tag team that was also great at getting boos from the fans
with their shenanigans backstage and on the microphone, the team of Edge and
Christian.
These
three in my opinion were underrated because all three were great on the
microphone, in the ring, but they were missing something special. The something
special came in the form of a 5 foot 9 295 pound man beast known as Rhyno.
Rhyno was a one man wrecking crew but with Kurt, Edge and Christian they
created one of the greatest formation/stables in wrestling history. Team R (hyno)
E(dge) C(hristian) K(urt). I mean numbers don’t lie. During the time Team RECK
was in existence they had won the World Heavyweight Champion (Kurt), they had
the World Tag Team Championships 6 times (Edge and Christian), Rhyno held the
Hardcore Title 3 times and the King of the Ring tournament was won by Kurt in
2000 and Edge in 2001. To top it all off the final four men in the 2001 King of
the Ring were Team RECK. That just shows how great each man was but together as
a force they were unstoppable.
Even
though Kurt was unsuccessful in winning the King of the Ring, his night did not
end there. For there was another challenge that waited him….
My
take on Hero’s Welcome – I believe Kurt Angle is one of the unsung heroes of
the WWF Attitude era. I mean I understand that he entered near the tail end of
the timeline but his impact was/is memorable. Sure he isn’t Stone Cold, The
Rock, Undertaker or Mankind but he was the perfect opponent for all of them. He
was a really great in the ring and on the microphone. Each feud/rivalry he had
he was a great adversary. Kurt’s rise happened quite quickly, but he was being
prepared during his time on minor shows like Sunday Night Heat. His time in the
beginning was time well spent in creating a character and Kurt was great at
learning the WWF style. The way I saw it
in the world of badasses he was the clean cut all American guy who instead of a
night out would prefer to go home and drink milk and sleep. The definition of
good guy was embodied by Kurt Angle but when no one cheered for Kurt Angle.
Kurt Angle cheered for himself.
Part
2 will be coming out in the next week please like, follow and subscribe.
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