"It's fake" – Hall of Famer's agent told him not to join WWE
The word "fake" is sometimes used by non-wrestling fans to describe WWE's unique brand of sports entertainment. Kurt Angle, an amateur wrestling legend before his WWE career began, recently explained why he initially rejected the chance to wrestle scripted matches.
Angle famously competed with a broken neck when he won the freestyle wrestling gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. WWE wanted to hire him after the competition, but the former amateur wrestler turned down a multi-million dollar offer.
On Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw, Angle said his agent advised him against joining the "fake" world of professional wrestling:
"WWE offered me a multi-million dollar deal. I'm not gonna lie to you, it was a great deal, and I brought it back to my agent, who was a former amateur wrestler that played pro football. His name was Ralph Cindrich – he was the top NFL agent at the time. He was from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I brought it back to him and he looked at it, he says, 'You're not doing this c**p. It's fake. You're the real deal.' He goes, 'I'll get you a job, don't worry.'" [39:57 – 40:24]
Although Kurt Angle declined WWE's first offer, he eventually joined the company in 1998 and went on to become one of the top stars of his generation. In 2017, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Kurt Angle's job before joining WWE
Shortly after his Olympic Games success, Kurt Angle's agent landed him a role as a sportscaster on the FOX-affiliated Pittsburgh news station WPGH-TV. The wrestling legend hosted his own segment, The Angle on Sports, where he narrated highlights from various sports games.
Kurt Angle is a great wrestler, but don't forget that in the late-90s he became the worst sportscaster of all time on Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.
Angle disliked the job, particularly as he hardly received any training before appearing in front of live television cameras for the first time:
"He [agent Ralph Cindrich] did get me a job. I became a sportscaster for FOX 53 in Pittsburgh, and I s*cked so bad! It was a start-up station and I had no rehearsing. They had me just go in." [40:29 – 40:44]
The Hall of Famer's teleprompter stopped working on his first day. Due to the technical issue, he was forced to speak for eight minutes without knowing which highlights were going to be shown next.
What are your thoughts on Kurt Angle's career? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.