"I’m screwed" - WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle reveals why he didn't enter the 2004 Olympics
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle revealed why he decided to skip the 2004 Olympics.
Kurt Angle is often regarded as one of the best amateur wrestlers of his time. The Wrestling Machine has gone head-to-head against the likes of Brock Lensar, Eddie Guerrero, The Undertaker, and more during his time with the company. He also won multiple world championships and competed at WrestleMania.
However, Angle started his career in amateur wrestling and won a gold medal at the Olympics in 1996. Years later, Angle was presented with an opportunity to enter the Olympics, but he rejected it. Speaking on The Kurt Angle Show, the 53-year-old superstar explained why he didn't take part:
"Yes, I was seriously considering it. I thought about it day and night all the time. The problem is what Dave Meltzer said, he’s right. If I would have won the Olympic gold medal in 2004, I would have become the biggest star of all time. But if I don’t win the Olympic gold medal, even a bronze or a silver, I’m screwed."
Angle also revealed that he would need to train for a year in order to be in perfect shape to compete at the time.
"So I didn’t want to take that chance by leaving the company and going to the Olympics, and it was a long shot. I mean, I really for me to win the gold medal, it was like 1000 to 1 odds, it really was because I was out of the sport for eight years and come back and get yourself ready, It’s gonna take a lot more than a year of training to do that.” [H/T - ITR]
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It would have been interesting to see Angle win at the Olympics for the second time in his career.
What did Kurt Angle do in 2003-04 in WWE instead of entering the Olympics?
In 2003, Kurt Angle started the year as the WWE Champion and successfully defended his title against Chris Benoit at Royal Rumble. He went on to main event WrestleMania XIX where he lost the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar.
After Mania, Angle took some time off to deal with his neck injuries. A few months later, he then returned to the company to defeat The Beast Incarnate at SummerSlam. By the end of the year, he had lost the WWE Championship once again to Lesnar.
In 2004, he became the new number one contender for the WWE Championship. He went on to face Eddie Guerrero at WrestleMania XX, where he lost. Angle spent the coming months feuding with Guerrero, finally defeating him at SummerSlam.
By the end of the year, he was involved in an unscripted incident with one of the Tough Enough contestants. Daniel Puder went off screen and tried to break Angle's arm but was unsuccessful. It would have been interesting to see the two in a one-on-one contest.
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