Popular WWE legend reveals why Vince McMahon made him debut as a heel
WWE legend Kurt Angle recently opened up about debuting as a heel in 1999 despite being an Olympic gold medallist.
Kurt Angle quickly became one of the top Superstars in WWE after making his debut in 1999. He went on to win five world championships before leaving WWE in 2006. Angle returned to WWE in 2017 before retiring from the ring in 2019. He is also a WWE Hall of Famer.
Kurt Angle was recently interviewed by The Hannibal TV on YouTube. During the interview, the WWE legend opened up about his WWE debut and what he thought of debuting as a heel. Angle said that he didn't think the fans would boo him and added that it was Vince McMahon's idea for him to debut as a heel. Angle explained:
"I thought they were full of crap. I thought the fans were going to accept me as a babyface but Vince McMahon said, 'They are not going to. They don't know who you are, they know you won an Olympic gold medal but they don't know you personally and when people come into the business and they're pushed really hard, they're usually going to be booed'. He said, 'I will make it happen. I have the right equation.' They tried it with The Rock in the early to mid-90s and they tried to make him a babyface and they did everything they could and it backfired so they wanted to use the same equation with me and push me as the babyface, you know, the man with the three I's, I take vitamins, drink milk and I won an Olympic gold medal, I'm about intensity, integrity and intelligence and what I think that did was made me so cut and dry like a milk drinking, vitamin taking nerd that. They actually made my character a bit of a nerd and I was oblivious to everything. They did a really good job of setting it up to make me a heel."
Kurt Angle's WWE debut
Kurt Angle made his in-ring WWE debut at Survivor Series 1999. He faced Shawn Stasiak. Angle left the ring half way through the match frustrated and chastised the crowd for having the audacity to boo an Olympic gold medallist.
After effectively turning heel, Angle returned to the ring to finish the match against Stasiak. Kurt Angle won his debut match after hitting Shawn Stasiak with the Angle Slam for the pinfall.
If any quotes are used from this article, please add an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling and give credit to The Hannibal TV