In an interview with SI.com, Kurt Angle mentions Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Triple H as three wrestlers who can “adapt to any situation” in the ring. Kurt shares a story about Triple H specifically, who lead him through their match at SummerSlam 2000 after Angle suffered a concussion and forgot what he was supposed to do.
“Paul [Levesque] led me through that match. As far as being a wrestler, Triple H is up there in the top ten. When I got my concussion at SummerSlam, Triple H did so much for me in that match,” Angle explained. “When I went through that table, I was out. Stephanie [McMahon] brought me back out, and when we got back to the ring, I asked her, ‘What do I do?’ She said, ‘When Rock’s foot hits the rope, grab him.’ So I grabbed him by the foot, and then looked at Stephanie again. And she said, ‘Throw Triple H into the steps!’ So I threw him into the steps, and then she said, ‘Get the hell in the ring!’
“There was a spot where Triple H was going to hit me with his sledgehammer, but I had the concussion and didn’t even know I was out there. My mind was blank. I came to two hours after the pay-per-view. When Triple H was going to hit me, but he actually put his hand on my head and made sure I ducked. If you watch it over, you’ll see that I was clueless, but he was looking out for me the whole match. They literally had to walk me through every step of the match to make sure I was safe. I don’t remember any of it, but for them it must have been a nightmare. Triple H is one of the best I’ve ever seen.”
In the early 2000’s, Kurt Angle and Steve Austin were one of Vince McMahon’s favorite pairings on TV. Kurt explained how Vince would direct him and Austin while filming backstage segments.
“Austin is a real funny guy. None of the stuff we did was scripted,” Angle revealed. “Vince told us, ‘Listen, this is the issue you’re having, say what you have to say, and no one in this room laugh until I say cut.’ It just worked, and it was a blessing in disguise because Austin and I both got hurt at King of the Ring in 2001, so we were on the shelf. Their two biggest stars, at the time, weren’t wrestling, but they wanted to keep us on TV, so they teamed us up together. […] I’m not funny off-camera, so I didn’t know I could be funny. I didn’t even know if I could cut a promo.”
After joining the McMahon empire in 1998, Angle left WWE in 2006 and joined TNA. The Olympic gold medalist feels that he entered the prime of his pro wrestling career while in TNA, and says at 47-years-old, “I can still do it.”
“I had an incredible WWE career, but a lot of WWE fans didn’t see me wrestle in TNA, unfortunately, so they didn’t see what I was able to accomplish there,” Angle explained. “That is when the wheels started spinning in my head, and that’s because I started so late. I started with WWE in ‘99, and within a year-and-a-half, I won the world title. I really didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I was just following guys, like the Undertaker, Triple H, Rock and Austin. They would lead me through matches, and then I started getting the hang of it. That’s when I started having those matches with [Chris] Benoit and Eddie [Guerrero] and Brock Lesnar. I just kept getting better.
“I was very fortunate to wrestle a lot of great guys in TNA, and I’ve had a much better career because I got my head together, and started understanding [ring] psychology and how to put a match together and how to make it more exciting. My philosophy on a match is to base everything around your finish. For me, that’s the Angle Lock and Angle Slam–how do you counter it and get back into it–and I’ve always based my matches on that. A lot of guys have a lot of false finishes, but the fans don’t really get behind a match until you get your finish, so I was able to integrate my finish more. I just learned more, and I kept getting better. I’m 47, and I can still do it.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8huHwyWsNaQ
Kurt Angle will be a free agent after his current TNA contract expires at the end of January. He has indicated that he wants to take a year off from active competition. TNA has offered him a non-wrestling contract, and he will be working as a color commentator for Bellator MMA’s live Spike TV show on February 19.
Related: TNA Offer Of Non-Wrestling Contract For Kurt Angle Is A Long Time Coming
