Kurt Angle candid Q&A
In promotion of his upcoming return to WWE as part of the 2017 Hall of Fame as well as his Anglestrong app which which aims to aid those battling addiction, Kurt Angle took to Reddit to take part in an AMA (ask me anything) session. Here are some highlights.
Favorite match
My match with Chris Benoit… the only reason why that’s not my favorite match of all time is because it always has an asterisk next to it. Most of my best matches were with Chris Benoit! So, you’re taking away all that history I had with him. I get it, but gosh dang! How are you ever going to place Kurt Angle in the history books as one of the best of all times but you can’t really count Chris Benoit’s matches?
Favorite opponent
Oh, man, you know, it all depends. There’s so many styles, so many variations.
You know, an Austin. He was such a ring general, really intense. Him and Chris Benoit were the most intense wrestlers I ever wrestled.As far as athletes, Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles. Those two guys were super athletes and completely different. Their athleticism is unreal. It’s one of those things where they are really rare individuals.
I look around, Triple H, one of the best workers from the business I have ever been in the ring with. Brilliant ideas, knows how to do it all.
But I would have to say, Shawn Michaels. He just had it all, from an entertainment standpoint and from a wrestling standpoint, he was so easy to work with. I always thought after I wrestled Shawn, I thought I’d never wrestle another individual like him until AJ. Shawn had everything
Battles with addiction
I think an addict will be in denial until they realize their rock bottom. They’ll make excuses for why they continue to use, for instance, “their life’s gone badly or getting worse.”
Me personally, my rock bottom wasn’t as bad as most addicts because most addicts, their rock bottoms are when they have nothing left – no family, no money. They’re doing things they shouldn’t be doing. I’ve met many addicts who sold their bodies for sex. With me, the money never got bad. I always had money. If I ran out of money, I would have resorted to heroin
For me, the rock bottom was when my second wife Giovanna said to me, “Listen, I love you, but you have had 4 DUI’s already. I love you but I can’t stay with you. I can’t live like this. You pass out every night at 7 o’clock and you don’t spend any time with the kids.” Then she said, “If you can’t turn this around, we’re leaving.”
Undertaker considering Kurt to end the WrestleMania steak in 2006
Undertaker did go to me in January of that year and said, “Listen, I think we should talk to Vince. I know you’re champion. I know they don’t want to go with me as champion, so I’m willing to lose if we have to. I never had that Wrestlemania match that I wanted and I know that I can have it with you.”
He encouraged me to talk with Vince. It was never thought of. Vince never thought of it. As a matter of fact, Vince shot it down right away! But it was an idea Undertaker had. It wasn’t an idea I had. It wasn’t an idea Vince was thinking of doing. Vince McMahon didn’t want it and it was an idea that got shot down.
Fortunately, Undertaker did have those Wrestlemania Moment matches afterward, so I was really happy for him that he had that.
The entire Q&A session with Angle can be found on Reddit.