Kurt Angle Interview - Credit foxsports.com - Wrestling - http://maxpages.com/2001wrestling/King_Kurt

Kurt Angle is a former United States and World Champion in Freestyle Wrestling. He shocked the world by winning the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta with an exciting and controversial victory over Abbas Jadidi of Iran. The image of Angle crying while carrying the American flag is one of the most vivid images of the ’96 Games. He then joined the ranks of the World Wrestling Federation in 1998, where he will compete in the main event of SummerSlam on August 27 after only being with the company for nine months.

FOXSports.com: When you were young, why did you choose wrestling over other sports such as basketball and football?

Kurt Angle: Because it was an individual sport. It was one on one, and I liked the attention of just me being out there , me being responsible for what’s going on. I decided early on that I wanted to be a wrestler rather than be involved in team sports, although I did team sports. And it’s important to learn how to work as a team because in life you can’t do things on your own. Even me in wrestling as an individual I had people helping me.

FOXSports.com: Did you dream of being an Olympian as a child?

Kurt Angle: Ever since I was 7 years old I've always known I was going to do something special, something that would make my family proud because I had four older brothers that were wrestlers. And I always thought that I could do something that they never could, or something that they could help me with. You never quite know until you’re there, though, and I didn’t know I was going to win at the Olympics until I won the gold. It’s one of those iffy things. You just have to hope you’re having your best day at that time and everything goes into action the way you’d like it to.

FOXSports.com: I know that David Schultz was a mentor and idol to you. What did his death mean to you personally and to the ’96 team overall? Was it more of an inspiration or an obstacle to overcome?

Kurt Angle: It was both really. Dave was really important to my training because he was my coach. And although he was trying out for the Olympic Games, and I honestly believe he would have made the team and would have won a medal, he was my coach. He was my mentor, the guy that I looked up to and the guy I needed to go that extra yard for . When David died, part of me died because I didn’t really know where I was going to go to seek help. For about two weeks I didn’t do much of anything. But then I thought that David would want me to pursue my dream and achieve my goals. So, I went to Greg Strobel of USA Wrestling and also Dan Gable from the University of Iowa, and I started training with those guys as much as I could. I kind of used Dave for inspiration because he always told me that you never want to go into something unprepared. You always want to be prepared as possible so that you have no regrets.

FOXSports.com: Why Freestyle wrestling over Greco-Roman wrestling?

Kurt Angle: Freestyle in the United States is very much more competitive than Greco-Roman. Worldwide they’re about equal, but Freestyle is the more popular sport, and I always wanted to excel in the most popular form of wrestling in the U.S. It was a lot harder making the Olympic team, but if you make the U.S. Olympic team, you’re definitely one of the top six wrestlers in the world. And that’s a hard thing to say because wrestling isn't an American sport. We’re doing their (the world's) sport and if you win a gold medal in their sport, that’s pretty special. But I always wanted to excel in Freestyle. It’s a more versatile sport; you attack both the upper and lower body. I was always considered a quick and versatile wrestler, and I loved to attack the lower body.

FOXSports.com: Two weight classes, including your own, were removed from the Olympic program. Do you feel that these changes are valid, and do you think that you would have qualified under the current guidelines?

Kurt Angle: The change would have been to my advantage because I was eight pounds underweight at the Olympics. The weight class was 220, but most of the guys were 245 and I weighed 212. I’m not going to say I would've had an easier time because you can never say that. The reason they cut them out was because the other combat sports had only eight weight classes, which is crazy because wrestling is so much more popular worldwide than boxing and jujitsu (Taekwondo, not jujitsu, is the other Olympic combat sport). The other sports were complaining because wrestling had two more weight classes so they took them out.

FOXSports.com: Can you describe the transition from Olympic superstar to WWF superstar? How was the initial contact made? How long did your training take, etc?

Kurt Angle: Vince and Linda McMahon contacted me right after the Olympic Games. Immediately after I won, they flew me out and offered me a very nice, very sweet contract. I never took it seriously because I was always told not to watch it and not to do it, since I was doing the legit wrestling, the amateur wrestling. I was told to turn my back on that. I didn’t understand at the time that these athletes here in the WWF are entertainers — this isn’t wrestling, this is sports entertainment which is far from legit amateur wrestling. What the amateur wrestlers and the amateur wrestling world need to understand is that I'm not wrestling anymore. I have turned myself from an athlete to a sports entertainer, and now I am entertaining people athletically. And once they understand that, you’ll see more amateur wrestlers getting involved. I was the breakthrough because we’ve already signed four more amateur wrestlers, and you’re gonna see a lot more.

FOXSports.com: USA Wrestling basically turned their back on you when you decided to turn pro. How do you feel about their reaction towards your decision to join the World Wrestling Federation?

World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc.

Kurt Angle will be competing for WWF gold at SummerSlam

Kurt Angle: I think they started to understand what I’m doing. They appreciated that I won a gold medal and that I'm in the WWF representing amateur wrestling. As a matter of fact, they’re using me in a lot of their commercials and ads even though they’ve had a few world champions since me. Why? Because more people have identified me as the Olympic champion amateur wrestler. So they’re not stupid. You’re going to see them start to support the WWF more and more.

FOXSports.com: There’s obviously a lot of preparation for an Olympic match as well as for a big match in the World Wrestling Federation. Can you describe the differences and similarities of the two?

Kurt Angle: Sure, with the Olympic Games there’s nothing I could do to prepare more for. I had to train eight hours a day everyday, and I rarely took a day off. It was real important for me to be over-prepared. I did all my training at such an intense level that once I got in there, I’d wear these guys down and beat them. I trained so much and drilled so many different moves by wrestling live all the time that when I went out there to wrestle it was all on instinct. I didn’t even have to think. To me that’s a lot easier than what I do now. Now I have to know exactly what I’m doing at all times, how to get the crowd involved, how to sell a move, how to show people I’m hurt, how to show that I’m kicking this guy’s butt. It’s important to always know what you’re doing because if you’re not careful, someone can get hurt. In a way, as far as training goes, I’m not training as hard and probably never will again. But there’s definitely more of a mental approach to professional wrestling.

FOXSports.com: About how long did the training take for you to make the transition from amateur wrestler to professional wrestler?

Kurt Angle: It took me about nine months to a year to get the moves down. As far as the persona, I was definitely a natural. I’ve always wanted to do something like this. I’m enjoying this more than anything I’ve done in my entire life, so I know I’m doing the right thing. As far as getting the persona and charisma, a lot of it has to come naturally. You need to be an outgoing person (who) can perform in front of people and enjoy it. People were telling me how much I was improving from week to week, and I didn’t really see it . But I kept working hard and refining my skills.

FOXSports.com: Your character has definitely skyrocketed. You’ve only been in the WWF for nine months, yet you are main eventing at one of the World Wrestling Federation "majors, " SummerSlam on August 27. Why do you think your character has taken off so much?

Kurt Angle: I think it’s because I’ve gotten the right reaction out of these people. I came in and kind of tricked them by acting like a babyface (good guy). I was the Olympic hero that saved the nation. Then the fans started booing me because I was coming off like a square. So I started feeding off of that and started to act like more of a square and started preaching to people about my three I's (intensity, integrity and intelligence), and they didn’t want to hear it. So I started grinding them about their town and how bad their athletic team sucked and I wasn’t lying. That’s how I came up with the line "It’s true." I would say, "Your team stinks" and they would boo, and I'd say, "No it’s true, it’s true." Before I knew it, I was one of the biggest heels (bad guy) in the business whereas 15 years ago I would have been a huge babyface. The business has been changing, and you have to change with it.

FOXSports.com: What do you think about the recent outbreak of backyard wrestling?

Kurt Angle: I don’t condone anything like that. I think what these children need to understand is that we’re trained professionals, and we know how dangerous it is just to do it in the ring, but to do it in your backyard is worse. You’re risking injury and even your life. If kids are interested in doing that, I suggest that they go to wrestling school and learn the moves the right way. Backyard wrestling isn't going to make you a wrestler. You can make tapes doing whatever you want and send them all over, and they’re just going to throw them in the garbage. The best thing to do, is to stay away from it.

FOXSports.com: Can you give us a brief preview of who you think we should keep an eye on at this year’s Olympic Games?

Kurt Angle: I’m gonna go with my favorite, and that’s (American featherweight) Cary Kolat . He’s from my hometown (Pittsburgh, Pa.). There has never been a wrestler in the history of the sport that is as talented as him. The only thing that hurts him is what’s upstairs. Sometimes he breaks down mentally, but as far as physically he has the quickness, the agility and the moves and there’s nobody in the world that can go with him. But if he lets himself down mentally, he could let somebody into the match and that’s what he doesn't need. I still think he’ll win. I also think the big guy, (American super heavyweight) Kerry McCoy, should place in the top three. There are some former world champions in there too, so you never really know what’s going to happen.

Sign Guestbook

View Guestbook

The Real Deal Enterprises


2001 Wrestling Is In No Way Affiliated With WCW and or WWF I am Just A Big Fan.
wrestlescoop2155@netscape.net

Visitors: 16053

Page Updated Fri Sep 8, 2000 11:34pm EDT