Kurt Angle is a name known to many fans of the WWF after its battle with WCW ended. He is my opinion was one of the important factors that made WWF so amazing. He was the definition of "Intensity, Integrity, and Intelligence" I mean he made a career out of being the definition of those three things. But he didn’t have the normal man's career to being WWF superstar. Coming into the WWF, Kurt was already a gold medalist in 1996 Olympics. Yes, Kurt Angle won the medal for the United States and he won that medal with a broken “fricken” neck (As he had told everyone who would listen).









After the Olympics, he was offered a contract by the WWF in 1996 but he turned it down. It took another 2 years for the WWF to add the amazing talent to their roster. After approximately 11 months after he signed, he made his debut. And to be fair as a young Canadian kid I didn’t understand why a man wore his country’s flag on his tights. But then again I didn’t understand much as a kid. It took me almost a decade to be in awe of this man. In his first match, he showed traits that would make him one of the greatest wrestlers to ever wrestle. He put his amateur wrestling skills at work while facing his opponent Shawn Stasiak and he took time out of the match to get out of the ring, get a microphone and inform the crowd that they shouldn’t boo an Olympic gold medalist and how he came to the WWF for the fans.

















He made his American hero character his own something special and the sky was the limit for the rookie Kurt Angle. I mean in his rookie year he won 3 titles and a prestigious tournament known as the King Of The Ring, 2 of which he held at the same time (European Title and Intercontinental Title) and the other being the World Heavyweight Champion while having great matches/rivalries with amazing wrestlers such as Chris Benoit, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H and The Undertaker.





















As his wrestling career was collecting accolades, he was continuously growing as an entertainer. Kurt Angle made the role of the American hero to perfection. He wasn’t the American hero the people wanted, but he was the hero they needed. Week by week every time he was on the microphone he was always able to make the fans boo him. Not that it was a challenge, keep in mind this is 2000’s WWF television. Times had changed from when fans listened to their wrestling role models as they drank their milk, took their vitamins and said their prayers. By the time Kurt Angle arrived we had seen the rise of the hothead, beer drinking, no-nonsense, and uncensored Stone Cold Steve Austin, and the rowdy, degenerates known as Degeneration X.





















Fans at this time loved to cheer the bad guys and hated the good guys. The WWF knew it and so did Kurt Angle. So whenever he was on the microphone was able to tell the fans that by showing the 3 “I”’s, being good Americans and having a role model like Kurt Angle he could do anything. Given by anyone else that message is quite uplifting but Kurt was able to deliver his message in such an arrogant way it was easy to boo for him. This was fantastic because during this time he teamed up with a tag team that was also great at getting boos from the fans with their shenanigans backstage and on the microphone, the team of Edge and Christian.













These three in my opinion were underrated because all three were great on the microphone, in the ring, but they were missing something special. The something special came in the form of a 5 foot 9 295 pound man beast known as Rhyno. Rhyno was a one man wrecking crew but with Kurt, Edge and Christian they created one of the greatest formation/stables in wrestling history. Team R (hyno) E(dge) C(hristian) K(urt). I mean numbers don’t lie. During the time Team RECK was in existence they had won the World Heavyweight Champion (Kurt), they had the World Tag Team Championships 6 times (Edge and Christian), Rhyno held the Hardcore Title 3 times and the King of the Ring tournament was won by Kurt in 2000 and Edge in 2001. To top it all off the final four men in the 2001 King of the Ring were Team RECK. That just shows how great each man was but together as a force they were unstoppable.













Even though Kurt was unsuccessful in winning the King of the Ring, his night did not end there. For there was another challenge that waited him….









My take on Hero’s Welcome – I believe Kurt Angle is one of the unsung heroes of the WWF Attitude era. I mean I understand that he entered near the tail end of the timeline but his impact was/is memorable. Sure he isn’t Stone Cold, The Rock, Undertaker or Mankind but he was the perfect opponent for all of them. He was a really great in the ring and on the microphone. Each feud/rivalry he had he was a great adversary. Kurt’s rise happened quite quickly, but he was being prepared during his time on minor shows like Sunday Night Heat. His time in the beginning was time well spent in creating a character and Kurt was great at learning the WWF style. The way I saw it in the world of badasses he was the clean cut all American guy who instead of a night out would prefer to go home and drink milk and sleep. The definition of good guy was embodied by Kurt Angle but when no one cheered for Kurt Angle. Kurt Angle cheered for himself.

















Part 2 will be coming out in the next week please like, follow and subscribe.



