Nearly two decades later, WWE is apologizing to the nation of India for the controversial debut of Kurt Angle on then-WWF’s Sunday Night HEAT.
In the original segment, Tiger Ali Singh called Olympic athlete and American hero Kurt Angle out of the audience and offered him up to $5,000 to blow his nose on the American flag. Angle accepted, but as Singh turned away in celebration, he instead emphatically blew his nose on Singh’s Indian flag instead. Singh then tried to beat him up with Old Glory because, you know…wrestling. This still isn’t sitting well with some, as the Hindu group Aadvanshi Veer Sena and some local wrestlers promised to protest WWE’s Indian tour.
WWE International Executive Vice President Garrett Meier offered the following apology:
This case is about 20-years-ago and we did not deliberately did [sic] that. We have a great respect for the country. We are sorry that it happened, but we had no intention of doing it. India is a reputable country and we apologise for this… We are extremely pleased that India is hosting the live events again.
There are good number of fans and I am confident that they will enjoy it all. Nearly 14 years later, we are once again on the ground of India will play a WWE match. – via WebIndia123
WWE’s Live India tour proceeded without incident. Well, except maybe when Summer Rae adorably almost nailed some poor woman with a bullwhip. Oops!
