Current TNA world heavyweight champion and former Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle recently spoke to Sports Illustrated about the time he totally kicked Brock Lesnar’s ass at wrestling. Oh, it’s real.
“We fought in a wrestling ring during the day before our show. It wasn’t fun. It was nerve-wracking. Someone was going to win, get hurt, or die.
The match started because someone asked how he’d do in the ring against me. Brock said I was too small for him. That got to me.”
Kurt obviously had a lot of pride to defend, because I think most other people would just flat out agree with everything Brock Lesnar says to avoid getting mauled.
“Brock was in the ring with Big Show. He was literally throwing this 530-pound man around the ring like a little kid. I’d never seen anyone lift up Big Show like that without his help, but Brock was picking him up and throwing him around.
I said to Big Show, ‘Get out of the ring.’ Then I tapped Brock on the shoulder and said, ‘Let’s go.’ And that’s when we started.”
Again, this is where Kurt differs from most people. Personally, I’d start paying a tithe to Brock if I saw him Harlem Globetrotter spinning Big Show around on his index finger.
“You’re one of the best in the world as an NCAA champion like Brock, but when you’re an Olympic gold medalist, that’s a whole other level. The guys who saw Brock and I wrestle that day witnessed how much of a gap there is between the two.
We were doing take-downs, and it was very, very tight. Brock showed me that he knows how to wrestle. A lot of heavyweights are big and strong and know how to use their weight, but Brock knew how to wrestle. He was a lightweight who grew into a heavyweight body, and he brought that technique with him. That’s how good Brock was.
There’s nobody like Brock. The man is just a mammoth. When he’s healthy, I don’t know if there is anyone on the planet who can beat him.
When I got done with him, I didn’t want to wrestle him again.”
Finally, something Kurt and I can agree on – don’t wrestle Brock Lesnar a second time.
The interview wasn’t just about how great of an amateur wrestler Kurt is – he also spoke about getting snubbed by Triple H.
“I haven’t spoke openly about this, but I opened up my options and was going to decide between TNA and WWE. I wasn’t going to leave TNA unless WWE was offering a fair deal.
Paul [Levesque] is in charge. I found that out when I contacted Vince. I’ve always had a good relationship with Paul, so I didn’t consider that a problem. But he decided they had enough talent.
For the Vince McMahon who I knew, enough was never enough. He always wanted more. I don’t know what was going on over there, but they even canceled our meeting. I never went to see them. They didn’t even sit me down and talk to me.”
I was going to say it’s less that WWE has enough talent, but that they don’t really need a middle aged guy with a broken down body. Then again, WrestleMania 31 did have Undertaker, Sting, and Triple H all in marquee matches, so…
“But I’m going to be straight with you. The WWE would have made more money this year if they would have signed me. That’s no secret.
The best match of the year would have been between myself and Daniel Bryan. Rusev would have made sense, and Brock and I could have went at it again.”
I’ll be honest, I haven’t been keeping up with TNA a whole lot, so I don’t know how much of Kurt is being held together with wishes and kitten sneezes, but he’s probably not wrong with those three match ideas. I’m sure they’d all be fine.
Ultimately, though, Kurt says he is happy to be in TNA. He’s also glad that Dixie Carter will allow him a night off without docking his pay, something he says would have never happened with Vince McMahon.
