Kurt Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and occasional actor. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He is also known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (WWF/E), and for being the only Olympic wrestling gold medalist in the history of professional wrestling.
Angle was involved in amateur wrestling during both high school and college. In college at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, he won numerous accolades, including being a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion. After graduating, he won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1995 World Wrestling Championships. Angle then competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he won a gold medal in heavyweight freestyle wrestling. Kurt Angle is also one of only four people to complete a Grand Slam in amateur wrestling which is the junior nationals, the NCAAs, the World Championships and the Olympics. He was named the greatest shoot wrestler and one of the top 15 college wrestlers of all time by USA Wrestling.
Initially turning down an offer to join the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Angle signed a multi-year contract with the company in 1998, and made his debut the following March. His first big push in the company was in February 2000, when he held both the European Championship and the Intercontinental Championship at the same time. A few months later he won the King of the Ring tournament. Not long after, Angle began pursuing the WWF Championship, which he went on to win later in the year, capping off a rookie year which the company has referred to as the greatest in WWE history. He continued to be a part of main event matches until August 2006, when Angle was granted a release from his contract. Throughout his tenure in the company, he was a six-time world champion (four-time WWF/E Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and WCW Champion), he also held the United States Championship, Intercontinental Championship, European Championship, Hardcore Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship once each. In addition, he was the winner of the King of the Ring tournament in 2000, the tenth Triple Crown Champion, and the fifth Grand Slam Champion. In addition, he is one of three wrestlers (Edge and Big Show being the others) to have held every currently active male championship in WWE.
After leaving WWE, Angle joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he became a five-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, a two-time TNA World Tag Team Champion and a one-time TNA X Division Champion, the second Triple Crown winner in TNA history and the only one to hold all the required titles at once. While in TNA, his then real-life wife Karen began accompanying him to the ring and playing a part in his on-screen storylines. Angle has also made appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling as well as Inoki Genome Federation, where he held their version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Angle is the only wrestler in history to be a Triple Crown winner in both WWE and TNA. He is the first man to have held the WWE, WCW, TNA, IWGP, and World Heavyweight Championships in his career. Angle is also a two time King of the Mountain winner, winning at the 2007 and 2009 Slammiversary PPV event, making him the only wrestler to have been both King of the Ring (WWE) and King of the Mountain (TNA). Between WWE, TNA, and Japan, Angle has won 12 World Championships and 20 total championships. In 2010 the Wrestling Observer Newsletter named Angle the Wrestler of the Decade of the 2000s.
Read more about Kurt Angle: Amateur Wrestling Career, Acting Career, Personal Life, In Wrestling
Other articles related to "kurt angle, angle, kurt":
... contenders matches, after JBL, Eddie Guerrero, (Rey Mysterio), The Big Show, Booker T, and Kurt Angle all demanded a WWE Championship match ... The following week on SmackDown!, Guerrero and Kurt Angle were scheduled for the second contender's match ... Angle advanced to the finals, as he went on to defeat Guerrero ...
... feud heading into Armageddon was between WWF Champion Kurt Angle, The Undertaker, Triple H, Steve Austin, The Rock, and Rikishi inside a Hell in a Cell for the WWF Championship ... At No Mercy Kurt Angle won the championship from The Rock in a No Disqualification Match ... Kurt would later retain the title against The Undertaker at Survivor Series and again at Rebellion in a Fatal Four Way Match against The Rock, Rikishi, and Steve Austin ...
... At Lockdown, Kurt Angle was met by his wife Karen, who he promptly proceeded to throw out of the building so as to avoid any distractions ... In the double main events, Angle lost his TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Samoa Joe, and Team Tomko was defeated by Team Cage with neither A.J ... was not seen having any communication with Kurt Angle, and as he was away in Japan (figurative kayfabe he was actually suspended for going there earlier in the midst of the Lockdown storyline and no-showing TNA's ...
... Wrestler Wrestler pinned or submitted Method 1 Kurt Angle Samoa Joe Joe attacked Angle before the match and was disqualified and placed in the penalty box. 4 Mick Foley Kurt Angle Pinned after a diving elbow drop from the top of the penalty box. 6 !Winner Kurt Angle Hung the belt to win ...
... Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) 2000 Kurt Angle Steven Richards Jeff Jarrett 2001 Steve Austin Booker T Kurt Angle Shane McMahon 2002 Chris Jericho The Un-Americans (Christian, Lance ...
Famous quotes containing the word angle:
“From whichever angle one looks at it, the application of racial theories remains a striking proof of the lowered demands of public opinion upon the purity of critical judgment.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)