wrestling / TV Reports

411’s Kurt Angle: Oh, It’s True….It’s True Report

March 29, 2017 | Posted by Robert Leighty Jr.

411’s Kurt Angle: Oh, It’s True….It’s True Report

-The plan was for me to cover this when it aired after Talking Smack, but it was uploaded last night on the On Demand section of the Network. What we have is a 20 minute interview Corey Graves did with Kurt Angle.

-Hearing Angle’s music in the opening is tremendous and I can’t wait until it is played on Sunday in front of the live crowd at Mania.

-Angle talks about his WWE start and how much fun he had. Whether he won or lost, his character was steamrolling forward. They show video of the “You Suck” chant with his music that again will be amazing to hear on Sunday/Monday.

-We get the end of Rock/Angle where Angle wins his first WWE Championship. His celebration where he falls to knees and cries with a giant booger hanging out is classic.

-Next he wins his 2nd WWE Title at Unforgiven in 2001 in his hometown of Pittsburgh, and I was there for that show. It was the first WWE PPV I ever attended as I missed SummerSlam 95 and King of the Ring 98 (yes, I won’t be like thousands of others and pretend I was there for Taker/Foley Hell in a Cell). After Angle wins the match his family comes into the ring to celebrate and you can see a then unknown Karen Angle (well, other than being known as Kurt’s wife).

-Dark times now as Kurt talks about breaking his neck during his WWE run and that got him addicted to pain killers. He also had to deal with that he was no longer the man and John Cena was coming up as the new star. Vince asked him to go to rehab and Kurt decided to leave for another company (TNA is not mentioned by name).

-He got real bitter towards Vince and the WWE. Graves asks if there was a turning point, and Angle says he always wanted to find his way back to the WWE. He got a DUI on 4 different occasions and that is when his current wife (who they show photos of with Kurt) sat him down and told him he needed to clean up or she was taking the kids and leaving.

-Kurt says he got clean 4 years ago and his focus was on wanting to get back to the WWE. He feels he needs to redeem himself even if he never wrestles for the WWE again.

-The WWE kept eyes on him and just wanted to see if he had gotten past all his issues and demons. After 4 years he got the call from HHH saying they wanted to induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame. They show Angle meeting HHH at Titan Towers and I always love stuff like this.

-Kurt says he wasn’t done wrestling and thought it wouldn’t come for another 10 years or so, but he couldn’t pass down the Hall of Fame. It is the most important thing to him.

-He talks about his relationship with Vince McMahon and the father/son relationship they have. They also show the footage of them meeting again for the first time in years. For Kurt it was like a father welcoming back his son.

-Graves brings up how how some of the newer fans may not be as familiar with Kurt and asks what are some of his favorite moments. He immediately goes to the Mania 21 match with Shawn Michaels that I had pegged as Shawn’s greatest Mania match ever until the 2 Taker matches. The hype for that match was unreal and the WWE basically advertised it would be a classic and they more than delivered. Angle admits that he was nervous for the first time, but when the bell rang it was like they had been wrestling each other for years. Kurt is still blown away with how great the match was and calls Shawn the greatest in ring performer he has ever worked.

-Next WrestleMania XIX with Brock where they were the Main Event of quite possible the most stacked card in Mania history. Just go back and check out the card and realize that Michaels/Jericho was a midcard match. That is insane! Kurt says it felt like he was looking in the mirror when he faced Brock. He calls him the best athlete of anyone his size and he has never been in the ring or on a mat with someone with that much athletic ability. He calls Brock the baddest man on the planet.

-Angle was the man to face Cena in his Main Roster debut. Kurt says he tried to get Cena to blow up and wanted to test him. He could never get him to blow up though and on that first night John earned his respect.

-We move on to some of Angle’s favorite moments outside of his matches and it starts with The Milk Truck. Amazing scene with a crowd that was losing it.

-Hell YES! They touch of Angle and Austin’s buddy routines where they would sing and wear cowboy hats. Both men were injured and WWE needed to keep them on TV and it provided for some of the funniest promos and backstage segments in WWE history. I could watch a compilation of just everything from that summer.

-Kurt brings up riding a scooter to the ring during his feud with Taker (in his biker gimmick) and the look on Taker’s face is priceless.

-Wearing a wig with head gear while wrestling Hulk Hogan. Battle rapping John Cena was the SmackDown ref is beat boxing (“moving on up like The Jeffersons”). Kurt just laughs at all these moments.

-Graves talks about how Kurt is in multiple Halls of Fame and how much this induction means. The two biggest for him are The Olympic Hall of Fame and now the biggest of all, The WWE Hall of Fame.

-He says he isn’t sure what the future holds as he is just focused on the HOF. He knows Vince has plans for him and he will be with the WWE for years. He doesn’t know if he is done wrestling, but it is nice to be back home. He is hoping down the road that he can wrestle and build on his legacy to be the greatest of all time.

-Graves wraps up the interview and we get a final video package that I believe was the one shows when they announced Kurt for the Hall of Fame.

-Running at 20 minutes this was fun fluff piece that obviously didn’t have enough time to go into much detail. If only they hadn’t canceled Legends with JBL, Kurt would have been a tremendous guest, but my guess is a DVD set is coming down the line that dives more into Angle’s career.

article topics :

Kurt Angle, WWE, Robert Leighty Jr.