JBL Recalls Kurt Angle’s Arrival In WWE, Realizing He Was Special

On the latest episode of Something To Wrestle With, JBL talked about the debut of Kurt Angle at Survivor Series 1999. He admitted that while Angle’s athletic credentials were “alien level,” there was “trepidation” in the locker room about his lack of experience. You can check out some highlights below:

On Angle’s Arrival In WWE:

“With Kurt, you knew he was good. By the way, Kurt’s first match he attended was when me and Ron beat up Public Enemy. And Kurt’s like, ‘The hell with this.’ You got to ask Kurt about it sometime.

“But when Kurt came in, I don’t know if we had trepidation. We had trepidation not because of his talent. This guy’s the best wrestler on the planet. I mean, this guy’s not good; this guy’s alien level. He could be the greatest Olympic wrestler of all time, people are saying. But to even be considered that is unbelievable. So we know how much talent he has. But he hadn’t worked the territories. He hadn’t worked this education background system to learn the business. Plus he didn’t even know the business. You know, he just kind of came in.”

On Quickly Realizing Angle Was a Special Case:

“Kurt is the most amazing story I think I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen a guy come in when business was that hot. We had this incredible, talented roster. There were no voids, by the way. Kurt created his own way and to come in and to do the things that Kurt has done? That guy is not once in a lifetime. That guy is once in about a 10,000-year performer.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Something To Wrestle With an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.